Ask the Readers: Why Are YOU Saving for Retirement?
Published on - October 23rd, 2009 (by J.D. Roth) As I shared yesterday afternoon, although I believe National Save for Retirement Week is important, I find the topic dreadfully dull when stretched out for a week of blog posts. Lesson learned.
Still, I don’t think all retirement discussions have to induce snores or tears. In fact, when you think about it, retirement — especially early retirement — ought to be something to celebrate. When a person has managed to save and make smart choices, they have a chance to opt out of the rat race and pursue the things they really love.
(Note that some people, such as my wife, are fortunate to work at jobs they love in the first place. They’re already doing something they really love.)
Rather than talk more about the numbers or the various types of retirement plans, I thought it would be fun to have a chatty open discussion about our actual plans for the future. Each of us has a different vision of what we’d do if we didn’t have to work, a different reason for saving. I want to know what you intend to do once you’ve reached that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
I’ll go first.
I don’t actually envision my retired life being much different than it is right now. I’d still write — I’d just do less of it. For the past few years, I’ve spent 60-80 hours a week writing. That’s too much.
I got to spend most of September writing just 20 hours per week. With the rest of my time, I worked in the yard, walked around the neighborhood, and read comic books. I have to tell you, that’s ideal. That’s what I want daily life to be like in retirement. And I want to be able to spend several weeks per year traveling with Kris, visiting countries all around the world.
That, my friends, is my ideal retirement.
What about you? What do you see yourself doing in retirement? What does retirement mean to you?
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
This article is about Ask the Readers, Planning, Retirement
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Discover is a paid advertiser of this site. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
SEARCH FOR RECENT ARTICLES
I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this on a PF blog – but I hate my job and I’d like to at least cut down on my hours. I’m in the process of doing that now.
But I must be in the minority. I read several PF blogs and EVERYBODY LOVES their job. I’m not proud to admit I’m jealous.
loading....
We saved for retirement, retired and are now dealing with health issues, besides money, take care of your health, exercise, smile, enjoy each day you have, hold hands with you partner, take time to enjoy the sunshine. Do not over indulge in spending or eating.
Saving for retirement is very necessary. Safely investing in retirement is also necessary.
I am now working on supplementing our retirement.
For those who read this site which has given me great encouragement. I am leaving a Google check out coupon code. Guess where I got the name for the code.
getrich09
This code will be good from 10/24/09 -11/15/09
Discount: 5.0%
Restrictions: Purchase over $20.00.
Limit 1 per customer.
While supplies last!
http://florida-house-deals.ecrater.com
http://florida-house.ecrater.com
loading....
@ kevin – don’t feel bad… I’d say that some people do exaggerate the amount they really love their job. I don’t love my job, but I like who I work with and it’s really not bad. If you’re doing something you truly hate right now then perhaps it’s best to search for another opportunity.
loading....
I suppose I am a little weird compared to everyone on here.
I am 29, and 5 years ago, I decided what I wanted. I realized, you work to pay for things, so if I don’t need to pay for things, I don’t need to work.
Yes, I am in a job I like, so its nothing really like that, but I don’t want to be indebted to anyone.
My wife and I have a lovely little girl, but we rent. We both save a huge amount of our wages, but almost half of our expenditure goes on Rent, and it would be the same with a mortgage.
(Our wedding in a church, even though we are not religious, it’s just the pomp and ceremony, and a reception afterwards was less than £3000, not the £15-20,000 our friends have paid, and it was a very very special day)
We are saving to buy some land and self build a passivehaus home outright with cash, no loans, no monthly mortgage payment.
My mum and Dad grow veg on there land, and we have a small area where we do the same. This is all we want. Live with no bills, grow our own food, use wind turbines to create electricity, rain water harvesting, have coppicing for a fire. Simple life sort of stuff.
I currently convert cars to electric power for people (in my spare time) and make a good amount of money, I could do one a fortnight, but based on our planned expenditure 2 a year would suffice.
We live in the UK, so our National insurance contributions have paid for healthcare and pension (if we needed them), although I can’t seem to see why Americans get so many health complaints.
