WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Content
C O U N T D O W N
Wednesday March 6
2013 84 days to go
INTO THE FINAL STRETCH – GETTING THE SCOOP – ACQUIRING THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO CREATE LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
I feel like I'm running out of time to make sure I figure this all out. My retirement app on my cell phone says I have 84 days left before I'm spending my last day at my day job. And yet, I'm heading into foreign territory. Oddly enough, I'm beginning to realize that I actually CAN afford to retire. I met with my money guy today at work. He was “in residence” for any of his clients that work for the county. He's been taking care of my retirement funds, whatever that
includes, in the form of mutual funds and all that stuff. I really never thought I'd reach a point where there was anything beyond day-to-day living I'd have to figure out. I've seen Dan a couple times a year for the twenty-five years I've worked for the county, so he knows my story pretty well. Today I signed up for three slots of time (45 minutes) so we could get down to the nitty-gritty. I told Dan that we should start from the point of knowing that I'm one of those poor widow ladies, and having spent a lot of time on used car lots in my past, my bottom-line concern is the monthlies – can I afford the monthlies.
(PAUSE)
I began writing the above when retirement was eighty-four days out. Fifty-seven days later, experiencing what I thought was an epiphany; thinking I finally had it all figured out, I went back to this reflection, reread it, and found my thoughts hadn't changed at all. My only added knowledge in that 57 days is that I've never had to be so conscious of everyday life as my new life dictates. The pause has now lasted for 57 days. I'm working harder than I can ever recall in my life, and the pause from these reflections has been filled with everything I never anticipated about the get-ready period. And after rereading what I wrote two months ago, I realize that I've had these thoughts far longer than my epiphany of just yesterday.
(FINAL PAUSE)
JUNE 20, 2013 Okay, I've gone and done it. I'm retired. Been retired for almost three weeks. Still in a state of confusion, inertia, wondering what the hell I have done, and why the hell I did it. Many of my church friends seem to already know what I'm going through. They keep telling me how much I'm going to love it and that I'm going to wonder how I ever had time for a day job. It's not that I actually miss my day job. It's just that it occupied ten hours of every day, five days a week. Now I have to come up with its replacement. Like today, for instance. After wandering aimlessly through retirement until about noon, I sat at the
piano and worked on my Sunday church gig music. After that, I put on my Lake Street Market T-shirt and headed for my daughter's deli, thinking I might have my first cash register lesson. Well, it's Summer. They are busy all the time. They added five or six new fresh-out-of-school-for-the-summer staff. Lots of training going on. So I ended up folding rags, pricing stock and tearing down cardboard boxes, while I watched, and no longer wondered why my daughter is so tired by the end of the day. After a couple of hours, I went to my bank to set up automatic monthly payments for my newly refinanced mortgage. No way I wanted to deal with the payment book they sent me in the mail. I don't even keep stamps on hand anymore. Now I'm home, just finished putting the garage back together after my big retirement party (three weeks ago – no rush). Tomorrow I have lined up two very important gigs. At noon, I meet with a friend who happens to be a personal trainer, not that I can afford such luxury. We're having lunch at my daughter's deli. Sue and I were the four-in-hand bell ringers in the bell choir at my church gig location. When I quit, she quit. She's trying to talk me into playing again, so we're going to discuss a deal, playing for training. After that, tomorrow evening I'm involved in one of my new retirement gigs. My son refers to it as “QT”, which translates to quality time with my grandsons, Will, 9, Andrew, 5, and Ryan, 4. So far I'm thinking that is the absolute best part of being retired. I know it's going to take me a while, but I think I'll get the hang of it.
Wednesday March 6
2013 84 days to go
INTO THE FINAL STRETCH – GETTING THE SCOOP – ACQUIRING THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO CREATE LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
I feel like I'm running out of time to make sure I figure this all out. My retirement app on my cell phone says I have 84 days left before I'm spending my last day at my day job. And yet, I'm heading into foreign territory. Oddly enough, I'm beginning to realize that I actually CAN afford to retire. I met with my money guy today at work. He was “in residence” for any of his clients that work for the county. He's been taking care of my retirement funds, whatever that
includes, in the form of mutual funds and all that stuff. I really never thought I'd reach a point where there was anything beyond day-to-day living I'd have to figure out. I've seen Dan a couple times a year for the twenty-five years I've worked for the county, so he knows my story pretty well. Today I signed up for three slots of time (45 minutes) so we could get down to the nitty-gritty. I told Dan that we should start from the point of knowing that I'm one of those poor widow ladies, and having spent a lot of time on used car lots in my past, my bottom-line concern is the monthlies – can I afford the monthlies.
(PAUSE)
I began writing the above when retirement was eighty-four days out. Fifty-seven days later, experiencing what I thought was an epiphany; thinking I finally had it all figured out, I went back to this reflection, reread it, and found my thoughts hadn't changed at all. My only added knowledge in that 57 days is that I've never had to be so conscious of everyday life as my new life dictates. The pause has now lasted for 57 days. I'm working harder than I can ever recall in my life, and the pause from these reflections has been filled with everything I never anticipated about the get-ready period. And after rereading what I wrote two months ago, I realize that I've had these thoughts far longer than my epiphany of just yesterday.
(FINAL PAUSE)
JUNE 20, 2013 Okay, I've gone and done it. I'm retired. Been retired for almost three weeks. Still in a state of confusion, inertia, wondering what the hell I have done, and why the hell I did it. Many of my church friends seem to already know what I'm going through. They keep telling me how much I'm going to love it and that I'm going to wonder how I ever had time for a day job. It's not that I actually miss my day job. It's just that it occupied ten hours of every day, five days a week. Now I have to come up with its replacement. Like today, for instance. After wandering aimlessly through retirement until about noon, I sat at the
piano and worked on my Sunday church gig music. After that, I put on my Lake Street Market T-shirt and headed for my daughter's deli, thinking I might have my first cash register lesson. Well, it's Summer. They are busy all the time. They added five or six new fresh-out-of-school-for-the-summer staff. Lots of training going on. So I ended up folding rags, pricing stock and tearing down cardboard boxes, while I watched, and no longer wondered why my daughter is so tired by the end of the day. After a couple of hours, I went to my bank to set up automatic monthly payments for my newly refinanced mortgage. No way I wanted to deal with the payment book they sent me in the mail. I don't even keep stamps on hand anymore. Now I'm home, just finished putting the garage back together after my big retirement party (three weeks ago – no rush). Tomorrow I have lined up two very important gigs. At noon, I meet with a friend who happens to be a personal trainer, not that I can afford such luxury. We're having lunch at my daughter's deli. Sue and I were the four-in-hand bell ringers in the bell choir at my church gig location. When I quit, she quit. She's trying to talk me into playing again, so we're going to discuss a deal, playing for training. After that, tomorrow evening I'm involved in one of my new retirement gigs. My son refers to it as “QT”, which translates to quality time with my grandsons, Will, 9, Andrew, 5, and Ryan, 4. So far I'm thinking that is the absolute best part of being retired. I know it's going to take me a while, but I think I'll get the hang of it.
