Recently, a retire faculty member came back to visit us. She bought a house on an acre of land back at her hometown of Richmond, Virginia. For way less money than the typical home here in the San Francisco Bay Area, she now has a main house, a guest cottage (that’s about the size of a small starter home), and plenty of grass and woodland to roam around in. It’s always been her dream to to move back home after retirement, and I’m really happy for her that it’s coming to fruition.
For whatever reason, the faculty went on this small lecture with me (once a teacher, always a teacher) about not being able to take all this money with you when you’re gone. She’s drawing two pensions plus social security. She’s not married and have zero kids. She’s 72 this year, so the clock is rapidly ticking to spend the wealth she’s accumulated over the years. Splurge mode! I’m eager to see how she decorates and furnishes the new (to her) home.
I very much agree with her that one should spend the money they’ve work so hard to acquire. I simply disagree with this eminent faculty member on the timing. I am definitely not waiting until I’m properly retired to begin enjoying the fruits of my labor. There’s no guarantee I will even reach that age: either via my own volition, or whatever natural (or man made) disaster should befallen us. My aim is to enjoy life and procure experiences throughout all of it. Pushing it all towards the supposed end is not the marshmallow test we think it is.
Some activities are better to do at an earlier age than after retirement. What good is traveling the world when you’re 60 and cannot muster then energy to be awake for longer than 24 hours. Attending the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race would be measurably more enjoyable in my 30s. Which is why I aim to go to one sometime this decade.
Scheming.