i recently decided that it's time to start thinking about the future. that means, even planning for retirement. gary and i made an appointment with financial investors and bankers at our local financial institution to discuss some of our options. as the two of us sat across from the two of them, letters, numbers, and confusion swarmed my head. while most of it flew right over my head, i think i got the gist of it. basically, i need to start investing money. now.
gary has a great retirement plan with work. i have a pension. that scares me a little, but i was relieved to find out that there is some security with a pension (thankfully our tenacious union has that under control, as well). but unfortunately, that still might not be enough. there is a wide array of investment options. traditional ira's, roth ira's, 401k's, 403(b)'s, and so on and so forth. then there's pre-tax, after-tax, etc. at one point, the attractive financial adviser, with his rimless glasses and swooped back meticulous hair, starts drawing a diagram to explain and clarify all of this. it eventually looked like a molecular structure that brought back nightmares of chemistry. thankfully the banker sitting across relieved some of my discomfort by recognizing that many of us have debt and it's not easy to maintain day-to-day living and invest a sizable amount of our income all at once. she was also very interested in discussing cruising as a way to see the world.
all of this was thrown on us and many things had to be sorted out between us to make decisions about this investing. we finally made another appointment for a future date to come back and again, discuss our options.
the bottom line is that i cannot afford not to invest for my future. be it saving for a house or saving for my retirement, it's time to set aside some of my income for the future.
i'm not sure how all of this will eventually pan out, but i feel like an adult. sure, i've had a job and paid for all my expenses on my own. but now, it's one more step into adulthood. i won't lie - it makes me sit up a bit taller, with a half-grin of pride.
3 comments:
Now if only we had tons of money to invest! I think we should invest in a yacht!
i think you should invest in a yacht, too! good idea gary!
you kids sound so grown up. it brings a tear to my eye. :)
good for you! I finally did that too this year. Nothing significant but 2%in a 401K is better than none at all I suppose. Growing up is such an odd feeling to me. Not that it means I will become any more mature - but atleast I'm recognizing the fact that I'm getting old(er).
I also agree with Gary's comment. Yacht.
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