7 Signs You’ll Retire Happy and With Money, According to a 57 Year Old Retiree I Know
The clues we seek
“How do we retire happy and with money, Uncle Jim?”
Clearly, Uncle Jim did not expect this question.
He looked at me for 5 seconds and then shrugged his shoulders.
“Who knows? That is a tough one.”
I wasn’t expecting this question to be difficult for an active retiree. Weird, I thought. But it could be. After all, there are many paths to Retirement Rome.
The conversation must have died, my inner voice mumbled.
Or so I thought.
“I may have something for you. There may be 7 tell-tale signs, I think.”
I smiled.
1* You Expired All Expectations of Financial Dependencies
“This one is key.”
It must be, I thought. Otherwise, it would not be sitting at the top of Uncle Jim’s list.
“Don’t enter retirement thinking that your children, in-laws, or grandkids will provide for you. Or your parents will leave you something when they pass on. It is the perfect recipe for financial misery.”
Sage advice.
I see this around me all the time.
“Retire prepared. That’s all I am saying. Don’t be a happy retiree because you are standing on the shoulders of your miserable children. They will hate you.”
Uncle Jim is right on point.
I score this advice 10/10.
2* You Killed Off All Financial Big-Ticket Items
“I am not talking about cutting up your credit cards. If you cannot pay your credit bills without rolling, you should not be thinking about retirement in the first place.”
I endorse Uncle Jim’s viewpoint wholeheartedly.
He is, however, referring to the following.
- Study loans for children.
- Mortgage.
- Car loan.
Uncle Jim calls them boat anchors.
“Pay them off. Pay them ALL [off] before retirement. They are your boat anchors. They will hold you back during your sunset years. No mercy. Be ruthless. Work hard, pay it back, clear all debts, cut off.”
I took notes in my head.
But I cannot resist asking this question.
“But these are the big-ticket items. What about our daily or monthly bills?”
Uncle Jim laughed.
“Young man. You mean you have trouble paying for a cup of coffee? Paying your utilities bill? Paying the cabbie? You should not even be thinking about retirement! Go work!”
Financial Gospel Truth has emerged in Singapore…
3* You Run a Simple Business
I like this advice… although I can imagine the extent of pushback from many others.
That said.
It is [in my opinion] a worthy food for thought.
“Don’t be one of those loitering around your neighborhood with no sense of meaning. That is pre-death. No. Reject that. Be productive. Run a simple business. Keep your mind active while earning some dollars and cents. You will live each day happier.”
Agree, agree, agree.
Uncle Jim ended off with this.
“The best part? You don’t continuously deplete your savings to keep yourself going. You are still earning. And that… is smart.”
Yup.
4* You Have a Money-Making Trade [Not Multiple Hustles]
Uncle Jim finds youngsters funny.
His words. Not mine.
“See that Auntie over there? She is my neighbor. She does FOREX trading. She used to lose a lot of money when she first started. Today? A good day earns her USD 150.”
(I am sure she has bad days as well. There is no need to ask.)
I tried to find the lady. I couldn’t.
Uncle Jim waved at her. She waved back. I smiled at her, too.
To Uncle Jim, 1 high-income trade during retirement is all you need to earn and be happy.
Why bother working on 10 hustles [just] to earn $1 each per day?
“I cannot imagine myself delivering food all day for pennies. It’s incredibly tiring for next to nothing.”
5* You Keep Yourself Agile
“Keep fit, man. Keep fit.”
This is yet another simple life lesson that many people I know choose to ignore.
Uncle Jim says this differently.
“No one asks you to become an Olympian. Just move around. Walk. Play racquet sports. Swim. Jog. Clock 10,000 steps. Or 20,000. Whatever. And the point is this.”
I sipped my coffee while he paused.
“A healthy body keeps the medical bills and doctors away. You spent your lifetime accumulating money. Don’t surrender them to your doctors at old age.”
Funny.
I think I heard this before.
It seems to be a recurring theme for retirees.
6* You Have Assets
Uncle Jim did not even bother to elaborate on this point.
“Isn’t it stupidly obvious?”
It’s my turn to shrug my shoulders.
“You youngsters like to flip things. I am too lazy for that. I like assets that produce money for me, day in and night out, and still have them in my account until the end of my life. Don’t complicate things!”
Haha!
Uncle Jim is right.
We think way too much at times.
7* You No Longer Actively Check Your Bank Account
“I am saving the best for the last.”
This final point blew my mind.
This one is deep. Real deep.
I thought about myself. Seems like Uncle Jim is right.
I check my bank account often when I am running out of money.
When I have more than enough? I never logged in. I [just] let it be.
“You know the answer, right?”
I nodded. Indeed.
He asked me this question.
“How would you retire happy when you check your bank account every 10 minutes? Impossible.”
What a brilliant knock-out punch.
The Close
Retiring happy and with money is not easy.
Of course. That is speaking the obvious.
What is not obvious, however, are the 7 tell-tale signs that you’ll retire happy and with money.
And here they are.
- You expired all expectations of financial dependencies,
- You killed off all financial big-ticket items,
- You run a simple business,
- You have a money-making trade [not multiple hustles],
- You keep yourself agile,
- You have assets,
- You no longer actively check your bank account.
Question.
How many of these do you currently have?
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Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!
