If you’ve read the about Money is not Taboo page, you’ve gotten the gist of why I’ve put this website together.
Yep, to motivate myself to learn more about Personal Finance and to help others learn at an earlier age than I did. I’ve blundered through the world of personal finance for decades.
My age? I turned 57 on March 15, 2017. I’ve been retired since 2014.
My dad never retired.
Well, he did, kind of. Dad officially retired from IBM, in June 1986, after 2o some odd years. He then went right back to work for them as a contractor, teaching operating systems for IBM. A few years later Dad went freelance and taught operating systems at locations all over the USA.
As I said, Dad never actually retired. In 1987 he was rushed into the hospital for a triple bypass, he was 53. Even when things go right, bypasses are not easy surgeries. Dad’s didn’t go right. He kept bleeding internally, resulting in him receiving about 7 units of blood. He was on and off the table for about 10 years.
This was back when blood wasn’t screened as well as these days. Dad ended up with Hepatitis C, but his ticker was back to work, as was he when he had recovered. Although the family urged him to retire, or at least work less, he continued to work.
1997 rolled around.
Dad started feeling bad; sluggish, shortness of breath, and just feeling off. Turns out one of his heart valves was failing and he was suffering from Congestive Heart Failure. Dad decided that he was retiring that year. He really didn’t; he just stopped working because of his health.
The last week of August, 1997 Dad underwent surgery to have an artificial valve put in. Again, surgery did not go well. He was on and off the table again because of internal bleeding.
Dad was in intensive care for several days, then in rehab a few more. When he was released, everybody was optimistic about his full recovery. That didn’t happen.
Dad lived only one week after being released from the hospital. He died at home, September 11, 1997, the year that he was going to quit working.
Dad never actually retired, never spent free time with Mom, never enjoyed the fruits of his long years of work. It’s not that they couldn’t afford to. They could. For some unknown reason, Dad stayed in the rat race.
Spring of 1998.
I started having chest pains, shortness of breath, lack of energy. This was unnerving as I had been on a fairly heart healthy diet for years. I was running 5K’s competitively. I was a private pilot. I was too young to have heart disease! Turns out I did. I was dealing with arterial blockage.
I got scoped, where it was discovered that I had a thrombotic buildup. The doctor chose to treat with medications, which was successful enough that I was able to regain my flight status, get back to running, and moving on with life.
With that experience, I decided that I was going to retire earlier than the usual 65. I was building my time in education and needed to reach my 80. That was my years of service, plus my age. Once they both added up to 80 I could pull full retirement.
Fast forward to 2014. I started having chest pain again.
Went in for another scope, this time I had to have a double bypass myself. I was 54. Right when that happened I had just hit my 80 and despite enjoying teaching and counseling at a local college, decided that it was time to “Pull the Plug.” I retired.
I was not going to follow in my Father’s footsteps any more than I already had. My wife Selena had retired from Target a few years earlier, so why not?
With the help of my mandated teacher retirement system, and other investments, we were able leave rat race. Now, I’m still interested in making money, but now days I do it on my on time, at the comfort of my home, or anywhere I can lug my laptop.
Dad died at 63
It was just a couple of months before he would have been 64. He left my Mom, me and my sister, our spouses, and my two kids way to early. He never enjoyed the financial freedom that he could have.
So, the whole reason behind this ramble?
Work to Live, Don’t Live to Work.
Money is a tool, not a master.
Put enough away for retirement.
If you do so, you can enjoy financial independence. Why not sooner than later? It’s a matter of determining how much you need each year to pay all your bills. The lower the amount of your bills, the less you’ll have to put away for the long run. To help plan for retirement you can check out:
- Fidelity’s Retirement Planning Overview
- USAA Retirement Saving and Investing
- Vanguard Retirement Planning
- Bankrate’s Retirement Calculator
- Suze Orman’s Retirement Planning
There are SO many ways to put money away for retirement, aka Financial Independence. There’s no reason not to take advantage of them. If your employer offers a matching plan, you’d be throwing away money if you don’t take advantage of it.
Employer Matched Retirement Plans = FREE Money!!!
Even if you don’t have access to a matched retirement plan, there’s many options out there. You just have to figure out what’s best for you. Check out these links to learn more.
- Traditional IRAs (Tax deferred savings, taxed when drawn out in retirement)
- Roth IRAs (After tax savings, no tax charged when drawn out in retirement)
- HSAs (Health Savings Accounts allow you to reimburse medical costs at any time, not just when they occur)
- And More at Nerd Wallet
The younger you start, the greater compounding interest is going to work in your favor. It’s a mathematical fact. Get started in your 20’s, your 30’s, your 40’s, whenever. Just get started in retirement planning and investing.
You want to see what I’m talking about compounding interest? Check out this article on the power of compounding interest at www.moneyunder30.com. This is powerful stuff!!!! (Pun Intended)
If you’re suffering from more month than money each month, then you might have to look at cutting back on expenses or making extra money. There’s many options for that.
David Carlson
David Carlson is the founder of Young Adult Money, has written an awesome book called Hustle Away Debt. It’s full of great ideas. David and his wife married with a combined school debt of around $100,000.00. They’ve been side hustling for years, chipping away at that debt.
You can buy his book by clicking on the link to the right. As this is an affiliate link, Money is not Taboo will receive a small commission on the purchase. I’ve read the book twice now, and still refer back to it. You want to boost your income, you need to get David’s book.
The More Money You Have
The more money you have and the less debt you have will result in more opportunities to put away for the future. It’s not really hard, especially if you automate your saving and investing, oh and keep the auto debt, credit card debt, and other negative compounding interest vehicles to a minimum. Do you really need a new car every three, five, or seven years?
Think of what that money could do if deposited in an investment account!
So, enough of my rambling. I think I’ve made my point. I really wish that my Dad had done what I’ve done, actually retired. It would have been nice to spend more time with him, not jetting around the states, always working.
Oh well, too late for him, but not too late for others. I’m going to try to spread the word.
So, how about you, do you have any retirement planning in place? Any investments? No?
Now’s the time to get started.
“Reading back through the post, I noticed some inacurracies, but at the same time it reminded me of why I want folks to make enough money to quit working when they want to.
My sister, a veterinary doctor, is still working at 58, despite Lupus and Leperosy. Says she has to keep making money.
Not me, I don’t have to, but I like to, so my gigs are all set to revolve around MY schedule, not an employer’s.
It’s possible.
Just make changes to make it happen.
I hope that my sister will.
