𝑺𝒊𝒄 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂

It’s been said that life is change. I’m one of those people who prefer to see changes coming from way, way down the track. No, indeed; I like my planning time. I’m not a fan of change that shows up on the doorstep, unannounced, suitcase in hand. (Boss in his office: “Come on in and close the door.” As a phrase conducive to a panic attack, that’s right up there in ascending order with “There’s been a downturn in business” and “We have to let you go.”) So, yeah, in reality change-planning time is mostly a fantasy. Even when a particular change is a long way off, it’s a surprise to me when it finally shows up, because now I have to deal with details. Take retirement, for example; that’s a huge change. I’ve known about retirement in principle since my very first job, of course, in a “that doesn’t apply to me now” kind of way. I didn’t contribute to a retirement plan for many years, because I needed that money to stay alive until I did retire, which would be at a time so far in the future I couldn’t envision what it would look like. Now it’s a couple hundred years later and I’m staring retirement hard in the face, and it’s not blinking. Surprise!

I recently had to pin down a retirement date, which had the crazy effect of Making It Real. I’ve had my current corporate job for over twenty years, and you wouldn’t believe the logistics that go into Real Retirement Planning. One of the lesser items is that the computer I’m glued to day after day is a corporate asset that doesn’t belong to me, so I have to get a replacement. Okay, not that big a deal, really, but I’ll also have to switch from the corporate help desk to Geek Squad. I like Geek Squad, but they aren’t free. Speaking of free: healthcare plan costs take a critically sharp upturn at retirement. Old people need care! We tend to have creaky joints and foggy eyesight. My corporate healthcare plan is pretty good and I don’t have to pay for the plan itself. When I’m on my own healthcare dime, though, I may have to switch out cable/wifi payments for healthcare payments; those incremental channel subscriptions add up after a while. There’s a serious planning item right there.

What does my After Retirement Life look like? I’ll be able to devote significantly more time to writing, which is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. Also – no more corporate work, for the win! I may still wake up at o’dark-thirty, but I don’t have to set the alarm. I may have publishing deadlines and other time commitments to meet, but I won’t have corporate deadlines that might have dire consequences all around if not met. All in all, the corporate v. retirement trade-offs aren’t looking so bad.