Retirement Plan

by Brendan Smith
Weirs Times Editor

As I get a little older the thought of retirement often invades my daily thinking.
I’d imagine that I wouldn’t be really “retiring” as the word is often interpreted. I’d still be doing what I’m doing in one form or another.
I’m sure I’d be getting up every morning to sit at this keyboard (sometimes actually typing on it). I have always enjoyed writing since I was a nerdy little kid, so I’d probably keep at it for whatever it’s worth.
Sure, I might go out and shoot a round of golf on occasion to play to the retirement stereotype, but I have golfed enough in a previous younger life to know that…well…I stink.
I’m not sure if at this stage in the game I’d want to dedicate a lot of time and blood pressure to getting just a little bit better at it.
I would enjoy having my own schedule though. Doing what I want when I want. Having extra time does have its benefits… I would imagine.
Still, there is that one tiny obstacle that stands in the way of when to retire.
Money.
Have we saved enough to have a nice retirement? Of course, that all depends on how long we live.
I am always grateful that modern day breakthroughs in medicine have given me extra time with my recent heart surgery, but I’m also glad that it hasn’t advanced enough yet to be able to keep me alive till I am two hundred, then retirement wouldn’t even be a consideration for at least another hundred years. I doubt I could even make fifty.
I am hoping that my wife, Kim, and I will have stashed away enough by retirement age to see us through when we are in our golden years (a nice term to say “old”).
But, just in case, I am thinking of using a modern-day method of raising some additional cash to see to it that our last decades are comfortable…our very own GoFundMe page.
It seems that every time I turn on my computer to read an email or go on social media (which is anything but social nowadays), people are trying to get me to cough up some bucks to help them pay for something through GoFundMe.
There are many noble GoFundMe fundraisers that really are purposeful. When someone starts one for a friend who is facing an unexpected hardship or a natural disaster somewhere has disrupted people’s lives, or someone is facing the overwhelming cost of dealing with a life-threatening disease, that makes sense to me.
But when someone starts a GoFundMe page because their kid needs new braces, they want to take a trip around the world, or they want to test an idea so ridiculous that they wouldn’t even consider risking their own money on it, I’m not sure that was the purpose for the thing in the first place.
Still, it seems that this weird way of raising money for just about anything is here to stay, so why not join in? Why keep on working towards retirement when I might be able to just have a bunch of other people take care of that for me?
So, I am starting a GoFundMe page to finance our retirement.
I think two million dollars would be a great amount to shoot for? What do you think?
I realize that I might not get anywhere close to that, but on the other hand I might be surprised. Maybe spending my days being lousy at golf on Hilton Head just might be something I’d be willing to waste my time doing, if the money wasn’t a concern.
We figure that we will shoot high and even if we fall a bit short and only collect only one and a quarter million, we will still manage somehow.
So, keep your eyes open for an announcement for our GoFundMe Page which should be up and running as soon as I figure out how to do it.
I don’t have all the specifics yet, but if you do decide to contribute to our GoFundMe page for our retirement, you will be guaranteed a very special handmade thank you card as a .pdf delivered straight to your inbox.
For those who donate over $10,000 you will receive a handwritten card at Christmas direct from Hilton Head.
I hope you will see it in your heart to help us in our quest.
Thank you in advance.

Brendan is the author of “The Flatlander Chronicles” and “Best Of A F.O.O.L in New Hampshire” available at BrendanTSmith.com

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