On My Mind Today - Retirement?

As I was checking through a few articles, I ran across an article at http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090111/ARTICLE/901110356/2055/NEWS?Title=Boomers_find_it_s_time_for_a_change_of_plans that talks about retirement. Now, retirement is something that older people worry about right? Well, obviously, I'm not as young as I once was and I really should have made more plans for retirement. It just seems that day to day life keeps getting in the way.

A few years ago, it did hit me that I needed to make some changes. My thought was to find a job with a retirment. Okay, but to do that, I would have to go back to college. I bit the bullet and went back. Even though money was tight and I had to eventually go into debt to pay for it all. I made it through. I graduated. What? No job? Oh no! What am I going to do now?

If I had the answer to that question, I probably would not be so worried about the future. Knowing that I created over $20,000 more in debt for my family and now I have no means of paying it back is devastating to me. Talk about being depressed! But that is not the answer. I have to get tough and find a solution.

Although my plans did not go as I had intended, that does not mean that I made a bad decision. Going to college is always good, in my humble opinion. Sure it will mean that we have more debt to pay off before we can retire. It will be paid off before I had planned on retiring anyway. The main thing it means is that I have to refocus my thoughts. Where before, I had planned on getting a job with retirement benefits that would help pay off debt, I have to find a way to pay off debt without the job with retirement benefits.

What are my options?

Well, I could keep doing the same work that I am but cut expenses. That is very difficult to do when every time a new bill comes in, it is more than it was the previous month. I have made changes to try to reduce the bills some without having to give up things that we have grown accustomed to having. The next step in reducing costs is to start doing without things that we currently use. That is not my preferred next step.

I could try to find another job in whatever field I could. Many people are working two jobs these days. Some families even have two wage earners that are working multiple jobs. That makes living life very difficult. Sure the payoff of having time together during retirement would be great, but if you drive yourself nuts or kill yourself working to get there, is it really worth it?

Instead, I'm doing what little extras that I can to bring a few extra bucks while I work to pay off bills. It is a very small step, but it is a step in the right direction. It does not horribly alter my family's way of life. It will take much longer to accomplish. I will end up working longer than I would have with other methods, but hey, I had no intention of retiring early anyway! I've always thought of myself as one of those people that will just keep right on working. I may change my job, but I'll always be doing something. Hopefully, even something that will bring in at least a small income. I do not have plans to retire to some community that keeps me busy and just sit back and spend money. I plan on remaining as active as possible for as long as I can.

So do you have retirement plans? Will you be ready for them as soon as you had hoped?