Retire or re-tired

And then what?

That may sound like a strange way to start a column about retiring and retirement, but as you sit back reflecting on life, your navel or the immovable mass of cars on the highway to go on a vacation, you may as well double-check how sound your retirement plan is.

I know of several people who looked forward to retirement as if they were running a marathon and were so focused on the finish line they forgot to plan on what to do after the race. Yes, they got out of the rat race, they made it to the finish line and just as suddenly came to the realization they had no idea what to do with all the free time they had!

I know of a “barkada of retirees” who enjoyed each other’s company playing mahjong, going to the mall, shopping, eating, sleeping, watching movies, travelling, until all that got boring.

Then they got sick, fat and depressed. One by one they died and those who were left behind simply stayed home, watching TV, no hobbies, no activities. From prisoners of the workplace they were imprisoned in their “rest” place.

Doing absolutely nothing may be your idea of retirement, but doing nothing is only good for a few months or a year at most. Then you get bored, you go nuts and in the case of my piggery classmate JR, most of his buddies died within three months of retiring from the US Navy, so JR moved back to the Philippines and decided to put up a farm and raise animals to keep himself fit and busy.

Are you living the dream or dreaming the dream?

Just because people plan on retiring and just because they planned for it, doesn’t mean they get to. You need to go out and do it and you need to make sure you have both Time  and Strength towards your retirement.

You don’t have to wait until 55/65 in order to be a retiree. People who wait until that age are too tired to go back to “work” all over again. You can and should start with your “retirement” at the latest at Mid-Life and by keeping yourself busy with your future fun, you can even avoid mid-life crisis. If you have a life, you won’t have a crisis!

A common lament of retirees is that they were already old to do the work and to enjoy the experience of building or doing things themselves. You can avoid being a checkbook retiree who has to pay for everything and hire people to do things because they can’t.

Don’t buy the farm or the beach property 30 years after you had the dream and made the plan! Thirty years later the price usually triples if not more because of inflation! That’s one reason people drop out from pursuing their dream they waited and saved for but inflation and population growth beat them to it! Buy it, build it, plant it “On Installment”!

Another advantage in building the dream early is it makes your retirement period longer than normal. If you start at 40, you have a 20-year head start than the average person.

Don’t jump out of the plane without a parachute especially over the ocean. You will die, drown or break your bones, then die! The same thing happens to people who grab or jump at “early retirement” offers. They may say “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush,” but a bird in hand is only one meal. If you don’t have a retirement plan and you have not been working on the plan, stay where you are and make the plan first. Cash in hand will soon be cash in store!

Retirement is not just about financial planning.

Yes, you will need the war chest of cash to see you through, but that’s just to buy stuff, not make stuff or build stuff. A sound retirement plan is also about planning for activity, productivity, efficiency and sustainability. By planning early you can determine the resources required, the timeline involved, the skills and knowhow you need to acquire or improve, as well as location.

What activities do you see yourself doing and enjoying until you’re 60, 70 or 80? Will these activities include some form of income generation or bring profits?  Assuming you have the money and property, do you have knowhow or necessary skills to build and run things that will sustain your needs, cash or otherwise?

Ultimately, retirees need something to do and the financial independence from family or the state.  

Knowhow is needed. I wrote in an earlier column that I recently enrolled in a “Basic Course on Pig Husbandry” at the ITCPH in Lipa City. If I ever decide to “retire” completely and simply be a trainer or instructor, I need to constantly upgrade my knowledge, realign my teaching with formal training and make sure that I know what I’m doing and teaching people.

On the other hand many retirees put down their hard earned money on “little projects” or one time-big time operations without even having read a single pamphlet or book about the business.

It’s not enough that we have experience, we must have formal training and we need to get certified if necessary before we pursue a retirement path. You need to have all that way before you take the exit or leave the building!

Last but not the least: Don’t drop out. Retirement is a reward, a gift to enjoy life and not a reason to forget people and relationships. Rewards are to be enjoyed with others; either to kill them from envy or to reward them for helping you get to where you are. Either way that can be a lot of fun!