Practicing for Retirement

My husband and I are practicing for retirement this week. Well, I'm practicing since he is already retired. Does that make me a lone practitioner with a partner? I do need his involvement to practice for retirement since he is going to be heavily involved. Another question to pose to the scientists for resolution after they get this global warming thing worked out.

Anyway, I digress. Whenever we (or rather I) have a week of vacation we escape to our little house near the beach and pretend we (or rather I) don't have to go back to where we (or rather I) work. There are little projects to do everyday to keep our mind active and lots of planning on where to go for the early bird dinner special. We jump out early before the heat of the day hits and then spend the mid-day enjoying our favorite past-times. Mine is scrapbooking or writing while hubby watches the news and solves the world's problems. The only missing element is the RV and budget. It's amazing how we pattern our actions with those who live in our community that are already retired. I can spout off all of the best places to get $1 hot dogs on Tuesday like I've been doing it all of my life.

Speaking of budget, I sometimes think about how scary it can be to retire. To have a finite amount of money that must last until God takes you home. What if you spend too much in the early years (I believe there is a new commercial calling it The Red Zone) or what if you get sick and have to spend a lot of your hard earned savings to cover medical costs not covered by insurance. OK, a perfect example just happened. My computer mouse just died and, if I were retired, I would be stressing about buying a new one because it wasn't budgeted. (Update, crisis averted. Just wasn't plugged in far enough... whew!)

So you can see how practicing for retirement is a good thing and you should start early. There are a lot of things to think about when you abandon your career. I've worked since I was 10 years old. My entire identity is wrapped up in being a business woman. Where do I find a new one when that is gone? Will I be happy vacuuming and dusting as my primary responsibilities? Another stressor of late is hubby announcing the impromptu Chico's shopping sprees will have to cease when I quit work. Oh my!

The phases of life are funny things. Quite frankly I have not enjoyed the transition from one to another at anytime in my life. Cuddly baby to toddler (fall down and go boom). Childhood to puberty (the drama that came with buying that first bra and did I really need it). Teenager to adult (How much is it going to cost me to live in this flea infested apartment?) Adult to retiree... There is always some adjustment to make and I don't make adjustments easily.

Oh well, I'm just practicing right? No need to get stressed today with the beach calling my name. Perhaps I could turn shell collecting into a revenue producing venture to fund my Chicos' addiction. Update ya later...