04: Are you ripe?
You're wondering: is it time? It's the age-old question that starts haunting people as they walk over the mountain peak and begin the hike down the steep hill. Don't worry. When the time comes it'll happen, and our retirement planning articles will definitely help you get there.
The latest life expectancy figures suggest that the seventy six million strong Baby Boomers may get to spend more time in their Golden Years than they did on the job. Should you quit your job now? Or, are you happy at work day after day? Whereas job satisfaction does play a major role in your decision-making process; the affair of planning for retirement time - a time when you should be filled with contentment instead of resentment - cannot and should not be overlooked. It's important to understand that to lead a comfortable your standard of living, you cannot just depend on Social Security. The questions you need to ask yourself are: Are you certain you will have an adequate amount of funds to pay your property taxes after retirement? What is the status of the insurance coverage that your employer is partly or fully responsible for at present? You cannot rely on Medicare either, so, who will pay your medical bills once you have retired?
Sure, you're probably smart enough (you are reading this article!) to have addressed the above questions by now. In that case, do you find yourself thinking of quitting your job very often? Here are some of the leading reasons why people tend to quit their job, and might help you make a decision: Your company may be experiencing a downward spiral; your relationship with your manager may have been damaged beyond repair; your life situation may have changed; your values may be at odds with the corporate culture; you may have stopped having fun and enjoying your work; your company may be ethically challenged; you may have behaved in ways deemed improper; you may have burned your bridges with your coworkers; your stress level may be so high on the job that it affects your mental or physical health; or, you may be unchallenged.
What if none of these reasons apply to you and you still love your job with all your heart? Don't worry, we have more facts to help you decide when you want to quit! Although if you do enjoy your job, it's imperative not to take hasty decisions, since retirement really isn't all sandy beaches and bingo.
A research article recently published in the Australasian Journal of Ageing revealed that older, educated Australians, both male and female, eagerly await the retirement stage of life when they can become a blessing for society through voluntary and community work. Are you akin to the Australians? If not, check out JeriAnn Harnois' retirement plan to move onward by beginning to view retirement as the ideal time for play:
"When my husband and I retire, we want to take our truck to get it checked up because we want to travel. We are going to get some maps and pack some food. We would like to see the White House in Washington, Sea World in Florida, and some stars in California.
"In Pennsylvania we would like to see the Amish County. There is so much to see. We just want to spend the rest of our lives doing what we want to do. We will take our time and see all that we want and we will take a lot of pictures. We will see a lot of stores and plays and we will be trying different foods.
"The best thing about this trip is that we will not have to worry about working or having to be in some place. We do not want to think about time. We want to take life at our own pace. When we are tired of traveling, we can go home to rest and then maybe plan some more trips."
Do you share JeriAnn's excitement over the retirement stage of life? Write your personal notes on how you want to spend your Golden Years so as to find out how thrilled you really are. These notes would definitely facilitate the planning and decision-making processes. Do make an effort to be realistic since even though Jeri Ann's retirement plan sounds like a lot of fun - it's actually very few people who get to do everything they want to in their retirement years - and so it's best that you don't leave your job or take on retirement just because you're excited about what's to come.
However mentally prepared you might be, it is a very tough decision for many to finally say goodbye to work. But when the time is right you will be able to tell that you ought to quit, forever! And when you do, pack up your bags, tighten your suspenders - and make the best of those final years.