It was Feb. 24, 1978. Ah, the '70s. It was a simpler time. A time when marriage meant forever and destiny was summarized up in the phrase "happily ever after".
Back in the '70's, getting married was the answer to most everything. I didn't worry about my financial future. The closest thing to retirement planning was dreaming that my husband and I would stay in love forever and we would figure out the rest along the way.
Life has a way of teaching you what you need to know.
Little over a year after I was married, I was signing up for a benefit package with my new employer. I was a single mom and my boss glossed over the option to sign up for a pension. "You are young you will probably get married and not have to worry about that." I didn't sign up for the pension.
The years slipped by and I continued to find myself in a perpetual state of singlehood (I would like to talk to my first boss about that pension now). But I took hold of the reins and I had a plan. A financial plan.
I was consumed with paying off the mortgage, retirement savings and life insurance. I often joked I could afford to retire and I could afford to die I simply couldn't afford to live.
Over the span of those 20 years I had gone from a young, naïve girl without a plan to a compulsive saver who felt financial security was the end all answer. I had forgotten how to live.
Life has a way of teaching you what is truly important.
My financial plan went out the window when about a year later (stillsingle), I found myself sitting in the middle of the living room floor with my brand new baby. A ray of light shone on my present and showed me my future. All that I wanted in the world was right in front of me. I simply wanted to stay at home and raise my young family.
I found a way to support myself by working at home. My retirement savings subsidized my present instead of my future. That moment in the sun changed my life.
I never did replenish those retirement savings, but what I have replaced those funds with, are years well spent. I invested in my family and in our life. I will never regret that decision.
We never know what is around that next corner. It could be bad. It could be good. To live happily ever after, every day of your life is a good place to start.
The land of "white lace and promises" remains elusive, but I will never lose the hope that I had on that day 35 years ago.
There is so much of life ahead. I have found a place where there is room to grow. I may be 53 years old, but I feel as though I have only just begun.
Life has taught me health and happiness cannot be bought. My retirement plan has evolved from saving a specified dollar amount to an unlimited amount of hope and dreams for what lies ahead.
I want more than a pension when I retire. I want a life. Retirement planning isn't just about the money. It is about living a full life now so that you can bring that along with you into your future. Whatever or wherever it may be.
