An article in today's Wall Street Journal bemoans the fate of many older Americans who are forced to put off or even postpone retirement because of huge debts, the largest one being a home mortgage. The dilemma brings to mind two questions, both of which deserve further examination.
1. What's so great about retirement?
Doing nothing every day is not my idea of a good time. I know, I know--there's golf to be played and movies to be watched and all-you-can-eat buffet lunches to be eaten and cruises to be taken. Except for the golf, which seems like an excellent way to spend time, exercising in the great outdoors and stimulating the brain as well, the other pursuits should be kept to a minimum. Then what? Seems to me that having a reason to get up in the morning and a place to go and contribute to the world outside your own four walls is the only way to stave off dementia, sagging muscle tone and creeping ignorance of today's culture. Yet retirement is the goal of so many, and not just old folks--we all know people who start dreaming of it in their thirties. If you have a job you enjoy, that's a leg up for sure, but really, how hard is "work" anyway? (See photo.)
2. Why do so many people buy homes?
Just like the idea that a college education will to lead to a charmed life, somewhere long ago the idea was implanted that having your own home is the realization of The American Dream. Whose dream, exactly? What's wrong with renting a nice little place, or even a nice big place if you can afford it, and letting someone else fix the plumbing and pay the property taxes and replace the roof and--well, you see where I'm going with this. Watch "The Money Pit" for the rest of the story; besides being the funniest movie Tom Hanks ever made, it puts home ownership in the proper perspective.
None of the preceding applies to the rich, for whom retirement means travel to exotic destinations, or to coal miners, who surely deserve to stop doing that and lay around as much as they want.
1. What's so great about retirement?
Doing nothing every day is not my idea of a good time. I know, I know--there's golf to be played and movies to be watched and all-you-can-eat buffet lunches to be eaten and cruises to be taken. Except for the golf, which seems like an excellent way to spend time, exercising in the great outdoors and stimulating the brain as well, the other pursuits should be kept to a minimum. Then what? Seems to me that having a reason to get up in the morning and a place to go and contribute to the world outside your own four walls is the only way to stave off dementia, sagging muscle tone and creeping ignorance of today's culture. Yet retirement is the goal of so many, and not just old folks--we all know people who start dreaming of it in their thirties. If you have a job you enjoy, that's a leg up for sure, but really, how hard is "work" anyway? (See photo.)2. Why do so many people buy homes?
Just like the idea that a college education will to lead to a charmed life, somewhere long ago the idea was implanted that having your own home is the realization of The American Dream. Whose dream, exactly? What's wrong with renting a nice little place, or even a nice big place if you can afford it, and letting someone else fix the plumbing and pay the property taxes and replace the roof and--well, you see where I'm going with this. Watch "The Money Pit" for the rest of the story; besides being the funniest movie Tom Hanks ever made, it puts home ownership in the proper perspective.
None of the preceding applies to the rich, for whom retirement means travel to exotic destinations, or to coal miners, who surely deserve to stop doing that and lay around as much as they want.
The problem with most people about retirement is that they have no interests. They didn't do anything in their free time when they were working, so it could be much more "boring" when you have a larger gap of time to fill. I am one of those that can't wait for retirement (my choice not my employer's). I have so many current interests and ones I would like to pursue, that it is crazy. I don't sit on my butt all day (except at work) and when I get home, I do all the fun things that I love. I work to live, not the other way around. If you really focus on what is important, you could have money to "retire". Maybe not like the "rich and famous", but enough to smell the roses. If you focus only on the bad, it won't get better. Pick up a brush and teach a class. Pass the knowledge forward.
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Nothing is wrong with renting if that's what you want. But if you want to be able to do whatever you want to the inside and outside of the place where you will spend a lot of time, if you have several pets, if you want to landscape or garden, buying is the way to go. What's wrong with that?
ReplyDeleteAs a current homeowner, I don't really think there's anything "wrong" with owning. But for many people with lower incomes, becoming "house poor" robs them of the freedom to do other things. And calling it The American Dream makes those who can't afford it feel like they are missing out on something major.
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