Today the hunk and I went to see a Financial Planner. The hunk's employer (in their usual fashion) offered a retirement incentive plan with a long lead time to consider it--30 days. So on the 22nd of this month he must notify his company if he plans to take the retirement package. And if his application is accepted, his last day will be the 29th.Of necessity, we needed to figure out whether we could actually live on his pension plan. It was an interesting experience. For several years we've lived a cash only existence. And we have NO debts. The planner wasn't quite sure what to make of us. It took him a while to move past that.
We spent pretty much most of our marriage in debt. When we finally had an opportunity to change that, we very deliberately paid everything off with the view that we wanted to be debt free when we reached retirement age.
Now, we have approximately two weeks to pull our stuff together, file whatever paperwork we need to file, and get ready to leap out into the unknown territory know as retirement.
Friends ask me what the hunk is going to do after he retires. The answer is? I have nooooo idea. I plan to get up every morning and lock myself in my office.
In our other planning and speculations, we never really thought about what the hunk would do when he no longer had to work. After thirty-nine years on the job, it's pretty ingrained for him to "get up and go". Computer games and surfing the internet can only take up so much time.
So in the next couple weeks we'll also be researching things. There are volunteer possibilities. We have a senior citizen center not very far away with lots of activities. He could go for a walk. He could go to the gym. It's interesting that we don't plan that part of our lives as meticulously as we plan our finances.
What about you? What will you do when you retire?
anny
The hunk, if I may be so bold to call him that, has always soundd to be like someone who would be prefect to volunteer and help others - even maybe teaching handiwork stuff. Me? I'm going to be a witch
ReplyDeleteOk...make that more of a witch than I am
ReplyDeleteI suspect the hunk will fiddle for a bit, then find something that suits him perfectly. As for me? Writing IS retirement, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteSince I 'retired' at age 26...
ReplyDeleteIf my SU retires, I've threatened to go back to work, ha ha! We already have too much together time.
But I know it is approaching in the next ten years.
I've never worked anyplace that has a pension plan, so no retirement for me, even though I have a relatively healthy 401k ('relatively'). My spouse 'retired' this year into a new career of teaching glass art, so we've already done what you're going through now re: figuring out if it can be done. It's an interesting experience & one I recommend people try on a regular basis, whether or not they'll actually follow through with it. It's fun to see how our perceptions of 'work' change over time.
ReplyDeleteI seriously like my day job & will not leave until I'm no longer capable of doing the work. It gives me an excellent salary, flexible hours, and interesting work. I can fit my writing in my free time & find that work gives me a nice break from writing & helps give me perspective on my plots & characters.
As to the spouse: he'll find the right fit somewhere. He can work part-time, probably, or volunteer, or do any number of things. I've seen my hub branch out into fields he could never have considered before while working full-time. It's a very neat thing to watch.
I really liked my job but the hunk was transferred to a new city so I left my job (that would have been a FIERCE commute).
ReplyDeleteIt took me a few months to wind down and settle into something new. I tried sewing, calligraphy, painting, before I finally settled on writing. So I'm not expecting an instantaneous "fit" for him.
Life-changing stuff huh? He'll figure it out eventually but after all these years of working a break will be nice for him.
ReplyDelete