Sun 28 Feb 2010
We saw our Money Guy last week which was mostly depressing because there’s not a lot to talk about these days. He suggested that when i’m back to work we should figure out a real retirement plan for us. He said, you know, like decide what age you would like to retire and we can figure out a plan around that.
Boy that inspired some deep thinking. Because the first thing i thought, like probably everyone does, is that i want to say “take this job and shove it”, retire early and take those month-long trips to exotic destinations. But I also have an infant in the house which means realistically I’m on the Freedom 95 plan.
Honeybunny asked me, can you retire when you still have kids in the house? I’m like, I dunno, what do growing boys need besides lots of food and a bedroom? It’s conceivable that if they go to university in Halifax they could live at home. And I’d love to help them out that way but maybe I would need a job just to cover the Costco food bills. I can’t think that far in advance. I can’t imagine Leo forming words yet, let alone studying Anthropology.
And then I think about work and I know I’ve been away from it for a while on maternity leave, and heck maybe that gives me perspective, but I kind of like it. I’ve always enjoyed what I do. Sure there are nutty days and crazier managers and intense situations but isn’t that life? If I found the ideal retirement cottage on the beach thinking I’d just ridded myself of crazy managers forever, wouldn’t I just discover that my new neighbour is as crazy as a bag of hammers? That’d be just like life right? You never avoid the crazies forever, you think this is a free ride
The other questions I ask myself are – am i healthy at 65? Am i doing a job i love? Can i follow my interests like i would in retirement? Does my job allow me flexibility to travel? Maybe not the exotic month-long trips, but what about a well-planned 2 week trip, would that be enough? If yes to all those, why rush to retire early?
And I look at my family. My Grandma Fox for example, was a hard-working woman. She did her part to run the farm when my Dad and his 5 brothers were growing up because there was no shortage of work before handy things like electricity. She had her own business after the kids left home, she ran a diner in a small town in BC. Then she went to Vancouver and became a practical nurse, worked for years at the Vancouver General. Then at 65 they told her to retire and she wasn’t ready. So she used her nursing skills and worked night shift at a Seniors home near Granville Island.
She didn’t have a touchy-feely bone in her body and we used to laugh at her stories of helping the seniors get up in the morning before her shift finished. If someone didn’t want to get out of bed because they were feeling lousy or depressed she’d say, Get outta bed! No one cares that you’re feeling sorry for yourself, get up! That wasn’t the funny thing, the funny thing was that these folks were usually 10 years younger than she was. She worked there until she was 75 and then they told her to retire. At 80 she took up painting because she was bored. She lived to be 94.
And just to remind me that Grandma Fox is not an anomaly, my Dad is in his early 70s and is also still working. He stopped for a while after his first retirement but now he’s on his 4th or 5th career. And guess what, he mostly works night shifts. The best part about his job is that it funds month-long exotic journeys. He and Mom have been to places I haven’t even gotten interested in visiting, yet.
So maybe I don’t get to choose to retire. Maybe it’s in my genes to keep working until they kick me out. Maybe my boys will be able to live at home and enjoy huge Costco-provided meals until they have their PhDs. I’ll warn them that their mission is to find the perfect job they can do until they’re 75. And to feel free to change careers until they do. And better yet, it should be something they enjoy doing at night.
So I’ll tell my Money Guy that we don’t need to make retirement plans. I’ll be too busy working.