Have you ever wondered what your retirement is going to look like? Well, I did. Looking at what I had already accumulated versus what I need to live a comfortable life in retirement leads me to ask myself, is Rich the Goal? Hmmm, for a long time, I thought it was the goal. After all, everything around me tells me that it should be the goal. From TV ads to influencers on social media, all of them scream, “You need money to look like me or have what I have.” Almost every article I have read tells me I need at least a couple of million to live a decent life.
Then I stumbled across an article about a couple in New York City who saved nearly every penny they earned and retired in their mid-thirties with about $750K. They live a very minimalist lifestyle, and I’m talking bare bones here, and appear to be the happiest any two people could be. I wondered what their secret was, and delving deeper into the article, I found that they figured out exactly what they needed to be happy. They determined the necessities that facilitated a life of joy for them. This concept floored me. Why, you ask? Because it broke the traditional construct in my mind. I could define what retirement looked like to me because retirement looks a bit different for everyone.
Later, I talked with my aunt, Dolores Sherman of H.O.P.E, and she encouraged me to know MY number. “Know my number.”, I thought. Okay, I’m always up for any challenge. To me it meant know what your retirement is going to look like because everyone has a different perception of what it means to retire. I sought to do just that, know my number. I sat down with my trusty dusty pen and favorite notebook and began to figure out what it would take to have the life I envisioned. Surprisingly, I didn’t need the money I thought I needed, but it didn’t lead me to the $750K road.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I’ve reduced my work hours to part-time (I was so stressed out and needed a change for my mental and physical health). This transition threw my goals into a tailspin. I no longer made the money I was making, and as a result, I could no longer save the same amount of money as in the past (Psst, if you need help establishing savings goals check out this article ‘Savings is a Whole Vibe). UH OH! I’m not going to lie; I began to panic because the retired life I had envisioned seemed to be slipping away.
Then one day, I stumbled on a show about tiny homes and fell in love with the concept! I became fascinated with the movement. I thought to myself, “That’s what I want! That’s how I want to live!” It was time for me to re-work my number. So, I returned to the drawing board, now incorporating a tiny home into my plan. Voila! My numbers worked again! If I remove the mortgage and replace it with a fully paid-off tiny house. I was so ecstatic that I jumped for joy. My goals and dreams were achievable again. Check out this Yahoo! finance article that details steps to take to create plan for your retirement.
Reflecting on this exercise, I now realize that being rich was not the goal. The goal was and is to be happy. Happiness for me is living life on my terms. I work when I want to work and not because I have to pay the mortgage. Traveling when and as often as I feel. Spending time with my nieces and parents rather than at a 9 to 5. I’m not there yet, but I have a plan for how I will get there soon!
