What are you going to do with yourself when you retire? If you dream of packing up the motor home, or the fifth wheel, or the travel trailer, and leaving it all behind, that is great...
but then what? You can only travel and play tourist for so long before boredom sets in.
You are no longer on vacation, where you plan endless destinations and excitement to entertain yourself for ten days, and then return home to your real life.
This is now your real life, and it is going to go on for a long time, so I suggest right now, while you are still in the planning stages, you ask yourself some hard questions, and the first one to ask is, what does retirement mean to me? You must be very, very honest with yourself.
If your job is your life, and at the end of each day, you have no further plans, nothing exciting to look forward to, no hobbies or skill sets to escape to, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Yes, I know you are going to travel, and see the country, but you know what? After awhile, the rest of the country all starts to look the same, with a few fabulous, fantastic sights thrown in to relieve the boredom...
then what? How many museums can you visit? How many sightseeing tours can you take? How many different states can you visit? Yes, yes I know, it is going to be very exciting for the first couple of years, but then you will start to consider your options.
Well, we've already been there, done that.
Now what are we going to do? Many, many couples, who are excited about their new life of freedom, end up leaving the road, selling the motor home, going back to stix and brix, and getting a job, because they did not plan ahead for the what ifs.
They thought their retirement life was just going to consist of the pleasure of rolling down the road to the next destination.
They never took into consideration that 75% of your time consists of the day to day grind of just living life, cleaning the house, buying the groceries, cooking the meals, and only about 25% is the excitement of being free, living the life of riley.
When we began planning our retirement, I knew that I would never be able to sit still, and do nothing.
I knew that I would always need to work at something, be it creating craft projects to sell, volunteering at different churches around the country, or maybe volunteering at State or National Parks, there was no doubt in my mind that I would need something to keep me occupied.
As the Activities Directors for a large RV park, one of the first questions we were asked, "what kind of entertainment are you going to provide for the men? They need something to do.
" Huh? Having a very self sufficient husband, who has no problem finding something productive to do, I must admit I was totally taken aback, and truly did not have an answer.
We set up golf tournaments twice per week, and horseshoe tournaments every day at four o'clock.
The guys set up a day that they all went out to lunch, and they played poker in the evenings twice per week...
but you get my point? Can you really live like that for the next twenty years? What is the answer? In a recent article that I read, a gentleman stated that in his opinion, being retired meant having the financial freedom to do what you loved without worrying about whether you could make money at it or not.
I tend to agree.
Think of something you are so passionate about, that you are excited to get up every morning to make it happen.
Figure out a way you can make your dream happen in your retirement years, then go forth and prosper.