Brainy Bird is the college class of 2025. That will also be the year of my thirty-year class reunion. I remember when people with a college class year of 2001 seemed so young. Little Chirp’s college class will be the class of 2030. If all goes as planned, I will be semi-retired by then. That seems insane.
When one starts thinking in years, the mind starts to play tricks on them. I am forty-five, if I live to be the age my mother was when she passed away, I only have fourteen more years to live. What would Mom have done at forty-four if she knew she had just fourteen more years to live? Would she have worried less, or would she have worried more?
I am trying to balance planning for the future with living for the day. I save a great deal, and I could save a great deal more, but what if today is all I have? I have a phased retirement plan, so that I get to enjoy life more and worry less at an earlier age just in case I do not make it to retirement.
I am currently in phase zero of my phased retirement plan. In this phase, I save roughly forty percent of my gross earnings. I need another five years in this phase. If I lose my job in the next five years, I do not need to worry as it will just lengthen phase 0 by roughly 2 times the amount of time that I am out of work.
Phase 1 of retirement is the phase that I am looking forward to the most. Maybe, I never leave this phase. In phase 2 of retirement, I no longer need to save for retirement; I just can’t yet touch my retirement savings. This will allow me to choose a more stress-free livelihood. I would like to be a freelance writer, but likely, I would not be able to make enough as I would still have a mortgage. I could get started as a freelance writer, while still being a contractor working in a capacity like what I do now with substantial time off in between projects.
In Phase 2 of retirement, my mortgage is paid off, and I am debt free. I will be doing a happy dance at this phase. I will only need to make enough to pay my monthly bills and provide for spending money. The amount I earn will dictate how nice my vacations are in contrast to supporting my day-to-day life. I could realistically be a freelance writer at this phase of my retirement as I hope to be able to draw enough interest from my savings to increase my monthly income, without reducing the overall balance of my retirement accounts.
In Phase 3 of retirement, I will continue with a small side job, but increase the withdrawals from my retirement beyond just interest. Phase 3 begins when I turn 60, which means I have outlived both of my parents, and I want to enjoy my life.
In Phase 4 of retirement, I will be 65, and I will no longer be working at all. If my savings and spending go as planned, I will have enough to live out my days, enjoying vacations and time with family and friends.
I can’t stop the clock, and I cannot control how long I will live. My phased plan gives me a strong motivation to put a substantial amount of money into savings, knowing I will reap the benefits of it before I reach a traditional retirement age just in case I never make it to a traditional retirement age.
In the meantime, I enjoy each day. Life is short, and it is the little things in life that make it worth living.