Did you ever think when you were younger that now...... (state, retired)
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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I didn't expect to be still working at 69, but then I didn't have a job I really liked with great pay and benefits until 2009.
When I was in college my goal was to make as much as my father, who was at $40k then. I figured if he could make it on that with 9 kids I'd do great with 1-3. Now the poverty level is $70k, and median family income is $168k, I could never have imagined it being normal to make that much, never mind that some of my neighbors in tech at Amazon make well over $200k.
I was a horse-crazy girl and never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine buying my first horse at age 66 like I did last year. My single mom high school teacher could barely afford riding lessons, let alone paying to buy and board a horse. So one of my lifelong dreams came true; I just never imagined it would, especially 6 decades after the "horse bug" bit.
Also, and this is kind of funny, my horse is a retired racehorse (OTTB, off-track Thoroughbred). When I was a kid, I watched as much racing on TV as I could and read all the racing columns in the paper. Imagine my delight when I looked up my horse's 5-generation pedigree and saw one of my very favorite childhood horses from the 60s, Buckpasser, way back there. I still get a little kick out of knowing I'm sitting on 3.125% of Buckpasser's genes when I ride my horse.
I know it's kind of simple, but I dreamed by now I would be a the rising hostess in my family... meaning I would be married with 3, maybe 4 kids, doing the mom thing the way my mom did, living a life similar to my parents, and slowly taking over hosting the family holiday parties, etc. I wanted to have a job too, but my real dreams in life always revolved around family. I guess I am a homebody. Oh, and I would have a million in my retirement account as well (seriously, I thought about that when I was 18... my dad's influence. Started saving for retirement as soon as I got out of college and got my first job).
In a way, I guess I am what I hoped, but not exactly. I did get married and I had one child (let's just say there wasn't much opportunity to have more), my husband came out as gay and left me a month after I turned 40, and now I am a single mom soon to be empty nester. So I got to be a mom and I am doing the mom thing with my daughter (in a similar fashion to my own mom), but I don't have the big family I hoped for or have a marriage like my parents had, and one of my younger cousins is the rising hostess and is throwing the big family parties, etc. But I am happy and my life is good despite setbacks. And if things keep going well for me and I keep saving the way I've always saved, despite a huge financial loss with the divorce (ex had a lot of secret debt I didn't know about, had to sell upside down marital home, and saving stopped for a few years), I should still have that million in my 401k/IRA by the time I am 60. Thank you to my dad and uncle for showing me the power of long term compounding interest.
I didn't expect to be still working at 69, but then I didn't have a job I really liked with great pay and benefits until 2009.
When I was in college my goal was to make as much as my father, who was at $40k then. I figured if he could make it on that with 9 kids I'd do great with 1-3. Now the poverty level is $70k, and median family income is $168k, I could never have imagined it being normal to make that much, never mind that some of my neighbors in tech at Amazon make well over $200k.
Yeah, I had the same problem.
When I was young I wanted to be a millionaire.
Not for the money, but for the freedom that money gives you.
God, has a wicked sense of humor. So remember that in your prayers.
Oh, I met my goal working as a mid-level Federal employee. What I should have asked for......" I want to be a millionaire, index for inflation from today".
Be specific in your prayers to cover your bases. Remember GOD, has a wicked sense of humor.
I knew I wanted to have a family and a career in the helping professions all of which happened. I didn’t expect to divorce 3 husbands and live alone in my senior years.
Even at the age of 40, I still seriously expected that I would feel old at 60 (and I certainly did not expect the subsequent 20+ years to pass so fast!). Had I been given a peek into the future, to see that now (ie, at the age of almost 62) I would feel really no different than I felt then, I would have been very surprised!
I can't think all that's happened to you is something any of us would be capable of processing as thoughts or possibilities in our early years when we're looking at our lives as endless possibilities stretching out before our young selves.... at least I know I couldn't.
I think you're right. That being said, wow, was I ever glad we had all our estate stuff in order - wills, POAs, financial accounts, etc. Actually I've had all that stuff straight since I was in my 20s.
Now that I think of it, I also didn't expect to lose both my parents and my brother while I was in my fifties either. I didn't expect my fifties to be so dominated by loss. My sixties or seventies maybe but not my fifties.
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