A Musing Triggered By Age, You Could Say

Tom at "Sightings Over Sixty" has a very good post on retirement which I read the other day and re-read while considering this post of my own. Call it theft, if you must, or be kind and consider that Tom inspired me to write this one.

I did not plan for my retirement, I am not quite ashamed to say (I have very little shame left in me, it seems), I just fell into it... pretty much the story of my life... and found my "niche." I was fortunate. After getting out of the Navy in late 1969 and getting married some months later in 1970, I realized that just stuffing cushions in an upholstery shop would not be a wise "career" for a man with a family. I needed something which paid better, which had some job security, which had some benefits. I found myself applying for a job with Southern Bell (which later became BellSouth which was bought up by SBC which subsequently bought AT&T and became "at&t"... all of which happened after I migrated to AT&T). I was surprised to learn that I loved the work (and, therefore, did not view it as "work").

I did not save much in the early years, nor in later years, toward retirement. I did not think about retirement much at all. After all, I had the promise of a pension in the future, why save? Well, those of us who are retired understand that you can never have enough money in reserve. Those of us under 40 have a hard time imagining that need at all. At least I did.

I moved about over the 34 years I worked within the circle of the old "Bell System." San Diego, northern Virginia (Herndon), Jacksonville (Florida), and West Palm Beach. All the while not planning on my retirement or preparing for it. I saved money because Faye insisted on it but not as much as I now think I should have.

If I had matched my Social Security "contribution" (about 7% of income... BTW, it's not a contribution if it's mandatory) in savings each payday from the time I was, say, 30, I would have had a lot more to "play" with now. Thinking about it, it still would not have seemed enough but it certainly would have helped a great deal.