Life

2020 Scares Me A Bit

It’s almost 2020. That scares me a little bit, as I am doing everything I can to save for retirement and my future, but it still seems like there isn’t that much money left over to increase my savings goals. Things are going well, but it’s still a big leap, with time closing in quickly.

If I retire at 55, that will be 2038, or only 19 years out which isn’t a lot of time. I could work full-time to 65, I guess, but I worry that I will have enough health to enjoy life beyond there. People do live in their 80s or beyond these days, but I know in many cases the final years aren’t that great. A good decade of retirement, with my land, though would be nice.

Even I don’t fully retire at age 55, I do hope to have my off-grid cabin and land at that point paid off – but I will still need money coming in from work and investing to pay for the things that are ongoing expenses.

Expressway of Life

“Take your time, think a lot, for you may still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.”
Father and Son, Cat Stevens

At age 35 — going on 36 come January — suddenly I’m realizing that I’m getting old. Not that old — still another 30 years until I’m officially a senior, but as time passes more doors close on life, roads not taken are forever gone, just like a missed exit on an expressway. People warn me all the time. Things you can do at 35, will no longer be available in your 40s and 50s, or so I’m told. As life goes on, your list of “permanent disabilities” only grows.

But I’m not ready to give up on the expressway I am on carefully, for some far out dream that I don’t have the resources or the knowledge to fully implement. Usually when you exit the expressway in your life, there is no way to get back on it.

Fork in the River