Another good post, Tom. Thanks for the recommendation on Haylett. That man knows how to hit a nail on the head. I can confidently say that I have had no trouble in "decumulating," though. I wish distance wasn't such a barrier for you and I to mutually handle this retirement thing, but maybe we'll figure that out, somehow.
I love discovering a writer like you. Like you, I retired and have only been going on for a year and a half. I spent 50 years in commercial real estate, first as a broker and then in shopping center development. I miss the excitement of chasing a deal and winning an assignment. I also was a leader and elder in my church for forty years and launched city-wide evangelical events in the Phoenix valley. I have great memories in both realms.
Thanks for connecting, Larry! I bought and sold a house and watched every season of The Chosen, so it's almost like we're the same person! 🤣Looking forward to sharing the retirement journey!
As someone still a few decades out from retirement, but entertaining the honest possibility of early retirement, I have to say: thank you for this post!! My husband jokes that I’ll never retire because I have too much energy and too many ideas to actually sit still. We’ll see what the next 25 years hold. But what I’m grateful for in this post is how you call out the euphoria wearing off from the idealistic “free days” when in reality, we are all still advancing The Kingdom, even into retirement. This is the healthy mindset shift I needed today at 40 years, 6 months and 9 days old. Thank you!
I love that, Bethany, and thanks for sharing your perspective! I'm grateful that I still have the energy to do... stuff. I just keep praying that God helps me channel that energy to the things that align with my gifts and my situation and glorify Him in the process.
And I love that you find value in my retirement perspective even though that's not your season of life. I wish I would have built a stronger platform for kingdom work when I was working, but I'm also learning not to undersell what God was doing in that season, too. Thanks!
My father experienced and still does to some point a lot of what you wrote about here, so he started doing landscaping and helping others with handyman projects. Now at almost 83 he still does it but a lot less than he used to. Tom if you start playing the accordion make sure you document that journey and “inspire” us.
Good points as usual. I think of my future retirement, and my wife jokes and says that I will always find a job somewhere. My father-in-law retired and started working at a local grocery store as a bagger. It was the first job he had as a teenager.
I admit I had to go back and reread it once I saw you're friends with Benedict Cumberbatch. My brain stopped focusing lol.
What's next? That is an important question for retirees to ask themselves. I've begun to ask myself that question for the day, well maybe the week, but not the month, year, or decade. Thanks for an excellent article, Tom!
Another good post, Tom. Thanks for the recommendation on Haylett. That man knows how to hit a nail on the head. I can confidently say that I have had no trouble in "decumulating," though. I wish distance wasn't such a barrier for you and I to mutually handle this retirement thing, but maybe we'll figure that out, somehow.
Thanks, Scott! Haylett has great insight. And conducting a retirement assessment sounds as good an excuse as any for us to come visit!
I love discovering a writer like you. Like you, I retired and have only been going on for a year and a half. I spent 50 years in commercial real estate, first as a broker and then in shopping center development. I miss the excitement of chasing a deal and winning an assignment. I also was a leader and elder in my church for forty years and launched city-wide evangelical events in the Phoenix valley. I have great memories in both realms.
Thanks for connecting, Larry! I bought and sold a house and watched every season of The Chosen, so it's almost like we're the same person! 🤣Looking forward to sharing the retirement journey!
As someone still a few decades out from retirement, but entertaining the honest possibility of early retirement, I have to say: thank you for this post!! My husband jokes that I’ll never retire because I have too much energy and too many ideas to actually sit still. We’ll see what the next 25 years hold. But what I’m grateful for in this post is how you call out the euphoria wearing off from the idealistic “free days” when in reality, we are all still advancing The Kingdom, even into retirement. This is the healthy mindset shift I needed today at 40 years, 6 months and 9 days old. Thank you!
I love that, Bethany, and thanks for sharing your perspective! I'm grateful that I still have the energy to do... stuff. I just keep praying that God helps me channel that energy to the things that align with my gifts and my situation and glorify Him in the process.
And I love that you find value in my retirement perspective even though that's not your season of life. I wish I would have built a stronger platform for kingdom work when I was working, but I'm also learning not to undersell what God was doing in that season, too. Thanks!
My father experienced and still does to some point a lot of what you wrote about here, so he started doing landscaping and helping others with handyman projects. Now at almost 83 he still does it but a lot less than he used to. Tom if you start playing the accordion make sure you document that journey and “inspire” us.
Thanks, Mark. Your dad certainly has more stamina than I have now! And if I start playing the accordion, you will be the first to know!
Good points as usual. I think of my future retirement, and my wife jokes and says that I will always find a job somewhere. My father-in-law retired and started working at a local grocery store as a bagger. It was the first job he had as a teenager.
I admit I had to go back and reread it once I saw you're friends with Benedict Cumberbatch. My brain stopped focusing lol.
Thanks, Maury. Stepping off the work merry-go-round was harder than I expected.
And I know God sometimes uses dreams as prophecy, so who knows; maybe Benny (as I will undoubtedly call him) and I will become good friends. 😁
What's next? That is an important question for retirees to ask themselves. I've begun to ask myself that question for the day, well maybe the week, but not the month, year, or decade. Thanks for an excellent article, Tom!