Page 24 - Ready Set Retire

Stephen J. Kelley

they have a dream to visit every continent, and are well on their
way to completing the goal. Another fellow told me his goal
was to run a marathon on each continent, and he had
completed four. These things provide a purpose in life. A
pursuit, or calling. So often in our pre-retirement lives, we are
so busy raising the kids, paying the mortgage, financing school,
driving to soccer practice and Scouts, etc., that our lives
interfere with our dreams. In his song, Beautiful Boy, John
Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens while you are busy
making other plans.” It’s so true.

So now is your opportunity. Retirement doesn’t just have to be
that phase of your life that happens between working and
dying. It can be the beginning of another act. And that act can
be the best of your life.

My parents did that. They had worked hard all their lives and
given my siblings and me wonderful lives. There was little we
wanted to do that we could not. All of us went to college. All
of us had opportunities to travel. We always ate well, had nice
clothes to wear, were active in after-school activities, etc. My
parents devoted their lives to taking care – great care – of their
children.

Then we all moved out and moved on. Not gone; we all got
together for holidays, came over for dinner, sometimes took

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