He demonstrates how the power of a vision can captivate and enliven both the present and the future. When looking at your own lifeline, imagining a different existence than the one you've lived so far can move you to a whole new place. Rather than impose self-limiting beliefs on yourself, why not learn to recognize and live more comfortably with your choices and desires?
William Gold did just that, even though it meant going against the grain of what others thought he should do with his later years.
Gold owned a heating and plumbing installations business in Quincy, Illinois, for 40 years. A master craftsman, he always enjoyed hands-on work more than business management. In the early 1980s, changes in the economic climate made it difficult for a meticulous craftsman to do work in the way he so enjoyed. So, at age 65, he elected to close his business down altogether. But he couldn't afford to retire and, in truth, he didn't want to. His work was one of the great passions of his life.
Searching for new options, he considered the obvious choice: consulting. Certainly, he knew enough about government rules and regulations to consult to others. But the field didn't really appeal to him. He was more of a hands-on type.
To everyone's amazement (and amid a hail of protests from well-meaning friends and family), he went to work with the crew of men he'd once hired. And to everyone else's surprise, he loved every minute of his new job. Being the oldest member of the crew didn't exempt him from having to do physical labor (although the younger men did help him with some of the lifting and carrying). But on the road, he was "one of the boys" again and as involved and productive as he'd ever been. More than anything else, he loved feeling useful. That, for him, was the true bottom line.
His work was so important to him that he would have done it whether he got paid or not. He could never walk into a room without remodeling it in his mind's eye. At his synagogue, he took the single-handed initiative to remodel the rabbi's study, even though he didn't get paid for the work. And when he visited a cemetery and saw that the cast iron gates were broken, he rented a welding torch and used his own money to fix them. When asked why, he responded simply: "It needed to be done."
Gold died last year at age 75. He worked up until three weeks before his death. On his last official day on the job, he was part of a crew that was remodeling the hospital emergency room. When he was done, he turned in his tools, walked around the corner and checked himself into the hospital, where he was operated on for cancer. His working days may have been over, but in his mind, he was still on the job. Even on his deathbed, he and his brother Ben were joyously scribbling and planning installations.
Gerontologists Paul Costa and Robert McCrae of the National Institute of Aging in Washington, DC, pinpoint "openness to experience" as the single most important lifelong trait for successful aging. So don't buy into the idea that everything goes downhill once you reach a certain age. Instead, why not try to recapture some of the spirit of adventure you had before all those financial responsibilities started weighing down your choices?
Savings are usually the key to an early retirement, even if you have a generous pension. If your savings fall short, there are three ways you can still get on track for an early out:
Step 1. Save smart. Take full advantage of any 401(k) or 403(b) or other employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plans. No other investment vehicles can give you the triple whammy of regular savings, tax-deferred compounding and employer-matched funding. If you contribute as much as your plan allows and invest wisely, you could end up with a higher benefit in retirement than someone with a traditional pension plan. At the very least, contribute enough to earn the full employer match. Then stretch your budget so you can save as much as the plan allows.
Step 2. Make saving painless. If you change jobs, arrange for your employer to transfer your retirement-plan balance directly to your new employer's plan or a rollover IRA. When you get a raise, increase your 401(k) salary-deferral rate if possible, or have automatic monthly deposits made into a separate savings fund.
Step 3. Be aggressive. Make your money work as hard as you do. Diversify your investments. Most people play it too safe with their retirement savings, especially in the early years of a long-term investment.
Source: Adapted from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.
Oh No, 50! Thought-Starter Worksheet
1. How old are you now?
2. How much longer do you plan to work?
3. Are you looking forward to retirement? Or do you dread it?
4. Do you know what you want to do after you retire?
5. Do you plan/need to work after retirement?
6. If you plan to work, do you know what you want to do?
7. Is there anything you need to do now to make sure you can do what you want postretirement?
8. What is your stereotype of an "old person"?
9. How do you plan to combat that reality?
10. How healthy are you?
11. Is there anything you can do now to take better care of your health?
12. Are you open to learning new things?
13. When was the last time you tried something totally different? How did it feel?
14. How well do you function in an unstructured environment?
15. How do you plan to structure your time after retirement?
16. Do you have friends who plan to retire when you do?
17. If you don't have friends retiring with you, where do you expect to find community?
18. Is it important to you to feel like a productive, contributing member of society? How do you plan to fulfill that need after retirement?
19. Have you ever participated in any volunteer or community activities? What was that experience like?
20. Do you have a formal retirement plan?
21. Have you considered working with a retirement-planning counselor to create one?
22. Do you have any creative instincts? If so, how do you plan to fulfill them?
23. Will you need extra income after retirement?
24. Are there any skills or experience you should be getting now to ensure your marketability later?
25. Is there anyone over age 65 you really admire?
26. Why do you admire this person?
27. Is there anything in this person's attitude or behavior you can work to emulate?
28. How long do you plan to live?
29. How are you going to make your later years fulfilling?
