Retirement Readiness

Are you ready for retirement?  What's your plan?  When will you retire?  What will you do when you retire?  Do you feel you're on track relative to your plan?

These are all questions that I've challenged others to answer over the past 25 years as an HR professional.  Most of the time the context is a rare discussion with a colleague or friend who I'm close to, and sometimes the context has been in a presentation to employees as they consider the amount they want to put into their 401k account, or other income accumulation vehicle offered by the company.  Either way, I'm probably like most in not thinking about this a lot ... until now. 

A notable few people have a plan and execute against it.  Those few are in most cases quite privileged.  Working closely with financial planners who were carefully monitoring key investment vehicles, the privileged developed a retirement plan largely independent of 'I need the money'.  But again, this was for the privileged few. 

Working class baby boomers tended to have pensions.  These plans set a date for retirement with full benefits and encouraged employees to think about retiring on a specified date.  Social security also played a role.  "I'll have my full pension earned when I'm 62, and will live on that until I start getting social security at 65."  And that was the extent of their planning. 

What about Generation X?  Just read a report that said 67% of Xers are concerned that they are prepared for retirement compared to 49% of Boomers.  Hmmm, could this be because Xers were more individually accountable for their retirement?  They don't have pensions (in most cases) and so they have to rely on their own financial discipline (voluntarily investing in 401k and other investment vehicles) to ensure they are prepared for retirement.  Yep, that's me!

And am I worried about retirement?  You bet!  I don't consider myself to be part of the privileged few (although I had a financial advisor that mostly manages my accumulated 401k account) so when I retire will be largely a financial decision for me.  No financial independence here, unless of course I win the lottery.  And social security won't provide much in terms of an annuity either. 

I've done a decent job of saving for retirement but consider myself to be among the masses when it comes to preparation for retirement as an Xer.  Not prepared and anxious about what my future holds in this regard. 

What about you? 

Emotions

Emotions in the family are running high in my family right now.  It's a fairly typical transition from Summer to Fall, when the kids make the conversion from doing what they want to do, to doing what they need to do.  It's interesting that we train our kids from a young age to take 2 1/2 months off to recharge their batteries in some way, yet seldom if ever get that opportunity to do the same once you grow up.  But that's a different topic all together. 

What's not typical is that Haley is off to college.  Our oldest, our only daughter, and out of the house at least on a FT basis.  While it shouldn't have, the emotion of it all has snuck up on me as a Dad.  She's totally ready, good girl who is bright, capable and will make her own way in this world.  But that doesn't change the fact that I feel like a part of me is leaving with her.  You know, my kids are as much a part of my life as anything.  So her leaving is hard, really hard. 

The gravity of the transition hasn't really set in for her either.  I know it didn't for me at that age either, young adults just don't reflect that much on what's now behind them.  Instead their focus is forward, on what will be new, new independence, new environment, new place, etc.

Not really sure what the point of this post is, and not wanting it to be so cliche as saying "enjoy your kids while they are with you, blink and they'll be gone".  But like most cliches, it's true and if you don't really let it sink in you'll find yourself a bit surprised by what people have been telling you all along. 

Holly gets it.  She's very emotional and understandably so.  She's lives in the moment much more than I do, and more intuitive than I am in that way.  The boys?  Clueless.  Saying they'll miss their sister but in a very shallow way.  Really won't realize it until the Tahoe pulls out of the driveway with Mom, Dad, Haley and lots of her belongings loaded up and headed to Iowa City.  No screaming sister across the hall in her bedroom telling them to be quiet.  No sister driving them to and fro' to wherever they desire, free from the shackles of parents.  Nope, they don't get it yet.  But they will. 

And so will I. 

Haley-Do is ready.  Ready for the next chapter of her life.  And the rest of our family needs to embrace that.  We are, but we'll miss her so much.  We haven't even left yet, and I'm already thinking about when we'll be back to see her, when she'll be back to see us. 

Homecoming.