Are you paralyzed about planning your retirement? Don’t be!
I remember seeing a news segment a few years ago about a 92-year-old nurse in Seattle. She was still working, bouncing around like someone half her age. When she finally decided to “retire,” it wasn’t to sit around—it was to make time for new adventures. People with purpose live longer. It’s science!
Hanging Lake
Photo shot near Glenwood Springs, CO, Hanging Lake Trail
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. – Henry David Thoreau
I was out walking my dog the other day, soaking up the warm sunshine, when I bumped into my friend Rebecca. She’s happily retired and lives just down the street. As we caught up, she asked what I’d been up to. I told her I was job hunting and that Paul and I had some fun plans as we moved toward retirement.
That made me realize that I didn’t believe in retirement! Then I said out loud, “Why do we have to retire? What does that even mean, just roll over and stop living?” I might as well have been stomping my foot as I said it.
This turned into a great conversation, with her saying, “Well, what if you just Re-tire? Put a new set of tires on the car, and keep going!” Boom. That was a lightbulb moment. Rebecca, you genius! With her blessing, I’m stealing that concept.
If you know me, you know I’m all about staying strong, healthy, and inspired. I love following the Blue Zones, and Dan Buettner, the expert behind them, talks a lot about longevity. My favorite Blue Zones lesson is about purpose. The people who live the longest have a reason to get up in the morning.
I remember seeing a news segment a few years ago about a 92-year-old nurse in Seattle. She was still working, bouncing around like someone half her age. When she finally decided to “retire,” it wasn’t to sit around—it was to make time for new adventures. People with purpose live longer. It’s science!
So why not? Why not find a way to repurpose your life? You will live longer and healthier, with fewer mental and physical problems. That, however, is not without some planning. Know that it is never too late to start planning. Starting even part of a plan helps you to get out of paralysis and into inspired action.
I’ve faced plenty of challenges—an unhappy marriage, bankruptcy, a pile of bills I couldn’t bear to look at. Leaving that marriage was hard, but the real turning point was realizing that no one would fix my life for me. If something wasn’t working, it was on me to change it. I vividly remember feeling paralyzed to do anything at that time and wasn’t even sure how to change my life. But I wanted to make my life better more than I wanted to stay stuck
I really do understand paralysis. I know paralysis and procrastination well. Two things that keep you pinned and unable to move forward. But I took it upon myself to learn how to think differently and create the life I wanted. I am still learning.
I did end up figuring out how to leave an unhappy marriage, get back on my feet, and find meaningful work that felt good to me. This helped me as I ventured forth to raise a family as a single parent.
Fast-forward to when I met Paul. We discovered we really fit well together. We have been on many adventures and love having fun. Over the course of ten years, we went from renting a lock-off basement to owning a home in Eagle County, Colorado. We slowly improved our jobs but eventually found ourselves saddled with debt.
We eventually realized we absolutely had to get rid of the debt. Paul and I knew this, but we were stuck. We were barely hanging on even though we both had good jobs. We could also see retirement looming around the corner and felt as though there was no way to get to this point in our lives. So, we took a strategic approach.
For the first time in my life, I started looking into how to really improve your financial picture. We didn’t have much of a retirement and a lot of debt, but we also had a home that had gone up in value pretty significantly. I knew we had to leverage not only our assets but also our skills. We knew that somehow we would eventually retire, but first, we had to figure out a plan.
The first step was to eliminate debt. We turned to the Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball Method. At first, I had no idea where this method came from, but wow, did it work! We knocked out one credit card, then rolled that payment into the next, and then the next—three high-interest credit cards—were gone. Then we took it a step further: we sold our home, quit our jobs, wiped out the rest of our debt, and moved to a more affordable part of Colorado.
We were fortunate enough to buy an affordable home in Cortez, CO, renovate it, and become debt-free, except for a small mortgage. I know not everyone is in the same position, but I also know plenty of people with more resources than we do who are still stuck. No matter where you are, the first step is the same: start reducing your debt.
Let me tell you, living without debt is like breathing fresh mountain air. It’s freeing in a way I never imagined. If I could go back and do it over again, I’d start the debt snowball much sooner. If the Ramsey method isn’t for you, find a system that is—but find a way to take control.
There is more to our plan, and I will keep sharing as I go. We are not yet retired, but we are beginning to Re-tire. We are questioning everything and systematically analyzing what stays and what goes as we repurpose our lives. Paul has found a new job in the Cortez area, and I have some upcoming interviews. So far, things are working much better than they did just six months ago!
Stay tuned for more of the adventure!
