The 401k gets raided during a health emergency. The asset accumulation of the fifties decade fails to materialize during a recession and associated unemployment. The high income promised by greater experience is minimized by an age bias in hiring. People like to hire others like them. A thirty-five year old does not see, or wish to accept, his reflection in the eyes of an elder.
Is the plan then to work until you drop? To move in with the kids, claiming an equal trade for times they moved back home? To clear the home refinances with a sale that allows the purchase of a tiny-house, or maybe a trailer? It’s disappointing, depressing, and scary.
Don’t wait until retirement to retire. Do it now, in slices. Don’t go away for a long weekend: take two weeks of full enjoyment. Then yes, it’s back to the grind for a while.
Don’t wait until you can buy a place on a balmy coast. Rent a cottage now and float – sun-kissed –in the buoyant saltwater! Drive through the Southwest, car-camping and lodging your way through the Grand Canyon and National Parks of rocky majesty. Pop in for a week with your kids, frolicking with grandchildren who like to somersault and blow iridescent bubbles into the gentle spring wind!
Start now: retire early, in little, savored slices of life. Travel before it’s difficult. Climb before the pains prevent it. Ride a bike along a beautiful pathway while your balance is still good. Don’t wait for some numbers to add up correctly. Pawn the promise of a gold watch for the rush of a ride down a whitewater river.
If you wait ’til the financial numbers seems right, until the actuarial prognosis is optimized, you may never get the chance.