We've looked at two areas that require fortitude before. One is switching from accumulation to decumulation and the other is finding purpose or meaning. But there is also the aspect of disillusionment and even a depressive state that can occur and yes, there probably is overlap with finding purpose.
The assistant fire chief at Walker Fire has been with us for eleven years now. Part of the reason he came on board was that after he retired from 30 years with a nearby career department, he thought going cold turkey out of the fire service would not be good for him. It was good self-awareness on his part. A friend of a friend (not fire related) just retired a couple of years ago and is having a lot of trouble finding his groove. I barely know him so I have no idea the source of his difficulty but it's pretty clear and hopefully he figures it out.
As alluded to above, finances are a component of stress in all phases of life and for people who accumulate enough money to create an income stream in retirement, dialing in how much take is difficult and something we all spend time analyzing inside and out.
Here's a unique take from Jordan Grumet who says to "stop chickening out." He correctly points out that the 4% rule, which may now be 4.7%, is built on assuming the worst outcomes;
- Bear markets
- Inflation spikes
- Adverse sequence of return
Ok, what's missing from his list? Expensive, unbudgetable events that are very difficult to plan for like a new roof, a serious electrical problem, anything in the sewer realm is easily in the mid-four figures and we're not even talking about dramatic health stuff that would be more expensive. No one says this, not even William Bengen who derived the 4% rule but the 4% rule's margin for safety or the reason the odds of underspending are high is that if something very expensive comes up, there's money to cover it without completely blowing a retirement plan.
If Grumet means don't be fearful, I am on board with that but life circumstances change frequently enough that there is a need for some sort of ongoing refinement or maybe revisiting of numbers.
The above list from Retirement Manifesto is helpful. These are all important, there's probably overlap between a few of them and I would add 'get a dog' to the list.
Figuring out the social aspects of that list can be difficult for anyone who tends to be even a little introverted. Volunteering solves that dilemma. I personally am not great or comfortable talking about nothing in a social setting. With volunteering there is usually a need to communicate and interact in conducting the normal affairs of the organization. On the last Friday of the month, a group of our firefighters who live up here full time get together to do preventative maintenance checks on the fleet of apparatus. As with everything we do (I think) there's a good mix of getting stuff done and fun interaction. But it's purposeful thanks to the task that needs doing.
I am always going to work fitness and health into these discussions. Number 3 on my list of reasons for being a health nut is to set an example at the fire department. It has some impact but I can do better on this front. Over the course of 23 years with the department, I've seen a lot of people come through so I've collected a good sample size to see Guru's tweet playout in both directions over and over.
Fifty years old is not elite in terms of being able to do the pack test that I always talk about but I've have seen many lose the ability to successfully complete it varying ages that I think it is still reasonably achievable. Age 65 is impressive, I don't know if it is elite, it might be. Next month I'll do my age 60 fire season pack test. I do not take it for granted but I am pretty sure I can still do it, last year I did it relatively quickly compared to the previous couple of years.
We all have our reasons to stay fit even if there's just one, staying fit for ourselves. I've beaten the benefits to death here related to quality of time and saving money. In addition to staying fit for me and to set an example at the fire house, I want to be a good partner for my wife.
Merry Christmas
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