Well, time ticked past another relative milestone in my life. Less than three hundred days until I can retire. My question has been and remains: Will I actually be able to retire? Despite planning and saving, the investments we made have not always been kind to us. We have only really lost theoretical money as our property value is still higher than it was when we bought it. Unfortunately the tough market of the past few years has dropped the value to half or less of it's ultimate high in the early 2000s.
I think now that I will bring my resume current and job shop at the same time we real estate shop and prepare for the inevitable reality that I may need to continue in the employed ranks for a few more years. So now I am searching for something to supplement our income. Three things that come to mind are photography, consulting and a different career path. I took graphic arts in high school and did quite well with photography in my youth when my eyes were still sharp. I built up quite a camera kit and still have all of that old film gear. I am thinking I probably will say goodbye to it and sell it or trade it for a modern DSLR. I am giving serious consideration to Canon's 5D Mk iii. As for consulting, well I work in telecom and have made a living with this for 32 years so far. This is the least favored option as I am weary of it now. A third possibility would be to jump career disciplines altogether and do something completely new. This is probably not a good option for a mid 50's worker in the current job market. Any advice on cameras or fun career choices for a fifty five year old to start in are welcome.
I had feared that time would creep by in this last year before retirement but so far that fear has not been realized. The company I work for pushes their employees so hard that there is no time to stop and think. My typical summertime routine is leave at daylight and get home just after dark. Long, long days indeed. Telecom is like that though, feast or famine. The things I want to write about I just can't say yet, I have to wait on the time after my decision to really say much I feel needs to be said.
As I write this our failed leaders in Washington DC are walking a precipitous road toward another quagmire in the middle east. Why must we continue to meddle in world affairs? Oil? Perhaps. Colonization? Again, Perhaps. Industrial war machine? Thinning the populace through war? Yet again, perhaps. What has our country devolved to? Instead of bringing the country together we are divided and torn asunder. Constitutional rights? So much for that. We are kissing goodbye our first, second and fourth amendment rights in a slow, concerted manner. What are we to do? Write or email your elected representatives, that's what. Don't have time? Bravo Sierra!! Make time. We have much more effect than we believe. Take time and do it.
As the zero hour to retirement closes in, I expect to have more to say regarding my pending retirement and relocation. I hope to look back on these ruminations and find that all was just small worries. Maybe someday in the future I will wonder why I did not retire sooner.
Cheers, zero hour is less than three hundred days away.
Retirement clock (Revised)
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