For many years, I never thought much about retirement. I was too concerned about the present—how to pay the bills and put three girls through college. I don’t recall when the thought of retirement first hit home but at some point I realized my meager savings were not going to take care of a woman destined to live a very long life. Never a big spender, I still had not accumulated much other than a small IRA. When I was sixty, my fear of not having much in the way of savings really kicked in and with my children launched it was time to take a hard look at what was ahead of me. And what I saw was not encouraging.
However, I was able to continue working until age seventy and that helped. God bless Social Security and Medicare! I was lucky to find an apartment near my children and the rent was affordable. No dishwasher and only one bedroom but the price was right. And so I began to accumulate savings. I relaxed and dreamed of setting up an education fund for my grandchildren and traveling to Europe.
I went on a short cruise with my sister and a friend and the next year my sister and I took our grandchildren to Seattle. We had planned a trip to France but was postponed for various reasons.
And then the recession hit. Really, it’s been coming on for a long time but I wasn’t paying attention. I had my savings or thought I did, now my savings are considerably diminished and I regret that I didn’t take off for Europe while feeling flush. Even now I’m inclined not to pinch pennies. The stock market seems to go up and down for no apparent reason so I wonder, if I don’t travel now, will I have even less to spend a year from now?
Age has to be considered. Will I feel like traveling five years from now when the economy bounces back? Am I hurting the economy by not spending? If I had debt, it would be one thing, but I don’t, so that’s not a consideration.
When it comes right down to it I’m a middle-of-the-road kind of person so I don’t expect to change. I won’t pinch pennies and I won’t go on a spending spree and at this stage of my life I had better enjoy traveling while I’m able.
