Time versus Money

At the very heart of retirement planning is the issue of time versus money. I recently had the opportunity to submit a proposal for work on a retirement-related project. Initially it looked as though it would be a pretty lucrative contract. In the end, it became apparent that the money available had shrunk to quite a small amount and at this stage, the project may not happen at all. If it does, it will be a small amount of money. The funny thing is that when I realized that the project, which at one point might have taken a couple of months of work, might not happen, I felt relieved!! What a strange reaction for a retirement consultant to have. However, I'm semi-retired and really enjoy having alot of free time to pursue all my personal interests. Any commitment to work means giving up this time.

I think that how we feel about the value of our time versus the value of having money is at the heart of the decision to continue to work or to retire. For me, with age has come an increasingly high value being placed on time, with money taking more of a back seat. If the original contract had come through, it might have meant being able to buy a new car sooner than planned, or taking a special vacation, or just spending more on whatever. However, my ten year old car runs just fine and gets me where I want to go, I spend quite a bit of time at the cottage in the summer when work is slower, and we take at least 2 vacations a year as it is. I also get to travel on business from time to time and combine these trips with short holidays. If anything, these days I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of stuff, not buy more.

So...what's most important to you: time or money? If you know the answer to this question, it will make it alot easier for you to decide what you want to do with your life.

Classic retirement

Just got back from a business trip to Vancouver; my retired husband joined me since he has brothers who live out there. My husband is a classic retiree, by that I mean that once he retired from his fulltime job, he had no desire to work again. He plays music, takes photos and then plays with them endlessly on photoshop, keeps fit by playing squash several times a week, golfs in the summer, reads extensively about what's going on in the world, and basically just does each day what he wants to do.

He likes life in retirement. In fact, when I say let's take a vacation, he says, "What for?" As far as he is concerned he is on a permanent vacation! While many boomers say when surveyed that they are going to both retire and work (at least part time), I'm sure there will still be many who decide to become full time retirees just like my husband. It certainly seems to be one strategy that can work since he is both healthy and happy.