Posted by Bill on June 25, 2011 at 06:35:50:
Tony,very true
Life Questions - Posted by Tony Colella
Posted by Tony Colella on June 24, 2011 at 15:19:39:
If you were now living the life you dream of in retirement, would you need to retire? Would it change how you do things now? Would you find yourself reconsidering expenses and purchases? Would you evaluate daily life from a different perspective?
I know many of us run the rat race with the intent of living our dreams in ?retirement,? whenever that may be. Many of us probably assume that is when we are in our 60?s or later. Others have sought to retire much younger. Retirement will no doubt be defined by each of us but what are we doing now to attain it? If we have to wait until we officially receive the ?retired? license place frame we may not be in the health or financial condition to enjoy those dreams. I think that regret alone would age us all more quickly.
But what if you could focus on that retirement dream and not live as if it is a foggy dream, somewhere off in the distance. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow or even the rest of this day.
I recently learned that a childhood best friend of mine died suddenly in his sleep. He was 42. He and I did most everything together as kids. We played little league for years, went to summer camps, went to school together, church together etc. until my parents moved. Chris was an outstanding athlete and still holds college records. He was smart, popular and a very hard worker.
He didn?t know he wouldn?t wake up one day at the age of 42.
I can only imagine the dreams he left unfulfilled because he, like most of us had postponed them while being busy ? just being busy. You know the things that we focus on now as if they will someday go away magically and we won?t have to think about them again. Life is filled with trials and tribulations no matter how successful you are, how much money you have or where your money comes from.
There is fulfillment in a good days work. No one should fear working at something. We were built for work emotionally and physically. The more I eliminated ?work? from my life the worst I have felt and I know that I am not alone in this.
I am writing this to encourage you to reach out and start living your dreams now. Make the decisions that will place you on that path and keep your focus, not to be delayed any longer by the tangents of life.
I bet most of us could quit our hectic lives and live the lives we wish in 5 years of less if we only focused on just that. Prepare for it and make it happen now. Create you own vision of the life you want to live and begin to insert the missing pieces and extract the unnecessary ones.
Tony Colella
Re: Life Questions - Posted by NewInvestor
Posted by NewInvestor on July 31, 2011 at 22:07:40:
How many of your parents got to enjoy their “Golden Years” without being affected by some kind of life changing illness or money issues?
Sorry to be so grim, but I only know of a few retirees that have been able to travel as much as they wanted to. Many of them have a spouse that have died suddenly or gotten so ill that they are unable to travel.
I used to think that with the help or Real Estate I would be able to retire by 50 or 55 but then I was not able to achieve this due to several reasons.
If you are able to, take a full month off of your work and spend it doing something that you want to do. If you can trust someone to handle the smaller emergencies that happen to your rentals or even to your Lonnie Deals, you should be able to do this. But, and their is always a but in life, Some people can not take that much time off from work without feeling like they have to get back to work.
Some people that do work till 62 and then retire do not adapt well to being retired. Especially if their spouse is no long alive.
Some older people get part time jobs to keep them busy and also make them take showers and get dressed. Many solitude elderly do not do either very often unless they have family check on them regularly.
The more important question to me is to try and complete my bucket list before I am unable to do so without assistance.
I hope to complete at least 2 of the larger ones each year until I am financially able to do more of them.
As Bob Brinker, the financial radio host, states: We need to know what our Critical Mass is. Once reached, we should be able to live off of our investments and not have to worry about having to work.
The other extreme is what is becoming more common. People outliving their savings and having to depend on relatives or if if they are lucky enough to have a paid off house, using a reverse mortgage.
How many of you are close to reaching Critical Mass? How many expect to keep doing Real Estate even after reaching it?
How many expect to have to work well in to their 60’s?
Re: Life Questions - Posted by Doug Ottersberg
Posted by Doug Ottersberg on July 23, 2011 at 20:51:54:
Hey Tony - haven’t been around here for quite a while - was browsing the internet and ended up here…couldn’t agree with you more - As I write this I’m in NYC with my family and we’ve been here 3 weeks, with one week to go. Our kids are taking classes in the things they love (music, dancing and theater) in addition to the family seeing the sights. We’re creating fantastic memories and i can’t imagine spending our summer any other way. And since we’ve been here still managed to sell 2 mh’s : ) back home.
Re: Life Questions - Posted by Bernd Hanak
Posted by Bernd Hanak on June 25, 2011 at 12:15:48:
It is most appreciated and refreshing that you chose a topic that is not directly related to the relatively insignificant MH business, although I recognize that that business provides the main livelihood for most of us. From my viewpoint, there is a definite limit to what one can write about the business; the archives are comprehensively full of information that requires little regurgitation. But when you talk about life, of which retirement from a job or a business, in a conventional sense, is an integral part, then you stir my interest. If I can do whatever strikes my fancy without particular concern for the financial costs involved, does that mean that I have achieved my retirement dream? If I hire people to do all the work I used to do, does that constitute retirement? In reality, I cannot remember thinking or dreaming about an activity or circumstances which I longed for in anticipation of retirement. I do know what I enjoy, what life-style I prefer, and what physical possessions I think I would like, though they seem to lose their original attraction once realized. If freedom of choice, within the limitations of the law and of morality, defines retirement, then I have been retired for many years without knowing it. But if the conventional concept of retirement is an idea of one?s situation and activities during one?s advanced age, then by definition it is a part of life for most individuals. Just as is any chapter of adult life, retirement is usually the product of a personal philosophy and its consistent application. All of life, as we know it, follows cycles. Economics and politics are examples, typically cyclical by their nature. If I like to do whatever I am doing, regardless of whatever cycle the economics and politics occupy, am I not already retired from the drudgeries of life? Consequently, one can say that retirement is simply a state of mind.
Re: Life Questions - Posted by Shawn Sisco
Posted by Shawn Sisco on June 25, 2011 at 08:43:03:
Nowhere in the Bible will you find either the word retirement or even the concept. The fact that retirement has become the goal of so many doesn?t make it a worthwhile goal. I do understand that I may well desire to do different things later in life than I do now, but I pray that God will bless me with health to remain working until I die.
As for priorities in life, I have really come to appreciate time and conversation with family and friends much more. I do enjoy my occupation, I enjoy the challenges, and the struggles, and the learning that comes from them.
Re: Life Questions - Posted by JeffB (MI)
Posted by JeffB (MI) on June 25, 2011 at 08:38:46:
While in my 20’s I realized how badly broken the model is that most people follow; work till you’re 65, save, and retire. That sounds horrible to me. During your prime years you get a couple week’s vacation a year and hopefully you can create some great family memories.
I’m not opposed to work but the idea of not having time to enjoy the fruits of my labor while young is not appealing to me. I want to go do retirement-type activities while I am young and physically able. Imagine traveling to great locations and not being physically able to do some of the activities available that interest you? I’d rather trade some future wealth to enjoy life now. Tony, the story of your friend serves as a harsh reminder how fragile life is, and that I should always try to strike that balance between saving for the future, and really living today.
Tony, it is amazing… - Posted by Greg Meade
Posted by Greg Meade on June 25, 2011 at 08:13:47:
How many times I’ve heard this exact idea expressed the past 2-3 years.
There are no guarantees on tomorrow. I want to regret the things I’ve done in this life and not the things I didn’t do.
How much is enough? A very personal question but I will bet anything I own your friend would trade all his wealth for one more day with friends and family…
Great post,
Greg