The road to retirement is paved with a variety of challenges. As I embark on my own retirement journey at this time, I’ve done some reflecting on what it took to get here.
I can remember my first day of school: kindergarten, academia, I had arrived! I was ready to consume the plethora of knowledge needed to secure my place in the annals of success and be esteemed by all. Well it didn’t happen quite that way.
I had a plan. The walls of my room were adorned with pennants from the universities who would be negotiating for my attendance: Harvard, Stanford, Cal and MIT were among the elite. By the time I reached high school however, those pennants were replaced with sports banners and the idols of my day: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. Of course I still had the plan of attending a major university, which I did.
I made the most out of the social opportunities university life presented. It was there I met my wife and companion of the last 43 years.
To my sheer disappointment, reality set in. There weren’t dozens of Fortune 500 companies bidding on the rights for my livelihood. Also missing on the scene were potential prospects that would be the stepping stones to my upwardly mobile career path. The sheepskin did not immediately open doors.
My perspective immediately changed with fatherhood. No longer were my dreams and schemes significant. I not only had a wife to support, but now a child whose needs would supersede my own. We struggled like many young couples do. I took various odd jobs and continued my education in an area that presented many more prospects than my current degree. In time I secured a position with a prominent Aerospace company in Southern California.
At the start of my career my financial goals were about the family needs; a family car, and a mortgage. A savings account was on the list as well. Retirement was not even an afterthought at that time. My company provided a very lucrative salaried savings program where they matched contributions, but I was more interested in having more take home pay, not less.
Within six months I had established what I thought was a pretty valuable network of co-workers. Several of us were enjoying burgers at lunch when the subject of the company’s salaried savings benefit became the topic of discussion. Everyone was lauding the praises of how well the market had been doing: high risk versus low risk and substantial rate of return on their investments. I was asked how mine were doing and I sheepishly replied, “I’m not a participant in the plan.” This sparked more
questions regarding what financial firm was handling my money for me. I responded that I hadn’t set up any retirement accounts yet and I really couldn’t afford it at this time.
I sensed an atmosphere of disapproval as they shook their heads in disbelief. Realizing I was about to be expelled from the special boys club I asked, “Can anyone help me put mine together?” With that I was redeemed and back in their good graces.
I started out slow; five percent of my gross went into my 401K every two weeks. It wasn’t much at first, but it was building. As I received raises, I made sure I increased my deposit percentage. After fourteen years I felt pretty comfortable with the nest egg I was accumulating. It was at this time my parents, who were getting on in their years, requested that I start preparing their taxes and managing their finances.
Like most children of the ’50s and ’60s, I grew up having no idea what kind of money my parents made or what their financial portfolio resembled. I only knew that I had a home to live in, nice clothes to wear, and always a good meal come dinnertime. I never thought things like, “Are we poor? Are we middle class (whatever that is)?” I certainly knew we weren’t rich. I only remember I was like all my friends in the neighborhood and that was good enough for me.
My retirement epiphany came once I began taking care of my parent’s finances. They were deeply in debt and the house they had lived in had been refinanced several times over the last thirty years and they still owed five times the amount of the original purchase price! By now, both my parents were on fixed incomes and they had health issues. I decided I couldn’t allow myself to get into that position.
I told my parents we would be going after the credit cards first. Extravagant purchases or eating out all the time would now be a thing of the past. I put together a plan to have credit cards paid off in one year. I demanded discipline and implemented it.
I also looked at my own budget and debts at the time. I increased my 401K to the maximum contribution allowed. I also created a one-year plan to be out of debt except for the family car and mortgage. My parents’ finances were becoming increasingly difficult with their health issues mounting. With a heavy heart I had the burdensome task of telling them we were going to have to sell their home and they would come live with me.
The good news is the house sold quickly and there was still plenty of equity in their home that allowed them to live comfortably until they passed on seven years later.
As for me, I have learned a great deal from this experience. I have done much research on the subject of retirement, enlisted the aid of a financial counselor and have prepared myself for my own retirement which happens April 25.
I am not going to be sitting with my toes in the sand on some tropical beach since that is financially unrealistic. Nor will I be rocking on my front porch in a seersucker suit, straw hat sipping sweet tea. As picturesque as that sounds, I believe it would be boring. I have a plan and a strategy.
The plan and strategy I have developed with the help of friends and professionals will allow me to live comfortably and pursue my interests which include writing, continuing with my musicianship, attending adult community education classes and some travel just to name a few.
I look forward to my next journey as I travel on the road to retirement that I have paved for myself.
