January 29, 2010
Now that I've announced my retirement I'm getting encouragement from some who already are there. Below is a note from Don, a former Columbian colleague:
"There’s a lot of hand wringing over retirement and how much money you need. When I began thinking about retiring, I looked at many formulas and guides, and read advice from so-called experts. My mind became more twisted than usual. Then I realized that none of the experts were retired themselves, so they didn’t know any more than I did. Experts are good at telling other people what they need. Like politicians. Common sense told me that before I started to think seriously about retirement, I needed to pay off my debts. It doesn’t take a genius to know that if you go into retirement owing money, you’re asking for trouble. So, for the 20 years prior to retirement, I used every pay raise to pay off two mortgages and sock away anything left into an IRA. I also always put the maximum in my 401k. My brother retired early and continually harassed me about doing the same. He argued that I shouldn’t work my life away. When he died at age 64, it underscored how short life can be, and the importance of things other than work, regardless of how rewarding it may be. When I was 59, I looked at my nest egg and decided it could provide an acceptable income for 28 years, without factoring in Social Security or any interest from the investments. And I had a beach house and a Vancouver condo that could be sold if times got really hard. It was time to go ... and I did. And I’ve never looked back, never second-guessed the decision. Aside from the aches and pains of age, this is the best time of my life. So congrats on your decision to retire. You won’t regret it."
Cheers! Don.
