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I'm 65 and husband is 68 and these are our golden years for sure! So many years of clock watching, scrimping and saving, and now we're free to get out from behind our desks and have fun. We've got the funds and we've got our health. The last ten years have been the best! (We retired at 55/58.)
I had always been the kid that saves the best piece on my slice of cake for last - i lived for the future.
But our bodies are deteriorating by the second.
The golden years are often defined as post retirement, often post age 65.
I say that your golden years are not post retirement. Your body will be sharply going downhill by then
Your golden years will be the worst years of your life. Don't slave away at your job for your "golden years". Set a good balance and start living today.
Thoughts? I'd love to hear from both sides.
JustCuriouss,
From what I have learned about you, you are probably in your 20s, still in school, have not made a living on your own, and have parents in poor health. Based on the information, I think that your opinion is less than 2 cents ;-) However since you want to hear from both sides, I will give you my reasons for believing my golden years are ahead of me. BTW, I am only in my 2nd week of retirement and have not reached 65.
Based on my life experience and observation of family and friends' life, whether one has golden years in retirement DEPENDS on how one had lived and prepared for those years ALL the previous years.
The old saying of "you can not have a cake and eat it too " applies. If you live it up in young age, don't work hard, don't save, don't take good care of yourself, don't build a lifelong good relationships (spouses, children, friends) then it's true that your 'golden years' will be behind you - or even WAY WAY beyond - you have many years to live in poverty, poor health and unhappiness!
I have lived a very good life but with a lot of determination, effort, disciplines, hard work, some self-sacrifice and calculated risk taking. An example is the time my husband and I quit our good paying jobs, left our paid for nice home and went back to graduate schools. I was 30 years old and pregnant with our first child. We could have 'lived' it up the DINK phase of our life but we lived very frugally (hand me down furniture, Good Will/thrift store shopping, no fancy vacations, expensive cars etc) to pay off our house and have some savings to go back to school. It was a big change to go from nice suburban individual home to tiny and noisy married student housing. Taking grad courses, doing research work while raising a baby was not an easy walk in the wood.
We did not relax and start living a bit until our daughter had graduated from HS then college and vet school. We certainly did not wait until after retirement to enjoy life. Your suggestion of setting a good balance and start living today IS valid BUT the key is HOW to set a good balance? Our balance tilled heavily towards just basic living in young age and living with more rewards/life amenities as we slowly build up our life and asset (both in terms of money and relationship).
At this point in my life, what we have accumulated in the other side of the scale (saving, net worth, life accomplishments - experience, wisdom, a well-launched daughter, good health, supporting family, good friends etcc.) is quite abundance. We can shift more emphasis to the 'living' part of the scale. I am looking forward to many more extensive trips, adventures, learning opportunities, a new living place where we can enjoy our hobbies of flying, rowing, hiking, bird watching, photography, film making, gardening, reading, raising chickens or maybe even a few goats, taking fun courses, going to concerts etc.
Yes, I fully expect my retirement years will continue to be golden. I earned it!
P.S. I want to address your main concern of poor health and deteriorated old body. I was not a lifelong health/fitness person or athlete. I did not go to the gym until 15 years ago. After few years of working out, swimming, weight lifting, I became much stronger and had more energy than when I was in my 20's or 30s. I have been quite involved in individual and team sport of rowing in the last 12 years. Last weekend, our club was in an open mixed 8+ race in a regatta (open means no age separation and no age-handicapping, 8+ means a rowing shell with 8 rowers and a coxswain). The average age of our boat is ~55. There were probably just a handful of 'geriatric' adult boats, the rest of the 32 boats were mostly college age rowers. We came in ahead of 10 other boats. Based on the team names, we beat ~ 6 or7 college boats with rowers less than half our ages!
About 1/3 of our regular club members are over 60 years old. Several rowers are in their 70's. I see these 'old geezers' daily on the river. Several of them are superb athletes who have won quite a few of races. None of them fit your physical description of old people!
Our golden years are starting. And they truly are golden.
Jim is retired and I am almost at part time status which means we are spending more and more time together. We try to stay fit but really for us the golden part is the time we are spending together has become even more wonderful than either of us could have imagined.
Our gold comes from a greater emotional and spiritual connection to each other that coincides with us ageing.
I've been trying to understand all this myself in the last couple of years and decided lets just enjoy. Its another stage of life.
The term 'Golden Years' should be changed to 'Garbage Years'.
A lot of seniors have always told me to enjoy my 'youth' because it's garbage time for most. Most of them are on meds, have limited or diminishing physical health, seen a growing number of deaths, etc etc etc. Not one of them has called it the 'Golden Years'.
The ones who call it the 'Golden Years' are the lucky ones who are still in great shape with financial resources to enjoy life. They are in the minority.
The truth of the aging process is that it allows us a different perspective as we age. It's consistent with the idea that humans are plenty malleable, and for that reason we know the way we have lived will definitely impact the way we live in the future. Reaping what you sow, that's the synopsis of most people's aging experience. In that view lies the benefit of our being cautious of excess while not losing the primary essence of youth.
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
Aldous Huxley
The term 'Golden Years' should be changed to 'Garbage Years'.
A lot of seniors have always told me to enjoy my 'youth' because it's garbage time for most. Most of them are on meds, have limited or diminishing physical health, seen a growing number of deaths, etc etc etc. Not one of them has called it the 'Golden Years'.
The ones who call it the 'Golden Years' are the lucky ones who are still in great shape with financial resources to enjoy life. They are in the minority.
I will totally agree with you that having financial resources in our later life makes a huge difference.
We will be comfortable and should be fine, unless everything blows up at once, then how knows. We'll approach that when the time comes.
My dad had a massive stroke at age 63, that left him partially paralyzed, kinda bitter, mentally challenge, very uncooperative and died at 84. My mom died at age 73 from a 2nd bout of renal cancer. Financially they were comfortable.
The difference though was attitude. My dad regrets were about never having a Rolex, Cadillac or a large diamond ring because my mother wouldn't let him. My mothers regret was that my dad had his stroke and that that effected the course of their retirement.
She stated that she would have given up everything they owned, vacations they took, etc., and would have rather spent their golden years sitting on the porch holding hands, instead of him having his stroke.
In his final few months, he did oftentimes state "your mom was right."
We probably could have enjoyed our youth more but the older I/we get the less golden stuff, things, possessions are.
The truth of the aging process is that it allows us a different perspective as we age. It's consistent with the idea that humans are plenty malleable, and for that reason we know the way we have lived will definitely impact the way we live in the future. Reaping what you sow, that's the synopsis of most people's aging experience. In that view lies the benefit of our being cautious of excess while not losing the primary essence of youth.
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
Aldous Huxley
Live it up. spend away in 20s and 30s, then just pay it all back/raise kids/save for retirement in 40s/50, then live it up again in 60s/70s then die. That's probably the best way to do it.
People who did that who are now in their 50s will end up retiring with large mortgages and lacking sufficient funds in their retirement accounts. Only superstars who are top earners can get away with what you suggest here.
It's always been my philosophy to live every day like it's your last day. You could easily be diagnosed with a severe illness that could clean out your bank account tomorrow.
And the probability of such a fate is? .....
Whereas, the probability of being a poor elder is ....
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