Have you seen the ad where someone posts on a wall the age a person should start saving for retirement and then the age when he or she actually started putting money away? Recently I learned that if a person starts preparing for retirement at the age of 18 and only saves money until age 28, he or she will have more money than the person that begins at 28 and continues to save until 65.
Provided the money is in an account with compounded interest. Companies place so much emphasis on the financial aspect because they obviously want your business.
Based on my observation, even retirees with no financial worries face problems when they retire. Why? They haven’t planned for the many wonderful free hours that they will have. Possibly a quarter or a third of their remaining lifetime. Bottom line, in either case, it is never too late to start preparing for retirement.
While I started a 401K after my first divorce, life necessitated cashing it in. The second time I opened a 401K, I also had to pay the penalty for taking the money out early. The third time, I was able to keep a 401K but I did not have ten years to contribute. On the plus side, I knew what I would do with my time. I would write, travel, and help others after having been a volunteer for many years.
While my careers paid the bills—I was a pioneer for the current trend of having many careers. Even when I was not working for a public relations company, I was writing at night and on weekends.
I freelanced as a columnist; edited newsletters for organizations I volunteered with, and much more. Being a Commercial Real Estate Broker, I was my own boss. Therefore, the idea of setting my schedule for preparing in retirement was not daunting.
Since I retired, I have written books including a third edition of “Retiring in Costa Rica or Doctors, Dogs and Pura Vida.”
It is part of paying forward for the wonderful adventure I have had living in Costa Rica.
This time I added a chapter, called Retirement 101, also a booklet on Kindle, to help people plan their time. Other ways I have payed forward includes editing other writers’ books and articles, editing organizations newsletters behind the scenes, and sharing my experiences to help others make good decisions.
If you worked in a job where hours and activities were controlled, being your own boss could present a challenge. You also need to decide where you will live. Because settling in Costa Rica or abroad is not for everyone. Maybe you only want to invest in a vacation home here to escape harsh winters. If you are not retiring in Costa Rica per se, you may find “Retirement 101” useful in planning for the many free hours.
Good luck in preparing for retirement and thinking out of the box so you can achieve your outstanding retirement adventure.
About the writer: Helen Dunn Frame is an accomplished businesswoman whose professional writing skills and love of travel culminated in the mystery GREEK GHOSTS, Love and Danger. The second book in the series WETUMPKA WIDOW, Murder for Wealth, is also available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.
With input from others, research, plus her own experiences, she published in October 2012 an anecdotal book called RETIRING IN COSTA RICA OR DOCTORS, DOGS AND PURA VIDA. This book was written to help Baby Boomers decide if it is feasible to retire in Costa Rica.
You can purchase Helen Dunn’s books on Amazon. Feel free to leave your comments on this blog. If you like this article, please feel free to share it on your social media.
