Are you having fun with your retirement?

Outrageous retirement lifestyles don’t just happen

Being retired is one thing; creating an outrageous retirement is quite another. I have been retired for 11 months now. You would think that this is plenty of time to get my retirement in gear. Well it might be for some but as I approach my retirement anniversary I have some complaints. Well, its really one big complaint- when do I get the fun? On our plan is some travel. We want to visit the San Juan Islands and some other coastal parts of the US to explore as possible places to move. We want to visit Europe, starting with Italy. In between, we’d like to explore other parts of the US and get back to New York City. It’s a big list. So, how is the travel working out? We haven’t gotten farther than flying to LA to visit our son.

So what is the problem?

Well there are two big problems and they both point back to me. I didn’t retire with enough money and I haven’t built my second retirement income stream. So for the past eleven months, I have been getting my budgeting muscles toned by cutting unnecessary spending and creating a travel fund on the one hand while working on my business skills and creating a second income on the other. They take time and effort. Even if I were on top of my game, the fruits of those activities take months (maybe years) to ripen. I’m not complaining. I know the facts and I can see the progress. I know that good things take time and that the work I put in only makes the fruit sweeter. It is just that right now, I’m getting a bit fed up with all that delayed gratification.

Don’t give up. Take a quick break.

All work and no play is supposed to make Jack a dull boy. Well, it can make Ralph pretty testy and cause him to wonder if all his work is ever going to pay off. I can be disciplined but I am also capable of blowing weeks of hard work and sacrifice when I get frustrated and whiny. There are so many excuses and I have discovered most of them in my life to date. I need to find some small rewards to sweeten the hard day to day work on my lifestyle plan. It shouldn’t cost much money or take much time, but a fun break can make all the difference when I am going the distance and the rewards never seem to get closer.

Then get back to work.

I took a fun break last week. It didn’t involve much time and about the same amount of money as a dinner out. But it lightened my spirits. I went to the opera. Just a couple of hours out taking in a live performance made a big difference. It took my mind off work and gave my thinking a breath of fresh air.

I know that everybody has a different idea about their retirement lifestyle and certainly you will have different ideas about the break you need. I know that some will have more money than I and some less. Not everybody wants to develop more income or change the way they are living. The focus of this blog is on outrageous retirement. I don’t think you accomplish anything outrageous without effort. If you are working to create an outrageous retirement lifestyle then I know that you will sometimes be frustrated with your progress and will question your path. Give yourself a treat once in a while. Make something that you like but keep it short and sweet- like a concert or a night our. And then get back to work. You are going to get the goals that you want but don’t make yourselves feel too frustrated along the way.