I have decided to exit the cube on more of a permanent basis this time. Some people say I am taking “early retirement” but my response to that is “it is not early”. The fact of the matter is I am 60 years old, my first professional job after college was in 1990 at the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford Connecticut as a COBOL programmer. I have been working for 35 years! Isn’t that enough?
Here are some random thoughts I have had about “retiring”.
- Who do I think I am? We are not rich, should I just keep working?
- I have to do it now before it’s too late! How many good years do I have left to hike in amazing places?
- In the end, nothing at work really matters, people leave, get fired, laid off, companies break up, lose money, change leadership, move people around.
- Woo-hoo! I can do what I want when I want. I don’t have to go to the grocery store on the weekend when there are millions of people trying to run me over with their cart. I can go to Jazzercise any time, 8:30 AM class, no problem, no need to jump on a work call at 9 am. Hiking at noon on Tuesday? Sounds great, as long as it is winter. Happy hour at the brewery at 3 pm on a Wednesday? Count me in! Impromptu road trip, let’s go! The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.
- What is going to happen to our country, our world. Everything is crumbling all around us, the world’s biggest democracies are falling, authoritarians are taking over, will there be any Social Security and Medicare when I am ready to collect? Climate change is destroying civilization, will our mortgage-free house go floating away or burn down to the ground leaving us homeless? I am not sure if it is a call to work more so we have more cash when civilization crashes or a call to party while we can before it is all over or a call to do something to fight back.
- I could drop dead tomorrow.
There is no correct answer to the question “when should I retire?” No one knows what the future holds.
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