3 Things I Hate to Think About When I Retire [Dead Broke] at Age 70

It happens. We age, don’t we?

Humans are short-sighted.

Don’t believe me?

Look around you.

Colleagues in the office sabotage others to get a leg up in their promotions. In the end? They get backstabbed. They get marginalized. Good people leave their teams. Bad apples stay.

S-T-U-P-I-D, I say.

What about those desperate to earn money fast? Well. That’s easy. They put money into things that they have no clue about. Maybe cryptos. Maybe tech stocks. Maybe NFTs. Maybe junk bonds.

They get slaughtered.

Imagine that we do this over and over and over.

Insane, are we not?

Yet, we do.

Retirement Can Be Scary

It is.

At least, to me.

It is a phase in life that is due to come. It will, 40 years later. 30, 20, or 10.

No matter. We know it when,

• Our workplace expires us,
• The employment market rejects our re-entry,
• Or [simply] when we run out of our will and energy to compete for a living.

What do we do next?

I have no idea yet.

I’m 30 years away.

And I choose to focus on the path from now until then. I have 30 years to get there. The question is,

• How do I want to get there?
• What are the grouses I don’t want to hear from my loud mouth?
• What must I do to not retire unhappy, broke, and have achieved nothing when looking back?

These thoughts put my focus back to my life. For today. For tomorrow. Next week. And the next few years.

Yes, and I urge you to think the same.

If you have 30 years to run your course… what would you do to prevent evolving into an unhappy, grumpy old pal?

Money Is My Number 1 Priority

It’s hard not to be.

And it goes beyond behavioral assassination.

We get screamed at for Scrooge-like or near-miserly behaviors during our working prime. We do that to others, too. I don’t blame you. We feel uncomfortable around such characters.

But, but, but.

Let’s take a long view.

Let’s stretch out our time horizons.

Forget days, weeks, months, and years. Let’s tag the x-axis with the word decades.

Would your thinking change? A little? Dramatically?

For me, my petty brain cracks open. It allows me to imagine what could be. The thought bubble in my head involved,

• Me fast-forwarding to my 70th birthday,
• Talking to the youngsters in my family,
• Reflecting on my life journey,
• Wondering what I have done.

Simple thoughts. Scary thoughts.

In fact… it spooked me. I imagined [literally] turning my head and looking at the timeline of events minted into my life history.

• All those stupid things I have done to piss and diss money out of my pocket.
• Silly acts I committed to destroying chances of career promotions and earning more.
• Business opportunities I failed to materialize because I did nothing.

No, I reject all of these.

I don’t even want these events to happen to me at 40. What makes me think I will gracefully accept a life of financial mediocrity at 70?

Now, this is me.

Not you.

You got to work on you. You have ambitions, goals, and all the other good things nested in your head. Get them out. Work on them diligently today.

Because… there is a time when you become resentful of inaction.

Don’t Wake Up Too Late + Don’t Spend Every Penny

Money is important.

Don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise.

Not even Mum or Dad. No. They mean well. Yes. But for money matters, we must take control.

Finding ways to invest and compound our wealth is a life journey. I started mine during my late 20s. I am 15 years into my investment journey.

I still lose money.

I am still perfecting a style of investing that suits me.

It will be the same for you.

But we must make our first step. Otherwise, there is no way we will become financially stable at age 70. There will not be a portfolio of assets we can lie on.

It will not miraculously appear.

And, and, and.

Please.

Do not engage in thoughtless spending today. Yes, we won’t feel the pinch during our working years. The next paycheck will come. But what happens to us when it doesn’t?

I don’t like the idea of spending my money away and then waiting for my salary to be disbursed.

And that is me today. At 40 years young.

But if I do so… would I be able to deal with myself at 70, looking back to my 40s?

I doubt.

So, I avoid it. I don’t outspend my salary. I keep some.

Yes. I receive dividends from stocks, interest income from bonds, and distributions from R.E.I.T.s.

But I won’t blow them today because the next one is coming tomorrow. Here’s why.

There is no guarantee that they will continue to send me money tomorrow. Companies go bust. Companies go bankrupt. Real estate can be written off.

So, no. I don’t spend every penny I have today.

I keep some crisis reserves behind my wallet.

I believe my 70-year-old self will be happy with the decisions made by 40-year-old Aldric.

The Close

I hate to think that I will retire 1. grumpy, 2. dead-broke, and 3. with a long list of aspirations unfulfilled.

That is stupid.

Here’s why.

Life, time, and our age are like an arrow. It goes in one direction.

• At 40, we can plan for our 70s.
• At 70, there is no turning back to our 40s.

Everything we do today matters. It affects our future retirement, money reserves, and a life story we are proud of sharing.

So, yes.

Let’s work hard today.

Let’s not have any life regrets when we are 70.

Because then… it will be too late.

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