I’ve got retirement on my brain.
Mostly because my mom retired this year and we just
celebrated with her, family, and friends. But…also a little bit because
I’ve been planning for retirement since 1996 and been obsessing over it
ever since.
Take a trip down memory lane with me. My first ever retirement plan was to hit the Maryland Lotto and retire
at (or before) age 30. One needs to reach the ripe age of 17 before purchasing a lottery
ticket in Maryland. Oh, I counted those days all the way down to my 17th
b-day. When the day finally arrived, I drove straight to the 7-11 in Damascus
and bought as many Lotto tickets as my birthday cash could afford. The money I
won was “reinvested” immediately which led to compounding losses and
eventually…no more cash. As it turns out, the lottery was not a good retirement
plan for me. I haven’t given up on that dream entirely but I’ve augmented it
with mitigation strategies including the Virginia Lottery and a career.
With Plan B well underway, I’m free to think about the more
operational related pieces of retirement. I like to refer to this part of the
dream as “FTB” or soccer (f)ield, (t)urnstile, and (b)arn.
1.
Soccer Field: Kinda like Groundskeeper Willy
meets Ray Kinsella from Field of Dreams. I'll spend my mornings tending to
the (full size) pitch. In my minds eye, it’s freshly mowed, painted and has
the professional style goals where the nets are tied behind the goal forming
a perfect ready-to-billow canopy.
2.
Turnstile: the Red Sox hold spring training from
early February to early March each year (currently in Fort Myers, FL). I’ll
spend those 4-5 weeks each year exploring a second career: as one of the ticket checkers at the turnstile
gates.
3.
Barn: I want a barn to house a wood-shop real bad. Ha! I’ll
build furniture in my spare time.
Even more important than FTB though, I hope to be surrounded by friends and family. That’s the real dream. Which is what we did with Mom this weekend. So enjoy the retired life, Ma. You’ve earned it.