The big prize

For those of you working all your lives for a comfortable retirement, have you any idea what it looks like? What do you imagine it will be?

Long walks on a warm beach? Vacations in exotic locations? Traveling the country in a big motorhome?

Let's say you are super lucky and get a good middle class retirement. First thing, you won't be a kid anymore. You probably won't want to go bungee jumping. Yes, there are those spry old folks who go sky diving and water skiing. How many do you know in real life?

If you do move to a nice retirement community in a warm climate your days will eventually revolve around Monday cribbage night and your three cats. That's actually not the worse outcome. Dad's getting up there in age, and that's pretty much how things are for him now. Throw in a bit of billiards and flea markets and that's about it.

When dad first retired he did a lot of hunting, fishing, and travel. Mom and dad were involved in their community. Of course, dad retired at 52, and never regretted it. He was young enough to do things. His retirement was smaller than if he's worked later but he figures he had some darn good years and the energy to enjoy them.

The big storage lot at the community is full of boats and big RVs. Most don't go anywhere. Maybe they did once. What do most retired people do with most of their days? They watch a lot of TV. Okay, let me go off on a tangent here. Even when they are traveling in a big motorhome or a large motor yacht, one of the first thing they do is set up the TV dish or tie into the local cable system. Cable TV is a big draw for many campgrounds and marinas? WTF?

Okay, it's not a horrible life, but how much of your youth do you want to sacrifice to bad TV in your later years?

Maybe it's a good thing that so many young people realize retirement won't be what it was for their parents and grandparents. If they are smart they won't sacrifice the present for “the big retirement prize.”

-Sixbears