My grandparents passed away (granddad 95, nan 93), so the money we inherited is currently in a savings account to pay for University, Car, house etc for our daughter and possibly other children we want.
I will be retiring at about the age of 39 / 40.
Have a small amount of money to take holidays, and live without financial commitment, the way we dream.
(Hopefully the land we get will be big enough so that we can offer space to our parents and family if they want to move closer, my brother and his wife like the idea but couldn’t save a penny if there life depended on it.)
loading....
I don’t see myself retiring: my father never did, and having work he loved was, I am sure, the reason he lived long. I love work and need to be useful. However, I may have to accept a reduced paycheck, illness etc, and having been single all my life, no kids, I have only myself to depend on. I have therefore saved hard since my 20s, and my investments, tho pummeled like everyone else’s, are starting to yield dividends. I dont need to work to pay my power bill…. I have no debt except the mortgage and am saving every penny I can.
That said, I see myself getting involved with all sorts of non profits as a volunteer and staying engaged that way-a life of “leisure” would drive me nuts and I have neither kids nor grandkids to visit tho I do have nieces and nephews. My dream job would be to run my own foundation-I notice trust lawyers who manage small foundations live to be really old and stay sharp as tacks.
loading....
I loved reading all of the responses! #84 and #88 were two of the most interesting.
I save for retirement like crazy because my father taught me to do so both with actual advice and by example. My parents were able to retire early at 55 (and they DID like their teaching jobs, by the way) and have been traveling and buying almost whatever they want ever since. They are about to take a 30-day cruise next month for instance!
I therefore save over 18% of my husband’s income (I’m a stay-at-home mother) in order to be able to have that kind of life which will hopefully be when my husband and I are about 56. I don’t think we’ll be able to retire by 55 but hopefully well before 60. Since I come from long-lived stock I anticipate my retirement funds will have to last me until I’m at LEAST 100 so I have a long way to go until I feel we’ve saved enough to retire, let alone retire early. It helps that my husband will have a pension. So far we have accumulated $133,000 in savings and we’re only 33. I don’t understand friends and siblings of mine who are not contributing heavily to retirement accounts–I can’t imagine leaving my future up to chance. I want my husband to have the freedom to do whatever he wants in retirement.
loading....
@Kevin,
I dont know how old you are, but if you are young, start looking for a different job-one you love. I know-its tough in this economy-but if you can grit your teeth and hang on-start planning, and use the next year or two to put plans in place. The reality is most of us work, so do something you enjoy. I have had two careers I loved-scientist and now fundraiser. I made a serious career change at 41, started at the bottom again and am now at the top-I have a third career in me somewhere-I am 54, never took a paycut etc-also I am single but thats why Im single-I wanted a great career. Everyone has their challenges-it how you play the cards you are dealt that matters.
loading....
I’m not saving for retirement. I’m saving for the day when factors beyond my control (economy, law changes, demographic changes, etc) mean my business may have to wind down. Could I go back to working a regular job following someone else’s direction? Yes. Do I want to? No way.
To get to my goal, I’m taking a multi-prong approach. 1) Save 70% of my salary. 2) Test the waters overseas to see if retirement outside the USA is suitable. 3) Broaden/increase my passive income stream to the point where I can retire anywhere in the world.
loading....
I haven’t started saving for retirement yet because I have too much debt. I’m working to pay that off, however, within the next year I want to start putting money away even if it is only $100/month. I am only 22 so time is on my side. However, I do have some health issues so I don’t plan on working until 65.
I honestly do not think my body will handle working past 55, but who knows. That’s why I am trying to learn skills that I can do on a part-time basis for the times when my body needs a rest and I can generate extra income without it taking a toll on my health.
loading....
We save because most of the places we’d like to live are not commutable to well-paying jobs. My husband would like to continue working part-time as long as he’s able, but he doesn’t want to be tied to a full-time corporate job just because of the paycheck. We hope that as soon as we’re Empty Nesters (about 14 years) we can sell the big house and buy a small bungalow on the water in a town that is walkable enough to go down to one car.
