As a child, one lives and walks the path set out by parents. And rightly so.
As an adult, one walks the path chosen either single or married, with or without children.
Then the new stage: Pension time. Married or single, take your pick!
Yes, it goes that fast. In a flash, time hasn't stood still even though there were times when things seemed to never end. Like children's coughs and colds, more work challenges, changes in situations. More challenges. Then, it's one's last day at work! Well, I'm talking paid employment. Before you know it, aged 65 ( or in our case in the Netherlands I was 66+4 months as we slowly work our way to 67 being the new pension age). Now, every month like clockwork, my wage is automatically transferred from the Government coffers into mine. I feel privileged but also deserving. I worked more than 40 years so feel I am entitled to my pension.
A new road to travel beckons, well I've been traveling on it a year or two now and I've enjoyed every minute to be honest. I don't miss working, full diaries with appointments, meetings and conferences, being at other people's beck and call though I loved my job(s).
What I would have appreciated though, is what YouTube has on offer these days. People talking about retirement and the steps one could take in preparation to this point in one's life. I listen to these pointers and think, "wow, that is so sensible". Or " I wish I'd known that"! Some ideas I did have though. Now I can't speak for my partner of 21 years, as his preparation started separate to mine and his path is his own. I'm just talking about my own personal process here. The filling in of the time wasn't my main focus. The financial stability wasn't an issue in the sense that I knew I'd get a monthly amount, but would that be enough for the situation I would then find myself in? That was such a murky, unclear picture. I know that one of the saving's scheme I had set up for this moment in time was needed much earlier and now isn't available for the top up moments I had previously planned it for. Cé la vie!
Apart from realizing one needs an income at retirement age, how do you prepare? Do you have a separate savings account in which you deposit $50 in every payday, more if you are a more than comfortable earner. Start young. Straight away in fact- with the first pay pakket! No not at the end of the period, but right then and there, when receiving the money. Make it an auto payment. Move it out of sight. Increase it after 5 years even by a small amount. My savings are accumulated on payday. So if I start with that removed out of my current account I have to manage on what's left. It's called budgeting. I'm a bit close to the red line, if you get my drift, for this month, but I'll make it to payday. Anyway, that's just one of the things I did learn from my dad. You don't save what's left, you gather when the money rolls in. Thanks dad. Yes, I have a personal account. We share all expenses, discuss large purchases and aside from that we manage our own personal needs. A bit of autonomy isn't a bad thing.
Employment stops: Am I bored? Not ever. Have I managed to plot and plan sensibly, no way. Well, I am sensible most of the time with commitments. What I do do however is not to plan too far ahead. That way there is room for the unexpected. Recently my husband and his brother went to Spain for 10 days. So I was Home Alone.
I did not fill my diary with lunch, coffee and dinner dates. Not one! I wanted to be really free to come and go or stay as the mood took me. There were mundane things on my list - which I implemented according to weather conditions. In the drizzly warm rain I cleaned our balcony. Got rid of the winter glow you might say. Easier when wet and not the sort of day you'd go towning and arounding. As the sun now greets me most mornings I too realized the windows needed a good treatment. Now those don't sound very exciting things for a Home Alone time, but believe me, they were. I so enjoyed the results booked with a bit of effort and no interruptions. And for those who read these blogs more regularly, I had two visits with ma, my bonus mother in law, 93 years young. Her washing is all set to be reunited with her, which I'll do tomorrow.
Then there were the days out. Yes, I did have some. I use my "old lady" train subscription with which, for a very manageable price, I get to travel 7 days free of charge and the rest with 40% discount. So I went roaming our gloaming. Visited a museum I'd not heard of before, a Textile Museum in Tilburg of great international renown it appears, and a day in Middelburg in the province Zeeland. My companion, a neighbor turned friend, traveled with the privilege of my subscription and received 40% discount on her train ticket. The weather was extremely kind, the lunches and wine on sun drenched terraces on city squares were a pure delight. The company great, the laughs plenty and the accumulated steps on our health app a real bonus. We walked the extra calories off for sure.
It is life back as I know it: My Home Alone days are over. As of yesterday my husband and his brother returned from their special time together. Making their own memories. This too is the fun part of pensionado time. Giving each other time and space to be 'self'. To realize dreams or wishes which can't be realized during one's adult working life. Brothers are important too - not just partners!
So as we have now entered Easter Weekend 2023 and spring is definitely present, summer beckoning and plans for a road trip being forged, life is good to me, to us.
Be Good Be Happy Keep smiling
