Semi(?)-Retired

Television commercials about retirement … mostly sponsored by investment firms seeking our 401K or IRA dollars … paint a picture of vital seniors fly-fishing in Montana, hiking in the Himalayas or enjoying a glass of wine at a Paris cafe.  The truth isn’t quite as pretty.   For many retirees, retirement is a balancing act between meeting monthly expenses and making sure their nest egg lasts until that certain day down the road when they no longer need it.  Various sources give guidelines for how much money you need to have to fully retire … I won’t bore you (or frighten you) with the details.   But according to Forbes magazine, Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, estimates that 75% of Americans nearing retirement in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts.   That is substantially below anybody’s magic number.  As a result, more and more people are continuing to work after the age of 66.  At 69, I’m one of them.  I’m Semi(?)-Retired.

I’ve actually retired twice.  The first was voluntary 14 years ago.  My retirement from Big Industry left me a 401K account that is a few yards south of the ideal magic number but substantially more than $30,000.  I then started a consulting business with a colleague that gave us some of our best years financially.  We probably could have saved more during that brief flash in the pan but that’s water under the bridge.  The declining economy forced my second retirement about nine years later.  I don’t ever want to work as hard as I did during those nine years but I don’t need to be fly fishing in Montana, either.  I like what I do (I’m an electrical engineer) and my education gives me some unique employment opportunities.  In semi-retirement, my avocation, writing, has become an important part of my life and I value the flexibility to spend more time with my wife, Muri.  I’ve often said that if I could be employed quarter time, I’d be both happy and able to balance our expenses with our retirement savings.  And over the past few years, our business has gradually recovered enough … and I’ve found enough additional work as an expert witness … that I am working approximately quarter time.   Nirvana, right?  Semi-Nirvana.  The way life is, the quarter time work comes in bursts of nearly full time, followed by days of almost none.  And the bursts don’t seem predictable.  Sometimes, I seem busier than when I wasn’t Semi(?)-Retired.  That requires me to be much more flexible than I’m inclined to be at 69.

Here we are on Top Sites Tuesday #204 (which I believe should be #205) where I’m taking time out to post my Two Thoughts on Tuesday.  I want to be perfectly clear, I’m not complaining, I’m just providing Reflections from an Older Perspective, which is what I do here on Bud’s Blog.   Thought Number One: I am a Semi(?)-Retired senior living in Semi-Nirvana, even if it’s no one else’s Nirvana. That’s a good thing.  And Thought Number Two is this.  I’ve observed that part of feeling older is becoming inflexible and set in our ways.  There’s no chance my Semi(?)-Retired life in Semi-Nirvana is going to let me do that.  That’s a good thing, too.  It would also be a good thing if you would show your flexibility by taking a moment out from your busy day to push my button to make me Number One on Top Sites Tuesday #204 … er, #205.  And leave me a comment, too.

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