How to Look Forward to Retirement, Not Vilify it

The Golden Years -- there is a reason why this term is used to describe the twilight of your life, the years that come after retirement. When I was younger, I thought the term was only used to glorify old age, to make old age seem a wonderful time in a person's life (the TV show "The Golden Girls come to mind). Being the inexperienced whippersnapper that I was, I insensitively thought that people were just saying it was "Golden" to distract the retirees from the loneliness old age brings. Not to mention the TV show depicting the retired women as bitter and alone, living together and using humor to poke fun at the hard times they were enduring, was not really helping assuage my doubts on the use of the term.

As I grew older, the TV show was finally cancelled, and I was able to learn more on the "plight" of old retirees through my aging aunts and uncles, not to mention my parents as well. Though life after retirement does have the potential to be a debilitating experience -- as what I saw with my grandmother on my father's side, getting sick and living alone with incompetent nurses, that (though it may be mean on my part) seeing her suffer made me pray that she be taken from this earth to relieve her of the pain – it also has the possibility of growing old gracefully, full of promise and zest that would make anyone excited about the thought. This, I saw with my grandmother on my mother's side, where she is close to 80 years old and still thinks lucidly, enjoying life, writing novels, living in a house in the mountains where family and friends visit her often to share in the positive vibes that emanates from her, no matter how long a drive it takes to get to her place. The difference between my two grandmothers is that my paternal grandmother did not have a good pension plan or an annuity option to help her, whereas my maternal grandmother reaped the benefits of my grandfather's annuity.

One can be forgiven to think that it is not all about the money. Which is true, it was never about the money. It was all about having the peace of mind that things will be alright, that despite having to grow old alone (both my grandfathers went ahead from this world ahead), the stresses of life such as bills and what not are being handled by the pension or annuity. Though one was sick, the other not, I am still convinced that things would have been different if my paternal grandmother had the positive outlook in life like my maternal grandma did.

Retirement need not be a concern of yours, if you plan ahead and arrange for a good pension plan or pension annuity. In life, things may not go as smooth as you would want it to be, but at least you will get help on your journey, together with your loved ones or apart.

The Golden Years -- there is a reason why this term is used to describe the twilight of your life, the years that come after retirement. When I was younger, I thought the term was only used to glorify old age.