Most of our grandparents lived well into their 80′s and 90′s (my grandfather just celebrated his 95th!) and the ones that didn’t needed a lot of medical care in their final years, so either way we’ll need a good sum of money before we “retire”.
loading....
I save for retirement for flexibility and because it is so attractive from a financial/tax perspective. My “state of retirement” will hopefully be very active with continued writing and consulting when I feel like it. However, the long time frame and favorable treatments make it impossible for me to pass up the chance to put money into a long-term fund, even if I may never truly be fully “retired”!
loading....
My main concern is being able to live comfortably in retirement — to have my basic needs (housing, food, medical care) met, so that I can spend my time cooking, volunteering, and “puttering” instead of worrying about making ends meet.
Travel is important for me, but I don’t want to put it off for 30 or more years until I retire. Currently, I’m trying to take (modest) trips abroad every 3-5 years, and I daydream about taking a sabbatical (six months, or one year) in my mid- to late-40′s.
loading....
Retirement, on a philosophical level, for me is doing what I want, when I want, with no financial commitments to others. Basically, creating my own schedule. I could still be ‘working’, but it would only be when I wanted to for the fulfillment of it. On a more practical level, I’d sleep in, go on a long bike ride, grow my own food, meditate, read a lot, volunteer, spend time with family, and have a beer every day.
loading....
I see my retirement fund as my future long term emergency fund. There is a chance that our social security system will not cover a lot when I retire. The money I’m saving is to make sure I will be able to live decently.
I’m not saving to travel the world or leaving behind a huge inheritance. I just want to be able to cover the basics.
loading....
@kevin #101.
“But I must be in the minority. I read several PF blogs and EVERYBODY LOVES their job.”
Trust me Kevin, not everybody loves their job. I’d say the opposite is true… and that if ‘everybody’ wasn’t paid, they’d probably stop showing up.
Many of us had jobs that demanded 12 hours or more from us, under physically arduous conditions, with frequent moves at our employer’s “request”, and now have chronic health problems as a result. My point?
Saving for retirement is saving against the day when you cannot work full-time any longer. Yes, we’ll always try to optimize our lives – including working if that’s still possible – but most of the retirement plans your read above included NOT working full-time at some point in the future.
Don’t worry Kevin, you’re in good company.
And one more comment to those who plan to move overseas where it’s cheap. Many countries don’t have solid laws against you having your property taken away from you. Plan on being expropriated and repatriated, (i.e., rent, don’t buy), and you’ll be a lot better off when the knock on your door comes at 4am and you find yourself dumped at the border with no real hope of legal redress.
loading....
Wow, Paul in cAshburn, sounds like you have some very interesting stories to tell.
I’m saving for early retirement because I’m pretty sure I can think of more fun things for me to do than any boss can.
I plan to do the same things I’m doing now, only more so. I already read, watch movies, listen to and make music, dance, jog, socialize, write, cook, clean, take informal classes, and travel. When I retire, I plan to exercise more regularly and doing more activities, do more housework so the house is always presentable, try more recipes, bring picnic lunches to my still-working friends, have more parties, learn Spanish and maybe ASL, audit classes, volunteer at the local school, make stuff like birdhouses, quilts, and low-budget probably bad movies.
Based on the experiences of a few friends who have taken a year or two of “early retirement” (purposeful unemployment), I still won’t have enough time to do everything I want to. But I will have time to do more of it, and I will spend less time doing what some employer wants me to do.
I’m pretty sure I won’t end up like Kevin’s father, which I fear is quite common in our society where you are what you “do,” and once you don’t have a job, then it’s sort of like you’re nothing. I do know I have some tendencies to get less done when I don’t have a schedule, so, I’ll make one for myself, but most of it will be a lot more flexible than my current one!
loading....
I am trying to get my life right now to a place where I am doing something I love every day. I save for retirement because I want to make sure I can keep doing that through my life. I have three young children. While I don’t want to support them through their lives, I do want to be able to help them through a crisis the way my parents have done for me.
