When I first started working in the 1980s, I remember thinking that retirement was so far away. My practical-minded father would remind me regularly to start saving even though my retirement was decades into the future, and I have always taken advantage of the retirement vehicles offered to me through my employers, putting aside a small amount from each paycheck.
Now that I am in my 60s, retirement still seems very far away. After all, the world has changed drastically since my parents retired years ago. For one thing, it costs a lot more to retire. In fact, our savings have to be pretty robust for us to flat out stop working.
For another thing, well, maybe I just don’t want to retire…and I am not ashamed to admit it. I like my job—I enjoy putting together issues of useful information for our readers. I enjoy my relationships with my coworkers and all the knowledgeable experts in our pages. And I truly wonder what I would do with my days if I didn’t work. Gardening…no, my husband says that I invariably sentence our plants to death. Cooking…no, and you would understand why if you ever tried anything I prepared. Travel…possibly, but I still like the comforts of home most of the time.
In this issue’s informative retirement section, we have lots of stories about managing your finances during retirement. And then, for those of you like me who aren’t quite ready to think about retiring, we have a story on page 15 explaining how to manage that as well.
So, Bottom Liners, settle in. I hope to be with you for many more years to come. What are your plans for the next several decades?
