Freedom 55

I am so ready for retirement. I’ve been working for nearly 40 years now with very little reprieve in between. I remember seeing the Freedom 55 commercials way back when I was 16 years old and I thought back then “I sure hope I won’t be working after 40.” In fact, I was hoping to get married at 18 and be a housewife!

Now that retirement is approaching, sometimes I think not fast enough, I must tell you that I have been researching for a number of years already. I may have mentioned before that most people spend more time planning a vacation than they do their retirement. Not me. I’ve been studying up on various aspects of retirement for a good 5 years already.

So what aspects should one look at? Financial. Social. Physical. Spiritual. Mental. Active.

Financial

There are no true guidelines out there. What I mean is this. There is nothing to tell me how much money I should have annually to live at a certain level. I want to know that if my home is paid for, if I have no debts, what would be the “right” amount of money to expect annually to keep me in decent comfort. I’ve had to make up my own formula and at a bare minimum I believe that figure to be $24,000 per annum. That is slightly above survival mode. And indications are that CPP and Old Age will bring in between $16,000 and $18,000 so that leaves a short fall of about $8,000. I will provide some spreadsheets if I can figure out how to put them on this site!

Social

I have learned that it is vital to have a circle of family and friends not just in retirement but through one’s life. If you don’t have any you better start looking around for some. Friends and family help a person get through the things we all cope with as we age but more importantly, when one retires one loses the social interaction of the work environment so it is essential to have a network to fall back on. I have my book club but there are lots of other ways one can develop relationships. In a fitness arena, in church, in hiking clubs or other activity clubs. Start thinking folks!

Mental

Speaking of thinking, I’ve also studied a number of books and articles on senility, Alzheimer’s or other forms of forgetfulness. It’s essential to keep your mind nimble. I do crosswords and sudoka and other mind games. I read a lot. I plan on studying even more once I am 65 because university is free in Canada after 65. Isn’t that great? I am thinking I would like to take horticulture because I love to garden and I believe studying horticulture will help me have a better green thumb. (well, one can always hope!)

to be continued . . . .