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Do I have enough for retirement? Well, let's see. I'm divorced and self-employed in a tough economy. I used up my savings long ago, and I don't have any real estate to sell off. I am vested in a tiny Aetna C&S pension, though. It will give me about $350 a month if it's still there. There's Social Security of course; but government favors the 1% over us 99ers. Who knows what cuts they'll make before I turn 62 in three years? No, I don't have enough for retirement, but I'll be just fine.
How I got here
I began studying art in 1970, but left college a few years later. According to a recent study by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, my career shift was a good move. The study backed the "starving artist" cliche with cold hard facts. Artists earn less money than anyone. Thank goodness I became a specialist in liability, litigation and commercial insurance claims
My corporate salary, company-paid pension and matched savings plan carried me comfortably through the 80s recession. It set me up for a nice retirement, but after nearly losing my mom to a brain tumor and my dad to a job-related accident, I'd already begun to question the value of spending my life working for someone else.
Trading money for simple life
At age 39 I left my corporate benefits behind. I lived on savings and earned money from making wedding and birthday cakes, handcrafted jewelry and jewelry classes. Just when I figured out how to make it all work, I switched gears and taught classes at an inner city ministry for 10 years. I made up for my dwindling income by moving from the suburbs to the city. I lived a simple life.
My retirement?
My simple life gave me quality time with my dad and with my mom before she died last year. It let me hang out with my son and daughter, their spouses and my grandsons. I've lost three brothers in recent years, all in their mid fifties. Their deaths before the customary retirement age helped me reaffirm my choices. I've never worried about my fast track to a low budget retirement. For my "retirement" I'll just keep doing what I've been doing for the past 20 years until I keel over and die
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