When it’s time for retirement will your friends be ready?

A friend of mine seems to keep the whole city employed. On a weekly basis she pays for a dog walker, a housekeeper and a personal trainer. Not to mention the financial advisor and accountant who she pays on a semi-annual or annual basis. She and her husband have recently purchased new cars and made major home improvements. In the mean time my husband and I mow our own grass, clean our own house, and file our own taxes. We drive cars manufactured in 1994 and 1999, and try to stash away every other, if not every extra penny.

I am not one to compare myself with the Jones’, but I know that in the future there will be comparisons. Of course, future comparisons won’t be about how large our home is or what kind of cars we drive. In twenty years, the question will be, how much money have our friends saved for retirement? When my husband and I begin contemplating retirement or starting second careers, where will our friends be?

At the growing rate I imagine that most of our friends will need to continue working for a very long time. For now we have conversations about the trips they take, the clothes they’ve purchased and the furniture they buy. But I look forward to the future, and wonder, will they be shocked when we initiate conversations about quitting our jobs, cutting back hours, and spending more time pursuing our passions?

2 thoughts on “When it’s time for retirement will your friends be ready?”

  1. I completely agree with you, I’m a save now and spend later kinda guy. I also have friends who rub all these fancy high tech gadgets in my face but in the long run I’m sure that all this will pay off.

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  2. I am more comfortable “saving every penny” now, than spending it now. Of course I do have an occasional moment when I do “spend” too much. But, these events are few and far between.

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