Retirement

It should have been easy! At least I had convinced myself that it would be easy for me. I was once a retirement benefits counselor. I knew what to do! Well, as it turned out, retirement was not any easier for me. It’s truly one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Retirement is in fact, a life changing event, meaning that it scores in the top ten of stressful life events. If you want happiness in retirement, I remember saying…START PLANNING FOR IT AS SOON AS YOU BEGIN WORKING.

Yes, that’s right, at the beginning of your career, start planning your retirement. Make sure you have passive income by the time you retire, if not sooner. For most of us, unless we win the lottery or become wealthy by inheritance, planning means that we need to have a pension. Thankfully, I started planning for retirement when I started working, at the otherwise naive age of sixteen. Even so, retirement, after almost 38 years was traumatic. I’d had the most amazing experiences with the most amazing people and it’s where I met my husband. Now here we are on our next adventures!

Yippee! I’m so grateful for the benefits I gained by sticking with it. That being said, where do I go from here? How do I stay engaged with the world and maintain my freedom? I can travel, what I’ve always loved to do!