JanesWorld

Welcome to JanesWorld – where I look up the trouser leg of world events from my five foot two vantage point.

To plan or not to plan….that is the question

Having had a brilliant weekend, where a major focus was on where we might retire to, it struck me that one of the hardest judgements to make is about how far to plan in advance. We all plan (or at least dream) of the future – be it one where we win some money and retire to a sun-kissed beach, disappear in a mountain lodge or shut the gates of our mansion in the country – but that’s just a fun way to liven up the mediocrity of everyday living. Retirement is one of those things that people look forward to and fear in equal measure. To some, retirement means you’re past it, over the hill and devalued because you are no longer defined by your career. To others (and I’m in this camp) it’s a new beginning, one where there’ll be time to learn new things and spend time doing more of what I love doing (writing and spending time with special people). For me, it can’t come soon enough and anything I can do now to expedite its onset is worth it.

 

But there’s the rub. If you spend a lot of time thinking about a future life, it’s too easy to let the life you have slip away. You dismiss today because you’re thinking about tomorrow. And the problem with tomorrow (or next year or the next decade) is that you don’t know what your situation will be. Will you be affected by illness, divorce, death or economic changes? Will the country you live in still be sufficiently familiar to you that you want to retire in it? Or will another country change either its way of life or its rules to entry so that you’d rather be there?

 

From a monetary perspective, you have to assume you will live to old age and need the funds to cover whatever you want to do. But it pays(!) not to think too much about being older. Human nature means we focus on the negatives (dementia, arthritis, poverty) rather than the positive (time to enjoy nature, golf or whatever is your passion).

 

Having studied a course about ageing, I know that attitude is a significant factor in how you age. So now I try and think about being older, not old. Once you start to think of yourself as old, you believe there are things you can no longer do. And ageing is as much about disuse as misuse of your capabilities.

 

So I’m planning for the retirement I would like to have, but doing it at arm’s length so I don’t stop focusing on today being the best it can be.

 

And I’m assuming that I’ll be able to do anything I want to do. For me, that’ll mean terrorising my retirement neighbourhood by wearing bright colours and being utterly outrageous.  I can’t wait J

 

Till next time.

 

Jane