retirement

What I learned after my first month of retirement

Something always works out. That was my lackadaisical attitude toward what life would look like after retirement.

Obviously, I’m not talking about the financial aspect. Numbers aren’t wishy-washy. They don’t lie. Financial planning, started early in your work years, dictates when you can financially afford to retire and what that economic lifestyle will look like.

Instead, I’m talking about the reality of not “punching a timeclock” anymore. And how those newly gained hours are spent.

This is where I’m perfectly fine winging it. It’s less about being unprepared and more about having the self-confidence to figure things out as I go. I have the ability to make an adjustment, if needed.

And so, I’ve been a blank canvas this past month. And this is what I learned.

For starters, there’s a difference between being deadline-driven and driven to be productive.

As a small business owner, I was hitting deadlines all the time—sending monthly statements to our charge account customers, completing payroll, filing all employment taxes on time, and even the simple deadline of keeping regular business hours.

That’s all gone.

However, there’s still a daily plan on how to make the retirement day productive and meaningful. Goals are still set on what I want to accomplish in the morning and in the afternoon. There’s just not a hard stop-deadline to it. Which means less stress. Which sure is nice.

Next, when you’ve been on the planet for six decades, you assume that you know yourself pretty well. But, in retirement, you learn new things about yourself.

My husband and I live in a large, old farmhouse. While raising our family and working, this old farmhouse did not receive the attention that it deserved. It was lower on the priority list.

I keep thinking about the movie, “Gran Torino,” and the character of Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood. Kowalski is a (cranky) retired widower who ends up mentoring Thao, a troubled teenager in the neighborhood. Thao’s family insists that he work off a past transgression against Kowalski by offering to do home repair for him. In a classic Dirty Harry-style delivery, Kowalski snarls at the boy and makes it clear that a real man maintains his own property. Just one of the many life lessons he’d give the youth.

I’m pretty sure that a real woman can maintain her own property, as well. I’m not an electrician, plumber or carpenter. What I can do, though, is downsize and organize. And just general upkeep. My husband is quite handy at all trades. And there are several good contractors in the area. How we maintain our property may not look like the Kowalski way. But now that we’re retired, we have time to work on minor repair issues or to work with contractors if a project is just too big for us.

The desire to do a better job of taking care of my home is one of my “new things,” and it’s bringing unexpected contentment to my retirement days.

Lastly, I’ve learned that I don’t want to be a snowbird. Which is a surprise. Because during the work years, this topic would come up quite a bit with my fellow workers. “Just wait until we retire. We can get out of Iowa winters and spend them in Florida or Arizona!” It seemed to make perfect sense at the time.

My husband and I did immediately go on a one-week road trip to see a site that was on our bucket list. It was a great trip, but it was also great to come home again.

I guess I’ve figured out that my home isn’t someplace that I want or need to escape from for long periods of time. You can fly just about anywhere in the world, see what you want to see and experience what you want to experience, and still be home in seven or ten days. I’m good with that. While others may have a greater adventure bug, I lean toward being a homebody.  

During one unusually warm and sunny late fall day, I put on my work boots, an old sweatshirt, and chore gloves. There were items to put away before the first snowfall, fallen twigs to discard from a recent windstorm, and flowerpots to empty and store. The sun cast a shadow on me and seeing my silhouette “work the land” gave me a sense of well-being. I feel a deep connection to my farm and home. It’s where I want to be.   

There are lots of good things to discover about retirement, and each person will have his or her own list. Mainly, though, it’s a reward after a lifetime of work where you can continue to discover who you are as a person.  

I’m looking forward to the second month of retirement.

The missing leg of retirement’s three-legged stool

A history page from the Social Security Administration website states that, “Social Security benefits were said to be one leg of a three-legged stool consisting of Social Security, private pension and savings and investments.”

But perhaps a better way to think about the three-legged stool is forced contributions to Social Security and Medicare through payroll taxes, all voluntary efforts to increase retirement wealth, and answering the question of, “Then what?” after reaching retirement age.

The Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935. Medicare payroll taxes were added in 1965. Between Social Security and Medicare, employees contribute 7.65% of every paycheck to fund these two programs. Employers match and add 7.65% for every employee. Between the employee and employer, a total tax of 15.3% is tagged for that worker’s benefit at the time of retirement.

Paychecks were different before these forced contributions. Employees could keep an additional 7.65% of their paycheck. Employers weren’t matching 7.65% for every employee either and were free to use that money in ways that benefited the business—perhaps even providing raises with it.

Before 1935, the first leg of the three-legged stool was to voluntarily create your own nest egg—by spending less and saving and investing more. That’s how our ancestors did it.

The second leg of the three-legged stool is now Social Security income and Medicare insurance.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Social Security and Medicare will become insolvent in about 10 years. If Social Security is still around when you’re ready to retire, though, there are decisions to make.

The longer you put off retirement, the higher the monthly Social Security payment becomes. You may also have a job that you enjoy and is helping you build that alternative retirement account.

On the other hand, you can’t get something from nothing. If Social Security funds are dwindling quickly, you might want to consider drawing earlier rather than later—even if it means the monthly payment will be lower.

This option is only possible, though, if you’ve done a good job with the first leg of your retirement plan—creating wealth that is sufficient and independent of Social Security.

Total income taxes are another consideration. Run the numbers to see what makes the most sense.

And now we’ve arrived at the missing third leg of the three-legged stool.

When Social Security was created, it made work a nasty, four-letter word. It created a society that just couldn’t wait to retire and do nothing.

As we age, we might not have the stamina, physical health, or even desire to continue knocking out a 40-hour work week.

But it’s important to remain a productive member of society. Everyone has something to offer.

Acclaimed journalist, Morley Safer, worked in broadcast journalism right up to his death at 84. He slowed down and did less. But he still did something. His last story aired on 60 Minutes, just two months before his death.

He lived a life of productivity.

The Bible speaks to taking a day of rest every week. But nowhere in the Bible does it talk about doing nothing fruitful during your golden years. There’s no 11th commandment that states you shall have the right to play golf for the last 20 years of your life. King David was a warrior to the end.    

If your health allows it, the missing leg of retirement’s three-legged stool is to not fully retire.

Before retirement age, work, save and invest. If Social Security is still around when you hit your 60s, wisely consider your options. And at post-retirement age, find a way to continue to be a productive member of society.   

Do more. Need less.

If the federal government knew how to do this—work hard and spend less than it takes in, consider options wisely to keep programs afloat, and remain continuously productive—there would be no need for the Social Security talk.