Last month I turned 31 and while some friends and I were getting a coffee I was asked a simple question:
How does feel to be 31?
I thought about this for only a second when I replied:
The same except I might be a little happy being a year closer to retirement.
What a strange response that is! I began to wonder if I’m obsessing over retirement too much. I needed to take a few moments to reflect. How does one make sure that they enjoy this phase of their life and not just rushing through it to get to the next phase?
Know Your Retirement Goals
First you need to take a moment and think about about what you want out of retirement. Theses are the things that you want to enjoy doing in retirement. This is the my list:
- Spend at least 3 months a year traveling
- Live abroad (I really want to live in France)
- Learn different languages
- Pursue all of my hobby interests from athletics to cuisine
Get A Taste Of Retirement Now
Look at your life and see what you are doing now that ties into your retirement goals. Are getting a taste of the things you want to do in retirement now? Looking at my goals this is what I came up with:
- My wife and I don’t spend months traveling but we do get around. We like to alternate years of travel. Some years we take trips that cost a bit more like Europe and on alternate years we take 4 days trips to places like Chicago
- We aren’t in a position to move abroad right now but I am looking into getting my EU passport just in case an employment opportunity comes up or for when we do move to France when we retire
- I try and speak french with my wife once a week. Its a slow process but its a start
- Right now I’m taking Muay Thai and I frequent different restaurants with varying prices ranges and menus
Goal or Obsession?
Look at you life. Ask yourself are you doing things you enjoy now or are you waiting for retirement? If you are exclusively waiting for retirement then you may be obsessed. Take a moment to breathe and look around your community. I’m sure you’ll find something going on which will give you that taste of the things you are hoping to do in retirement.
For me, when I look at the things I do now and the things I want to do in retirement I realized that I wasn’t obsessed. I am doing exactly what I enjoy now and my desire to retire stems from my eagerness to do even more of the things I enjoy.
I want to hear from you:
Do you have a list of things you want to do when you retire? What are you doing now that gives you a “taste” of retirement?
