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My life path has always been in the “Re-invent” zone so I’ve had a bit of an advantage not being conventional. BUT if I were to meet someone like me at a younger stage of life today, I’d certainly tell her to LEARN everything now that you can about how to invest and save for retirement. What do you want to do? What makes you the happiest? Find a profession/career that fulfills this happiness. That may seem naive, but it’s very possible — you just have to be very self aware.
Don’t get caught up in the bigger, better mindset. Live smaller and travel while you are young. That will shape your better future like nothing else!
Bigger may be nice, but it also means more to take care of. Keep in mind that you don’t have all the time in the world, so do you want to take care of all that stuff or do something that will be better??? And if you do work you really enjoy, the time that you want to retire will be a transition. It won’t be a total stop and huge adjustment. That can be very helpful for your well-being!
I thought I could always get a job if needed. Oh good grief was that naive! I looked at it as if I’d always want to work, to be productive and I do. Actually getting a job in older years is not as easy as you’t think unless you want to work in fast food! No shade on those folks, but I’m not built that way.
If you’re already getting close to retirement and concerned, I totally get it. This culture did NOT develop as we Boomers were led to believe it would. Something to tell my middle-aged self would be to find a side hustle and get really comfy with it. You’ll likely need it in your future. The way my actual SSA payment amount was determined was a rude shock to me, and there is NOTHING you can do about that. I had loads of life crisis just before retirement age and that was another rude awakening.
The reality of life for me is that I am dependent on a very modest SSA income and that restricts EVERYTHING. I’m coming to the end of a 3 year process of ‘fixing’ my situation and it has been extremely stressful. I hope someone reads my comments at an earlier stage of life and preps better than I did! I’m grateful for everything in my life — ESPECIALLY the awareness that I can still change things!!! Keep smiling and be well. 👍😃👍
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