RETIREMENT?

This is a little more serious than what I usually write, but I wanted to respond to an article written by a friend. "A response to the article “Is retirement Healthy, Biblical or Smart?"

I would not disagree with the assumptions of the writer that
1. At retirement, we no longer have a full-time job.
2. When we retire, we will receive some kind of fixed income (pension, annuity, Social Security) to support us.
3. We will be able to do all the things we didn’t do before retiring because we were working too hard to make money — for retirement (among other things.
4. The money we spend in our retirement is our to do with as we please. As the motto on the back of the motor home says, “We are spending out kids’ inheritance.”

These goals are probably the dream of some and maybe many achieve that dream. But from another end of that dream there is heartbeat, disappointment, frustration and pain.
1. Retirement does mean we no longer have a full time job. We now have part-time jobs, volunteer positions, and friends or family we help or care for.
2. We do expect some sort of financial assistance. Everyone here receives Social Security. We invested 40-50 years with the promise that it was our money and it would care for our retirement. That was the lie my generation bought. Your generation knows better. It may be our money, but we have to argue, fight and claw for every penny and even then we are on keep on subsistence income for the USA. We need the help because we all have health issues. We complain and whine about are physical problems, but mostly we are making jokes. We bemoan the loss of skills, mobility and mental capacity. This is not the party we hoped for.
3. We are not doing all the things we dreamed. We are doing the same things we have always done — without pay. Some work at minimum wage jobs, but most cannot stand long enough to do that. So we care as we can for our neighbors and family, we help care for the public spaces where we live. We encourage do what for one another. We visit doctors with the promise of gaining a better life but instead are given (read sold) more pills we don’t want and cannot afford. The pills are a life support system that feels like extraneous measures not unlike tubes and machines that keep our heart, blood or lungs pumping. Some have cars, but most are walking to many places and taking the kind of time to get a meal together their parents and grandparents did. Without transportation, everything takes significantly longer. There is no free transportation in this area. The charge is a burden to many with major health concerns. They skip some appointments to their own determent. But one cannot do what they cannot afford. The donut hole many face at the end of the year means medication is stopped until a new calendar year. I have a van. I run a free transportation service for medical trips until I have used all the gas I have that month and must wait for the next pay period to fill up again. They would help, it they could.

We have all listened to what we should have done to prepare for a successful financial retirement. Great, if you had the job that let you. I did. I ran through plenty of money in my day. I took care of family, send my kids to college, helped them with cars and paid for a wedding. When that was done and the family could manage themselves, I did what my wife and I always did. I gave much away to care for the poor and help the needy (another Biblical concept). I never tracked what I gave away. The rule of thumb was don’t loan what you can’t afford to give away. I didn’t need it to live and so I gave it away. My situation is not painful or unpleasant. I am happy and continue to give away what I can. Most of us here work as hard as we have always worked. We just don’t get paid. We don’t take these marvelous trips. A day trip is a luxury. None I know were wasteful with what they had. They never had it in the first place.
4. We hoped we would have money to do with is as we desired. We are still spending our kids’ inheritance — on them and those more needy.

No one I know asks if it is healthy to do anything. The real question is do we have the health to continue what we are doing for one another. We don’t want to live to be 100. We just want health to continue to function. I may be the only one living here who ever worked behind a desk. These are primarily low paying labors unable to collect all the toys their own generation gathered. There are no useless lives here. There are used up lives sitting in their room because they can do little more. The others reach out. Their personal faith makes little difference. There are people that need help. It beats sitting around.
I am not denying there are those who sit around while others love the casino. Smart or not, the typical play is with $20 on nickel slots. The hope is this might improve their life and if not, they were out for a day of fun.

The article uses some Biblical saints as examples. Few of us are or will be like King David, Paul, John or Daniel. We are regular people doing our best and praying for the health to continue to be of value in this world. Let us contribute and serve. But Lord, when those days are over, let us leave. Today’s medicine makes that mush more difficult. Many have family members that will not let go. I know of know one who wants tubes and machines keeping them going. There was a day that when our useful life was over, we were over. There is a new medical reality. A world that prolongs our life, but not our usefulness seems to be in control. There is no here who wanted to retire. Consider those for whom there was no other choice.

I know and like the author. He is a great guy and a terrific pastor. His article is not wrong or offensive. It is simply addressed to a much wealthier retired group than I know and live with. To read his article check out at: http://natomaschurch.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/is-retirement-healthy-biblical-or-smart/