Waiting to exhale (Part 2)
Two of my friends told me years ago to retire early. That would give one time to still be able to walk and see the world, while faculties are still in good shape and the heart still has that sense of adventure.
One of them semi-retired early. He fully relinquished his academic responsibilities when he was already at retirement age. He built a farm for his pleasure and enjoyed watching things grow. He was always into observing life and the relationships among living things — how nature and humanity complement each other. I love reading his narratives about life, for they provide me with some guidelines on how I, too, may spend my days when the time comes for me to take off my corporate jacket and live a different life.
My other friend decided to stay on, for the same reason most Filipinos stay at work: not enough savings yet. When we think of retirement this way, life will definitely take a bleak turn. There will never be enough, I should say, unless one is born with a golden spoon or wallows in a wellspring of living waters. There’s the constant worry of where to scrape together the next loaf of bread, what to use to pay bills, how to cope with maintenance medicines, or how to deal with the malady of a dreaded disease. These are the fears of the aging population that came from the employment line.
I say “came from employment” because there are those who were never really dependent on a regular salary. They managed to make ends meet through informal enterprises, through government aid, or through support from family abroad, or whatever.
Most of those who were formally employed for several years are the ones who have to adjust the most. Being used to a steady income and then suddenly having to rely on a social security pension takes a great deal of getting used to. So, as early as pre-retirement, would-be pensioners are advised to slowly change their lifestyle and live within the boundaries of an expected pension.
Difficult, if one is receiving, say, P100,000 a month and will have to adjust to a P20,000 budget for the rest of his life. But it can be done. By then there will no longer be so many out-of-pocket expenses — no new clothes for occasions one has to attend, no need to dine in fancy restaurants or be part of social circles that are just part of a job. No more housing loans to pay for, hopefully. No more car loans to amortize. And travel expenses will be reduced due to the lesser need to move around.
My grandparents were a good example of how nice and simple life became when they retired. Their main source of joy was our presence, our being around them. Family makes retirement more pleasurable.
But what about those whose families are abroad or far from them? Or those with no family at all?
Being around friends need not be expensive. Creating a schedule that allows for socialization, the cultivation of new hobbies, or doing gym-at-home through an app would be good occupations to shift to. It will also bring a new sense of purpose and possibly a source of excitement for the day.
Others prefer to stay active on the social scene. Now, there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it would be good to maintain connections and continue with a possible advocacy. A friend of mine got her friends together to do a book club. They would meet once a month just to discuss a book. That helped lessen the staleness of the mind and reduced the chance of making one’s brain lazy.
Others chose the arts: painting, flower arranging, origami, crochet, knitting, crafts. Oh, so many hobbies to tap.
The key is to train the mind and the heart to take one step at a time and embrace the simplicity of a joyous life liberated from so many expectations.
This is business after business.
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