How Can You Have A Nice Life Without Enough Money To Retire?

Complaining will get you nowhere. Neither will the status quo.

Maybe my attitude and outlook on life comes with age.

If you asked me 20, 10 or even a few years ago that I’d come to the realizations and conclusions about life — particularly living life in America — that I have confidently settled on at age 48, I would have told you that you were crazy.

Part of getting older is realizing that, no matter how much you refuse to admit it when you’re younger, your attitude and outlook on life absolutely will change. Like it’s impossible to sit there at 28 or 38 or even 40 and think you’ll evolve to the point you find yourself at as you near 50. The point in time I optimistically call midlife, or as I prefer to classify it — relative old age.

And I don’t mean shit like acting or sounding like your parents or becoming more conservative. That stuff is separate from how you handle life today and plan for and vision it going forward.

You can see your Dad in your mannerisms and own some of his traits, but in so many ways, you’re nothing like your Father.

You can be more politically liberal than ever, but have less time or inclination for activism. Or, maybe more aptly, not drown everything, particularly the things happening in your life and your place in the world, in politics.

I don’t like this term — so maybe I’m not completely through with this transformation I’m trying to define — but maybe you simply become more of a realist.

Definitely partially correct.

However, a deeper look at the definition of realist reveals that they “shut off of their imaginations” and are “only concerned with real and practical matters, not visionary ones.”

That’s definitely not me.

So maybe I’m in the middle — between realist and idealist?

A centrist if we can use a political term for non-political purposes.

I can hear people now saying something to the effect of — but you can’t separate politics from the things you’re writing about. Because politics controls everything.

And, maybe this, again, comes with age, but I’m telling you that you can and you absolutely have to if you want to have a nice, comfortable life — at any age — but particularly as you get older and if you’re far from wealthy.

This doesn’t mean you don’t fear, in my case, the rise of the far right around the world and attempted or actual degradation of people’s rights. You fear it, and hate it, especially if it intimately affects people close to you.

It doesn’t mean you don’t lament the general state of society on issues such as homelessness and housing. It’s just that you don’t have time to sit around and wait through painfully slow and anticlimactic incremental change. You have to find a way to best navigate your path in what is often an unfair, unjust and uncertain world.

You have to find a balance between being pissed off and acting in the face of the things that piss you off.

Because, if you don’t, you’re going to die with less of a life than you might have had otherwise. You might even die broke and bitter.

When you’re young, you have the luxury of (a lot of) time (relatively speaking).

I have a soon-to-be 20-year old daughter. She’s nothing short of fucking incredible. I love watching what she does and hearing how she thinks about everything from school to work to the world around her. She has my unconditional love and support. But she also makes her way in the world around us differently than I do and differently today — at age 20 — than she will when she graduates college, turns 30, turns 40 and hits other fixed milestones.

When you’re wealthy or rich, you have the luxury to not have to worry as much about your future from a financial standpoint. Because so much of what we’re concerned with going forward has a lot to do with — for better or probably worse — money. Or lack thereof.

So —

If the status quo isn’t working for you, you have to change it. In your own life. Because the status quo has a way of maintaining itself. In that, you think you should be able to do A and B and have Y and Z. You think that this or that is a human right. So you continue on the paths others have followed to obtain some or all of A, B, Y, Z and this or that.

It’s peculiarly ironic to continue to rely on the systems and institutions responsible for — that you know are responsible for — the messed up state of America and, in some cases, the world.

Chasing the American dream — pretty much just a 30-year mortgage, a new car and a job that comes with healthcare — at the expense of, oddly, your physical and mental health and overall quality of life makes absolutely no sense. Yet, countless people continue to do just that. And they justify the wild goose chase they keep themselves on by complaining that it’s all (housing, transportation, healthcare and so on) unfair and needs to change.

Check and check.

Y estoy de acuerdo con ellos. And I agree with them.

But, here’s the problem… no matter how pissed off you get, you can’t bend the status quo to your will, perfect world desires and idealistic sense of what’s just. The world’s going to go on — however it goes on — with or without you. You have to decide if you want to go kicking and screaming or in a more pleasant state with your destiny within your reach, if not in your grasp.

So —

How to have a nice life without enough money to retire?

I can’t practically prescribe how to do that. To that end, I can only relay my experiences — past, present and anticipated future — in hopes that they might resonate with or otherwise help modestly inform your journey.

No matter the particulars, the answer to the question absolutely must start with —

• Stop complaining.
• Drop the status quo (if it’s not working for you).
• Commit to laying the groundwork for and executing what might be major life change.

For my partner and I, it’s leaving the country. Eventually — hopefully sooner rather than later — moving to Spain. Hardly a perfect country, but a hell of a lot better — based on our needs, tastes and preferences — than the United States.

For most people with some semblance of choice in the matter, there is a way out of a bad personal financial situation or one you anticipate only getting worse as you get older.

You just can’t want or expect the status quo — or anything resembling it really — to carry you along a righteous path. Especially if the status quo is the reason why you see your present or future situation as precarious.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.