What do you want to do in retirement?

[Jackie Patterson]

What do you want to do in retirement? This isn't about when you retire, or what you need to retire, but what you want to do. Once you decide what you want to do, then goals can be set to get you there.

We live in Michigan....cold, snowy winters. Many people here want to become snowbirds and spend the winters in Florida or Arizona. Our plans are a little different. First of all, I don't think we'll ever retire completely. We'll always keep our fingers in RE, and with the internet and laptops, we can conduct business almost anywhere in the world.

The first thing we want to do is spend a year traveling the world. After that, we would like to spend 3 months of the year (winter months) living somewhere else. First year, New Zealand, followed by Tuscany, Carribbean, Southern France, etc. We want to rent a house, condo or flat and immerse ourselves in the local culture.

What do you want to do?

[Jon Holdman]

Not sure how old you are, Bryan, but you look pretty young in your picture. I'm with Rich, you view on this topic may change as time passes. I used to think I'd never retire, either. I don't think I'll ever be able to totally stop doing something. But I sure think at some point I'll do something quite different than my current day job.

I do think its important to keep busy. When I got out of college in 1981 and went to work, a lot of folks were nearing retirement age. It was all too common for someone to retire after 30 or 40 years with the company and then die in the next year or two. It wasn't that they had issues and retired because of it. They had their "points", got their pension and had big plans. But the grim reaper had different plans.

I've considered figuring out something to sell and doing the renaissance fair circuit. Travel, go to different places, time off between fairs, own the little shops, worry about rain, heat and cold, and fret about having the right merchandise. Crazy, but some days it sounds pretty good.