Basically, I’m saving for peace of mind and love of life– the things I’m working SO hard to achieve in the present.
loading....
@Paul #115 and Maharani #107 – Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. I’m working with a career counselor so we’ll see where that leads. I know I’m lucky to have a job. Thanks again.
loading....
My husband-to-be and I don’t envision an early retirement. Instead, we’re planning to take as many sabbaticals as possible and travel while we’re still young and able-bodied.
If I had to choose an ideal plan for retirement, it would include very few days at home. But am I really going to enjoy hiking through the mountains at 65? Will I be able to eat anything and everything, even from street vendors, at 70? I really don’t want to think about having to take shorter flights because of the risk of blood clots in my legs. And I don’t want to worry about carting around a half-dozen medications all over the world.
Instead, we’re including a one-year trip in our five-year plan and another as soon as possible after that. Yes, this is pushing retirement back much more than the one year we’ll be away. We’ve discussed and it’s worth it.
I supposed I should also mention that kids are not currently on the agenda.
loading....
retirement to me is surfing the days away on a secluded beach with a cooler of beers waiting. i could do it ever day. the hard part is finding that beach and a house for under a couple million!
loading....
Like JD, retirement for me means fewer work hours. Instead of working 7 hours daily, I would like to continue teaching perhaps working half a day. The reminder of the time, I want to be reading, walking, and doing more reading.
loading....
Id like to be a able to have the option to retire by 40 but I doubt I will. So long as I am doing something I enjoy I cant say I will ever stop. Life would become too boring I think. However in saying this I would like to go on holidays whenever I like, take a day off here and there and not need to go to work.
loading....
I am fortunate enough to be self employed with 3 different businesses. A lawn care business that I may sell to my long term employee, or just have him run it for me into my old age. A web design, hosting business that has alot of passive hosting income and I can manage from the road, and a decent rental real estate business I just started a year or so ago that is doing ok so far and will generate lots of equity and passive income later on. So I concur with the “no major change” group, — in fact my daughter graduating high school and going to college will create far more change than any retirement age. When she graduates, wife and I will do a bit o’ vagabonding. Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, etc. etc. etc. and more etc.
loading....
@Kevin-there are people who do retire and retire well because they were smart when they were younger.
I hate the people who say that we have lofty goals, they’re not lofty at all. Reasons to save for retirement is FREEDOM. FREEDOM from the 9-5, FREEDOM to travel, and live the life that you want without worry.
It must be possible because plenty of retirees do it. They go traveling, they garden, they volunteer, they read, they watch tv and go to the movies, they go out with their friends, they exercise, they write novels, they pursue the arts, they cook and bake.
IMO there are affordable and expensive ways to do anything. Take scrapbooking some people spend hundreds on supplies and others are able to spend very little and produce beautiful scrapbooks.
Not everyone becomes some vegetable when they are retire. Many who retire, love it and refuse to go back.
loading....
I believe that there are affordable and expensive ways to retire.
I’m saving for retirement by choosing not to live in expensive populated cities. I could live in NYC or LA but then most of my money would go to expensive rent or an expensive house. I don’t want to do that.
I currently live in the midwest and housing and apartment rent is more affordable here. I’m choosing not to live in an expensive area so over time I can save MORE for my retirement. When I do retire, it will never be to some expensive place. Absolutely not. I won’t have to worry about “downsizing” when I’m in my 50s.
I think the key to a successful while you are young and when you are older is to know what is enough. Some people never reach their “enough” financially speaking, I think this is why you see working class people that win the lottery broke 5 years later.
Many lottery winners do end up broke after winning the lottery 5 years later or so. Even millionaires end up being broke, famous celebrities like Ava Gardner, MC Hammer, etc. went broke even though they earned gobs and gobs of money in their life.
Did you know that Ava Gardner had to have her ex-bf Frank Sinatra pay her hospital bills because she was too broke? Its pretty sad.
Many Americans retire oversees because its more affordable and they like the different culture. You don’t have to retire oversees to retire affordably I am just giving an example. But the point I’m trying to make its that its possible to retire well and not be miserable.
loading....