I haven’t seen much of my parents lately. My mom retired at the end of May and she had warned us that we may not see much of mom and dad.
They have been off to Hawaii, Arizona, Germany, back to Hawaii, Paris, and Washington D.C. and that is just since May. All I can say is good for them and they have earned it.
What a Relief
My mom should be starting meetings today along with the rest of the teachers who start back a week before the students. Today she woke up and went out for her normal morning walk and went back home and worked on some projects around the house and then went to the movies. She said she just can’t stop smiling knowing that it is over.
My mom isn’t the only one around me that has retired. My former boss also recently retired and my mom and boss both said the exact same thing, “it is such a relief.”
They have worked and worked and worked for decades. They did what was right and saved and invested and they are off to play while they can do it.
What has been interesting is that not once have they talked about their money, they have talked about the relief of being done.
Obviously, money helps get to that overall goal but the greatest satisfaction is just being able to say, “I’m done.”
Doesn’t Take 30 Years
I personally don’t believe that it takes 30-40 years to be able to say “it is a relief.” I think you can make your own timeline and that is what I plan to do. Each generation has retired a little bit earlier in my family and I’d like to say, “it is a relief” about 10 years earlier than my parents and still have the same retirement lifestyle they are living right now. A big part of saying that isn’t how much money you have but the lifestyle you lead each day.
Keeping the Big Picture as the Goal
My parents could have afforded me to do a lot of things earlier in life but focused on paying off their house before I went to college (since I was the oldest kid) and getting my dad to retire before he turned 60. They accomplished both because they didn’t get distracted by the neighbors who decided to throw in a boat or wave runners and the new truck to pull those items. A lot of neighbors continually upgraded their houses and payments every decade or so as well.
Yeah, it’s nice to have those things, especially if you can do it without debt, but otherwise, you are delaying your ultimate goals and taking on debt. You can’t imagine the amazing feeling of being consumer debt free or mortgage free or job free.
Trust me the relief and satisfaction are greater than the shiny stuff parked on the side of your house. You cannot pay for this kind of satisfaction. It is a state of mind only accomplished by obtaining financial freedom. I can only imagine how much this feeling is enhanced by being 100% financially free in life.
Investing in Debt and Stress
I’ve never had to spend a day of my life trying to decide how we were going to make things work financially. I never will (stepping aside for lighting strikes now). Imagine if you used all that money that you have invested in debt (which never grows the right way) and instead invested in ways that continue to pay you year after year. One person has pointed in the wrong direction and going down. The other is pointing up and continues to climb.
I don’t know how you live with that stress of debt in your life or wonder how you will make it the next month. What an awful way to live life. I’m not the only one who must think that this lifestyle sucks, So why do you do it? Why do you love debt and stress more than money and relief? You may say you don’t but your actions may speak otherwise.
Doing What You Want When You Want
My mom appears like a whole new person right now. She loved her job. It wasn’t awesome all the time. I mean it was working after all. She taught third grade for 22 years. She took a break after I was born and planned on going back for six more years but then stayed for 16 because really there wasn’t anything else to do with all the kids out of the house.
My parents have traveled all over the place. My dad has been retired for nearly a decade already and wakes up and goes fishing each day. He helps out at my sister’s store every so often but then my parents take off and work on hobbies or travel around the state (or the world lately). They grab my daughter and take her off on adventures all the time (which is awesome for us) and they just do whatever they want.
What tremendous satisfaction to know that all that hard work paid off in the end. Will you be able to do it as well? How much is relief worth to you?
