Posted by Canadian Dream on April 28, 2010
So after last week’s post on faith in your plan, I thought I would branch out a bit and ask: is religion or spirituality required for retirement? Do you need something in your life to provide meaning to be happy in retirement? Or is it just another activity or hobby?
To be absolutely honest here I’m not sure if it is required or not. I have noticed a fair number of people that have retired do take a more active interest in their religion or spirituality. I suspect is is driven partly by the loss of identity that follows leaving your job. In a world that doesn’t make sense people often reach out to faith to help fill the void. Also I suspect that having that extra time to think about your place in the world does provides an opportunity to explore your faith that typically doesn’t occur as much during a busy working life. Religion or spirituality can often provide feelings of belonging, understanding and reflection. These feelings are critical to having a overall sense of happiness. So on that hand religion or spirituality does help a number of people find happiness in retirement.
Yet on the other hand I’m not sure if people need it. Could that void of meaning be filled with other activities or goals that make you feel valued and provide meaning in your life? It is possible. Working with kids, or the disadvantaged often provide feelings of meaning and accomplishment. Exploring philosophy in general is a stimulating mental exercise that does not require God to be meaningful. Also your identity doesn’t have to flow from your faith. It is possible to define yourself without it.
In the end I believe that the requirement of religion or spirituality in retirement depends wholly dependent on you. Some people would find faith a integral part of their life prior and after retirement, while others don’t need it at all. Then there is a large grey area between the two extremes, where there is room for people to change and perhaps find some happiness doing it. I personally think I have room to grow as person so I’m leaving some room for myself to explore. Perhaps I’ve even find some happiness.
So do you need religion or spirituality in your retirement plan? Or are you not sure?
[By the way, I'm basically done on faith tangent for now. Blame a brainstorming session where I had a few post ideas related to it. So if you've been feeling uncomfortable you can relax, I'm not turning this into a religious/money blog.]
Posted by Dave on April 27, 2010
I’m going to be an uncle in July. Although I have two nephews, I “inherited” them when I married my wife.
The way we generally give presents is to buy things separately for our own families. This method seems to result in fewer arguments over spending more or less than we think the other should spend (I’ll let the readers figure out what that means 
). So, this new little one will be my responsibility to buy for. My issue – what do I buy? I find a lot of baby stuff to be unpractical, such as toys and clothes (no matter how much fun it would be to put the child into a ridiculous outfit) that will be grown out of rapidly and then be useless. I see so much stuff being given to babies that is either barely worn or used and is either added to a stash in the basement or given away. So, I think I have come up with a plan for gift giving for the new little one on the way:
For when he/she is small: I think I will talk to my brother and find out what he really needs right at the moment rather than buying things that really aren’t needed. I would much rather buy practical things such as diapers, food or other needed supplies rather than the previously mentioned toys and clothes that seem to be popular items. The way I see it, the small person doesn’t know what they’re getting, and really doesn’t need anything at this age anyways.
For when he/she is older: My wife’s nephews are this age now and really really like to get toys. It drives me crazy on Christmas and birthdays to see the amount of “stuff” (crap) that they get – it just seems so wasteful. I am not really a Grinch, and I really don’t mind giving presents to kids, it just seems so useless to add to a massive pile. I think once my new niece or nephew is old enough, I’ll probably end up getting them something small and putting a portion of money in a savings account for the child to use at some point in the future. I would feel better knowing that I am not adding to a pile of stuff during holidays, and also knowing that at some point I can help my niece or nephew with something they perhaps really want or need.
At the end of most holidays people have basically just traded money around in the form of goods and the only people that really win are retailers. I have been told (by my extremely patient wife) that I am not allowed to negotiate a no present holiday because people don’t look at things the same way I do and it would be rude to impose my views for holidays and birthdays.
So, this is what I decided to do. Do you spoil your nieces and nephews? If not, what do you do?
Posted by Canadian Dream on April 23, 2010
***NOTE: This post discusses faith in a general context. Not specific to God/gods/other divine beings. Please note the difference while reading it.
Faith might strike you as an odd topic for a blog that mostly deals with money, but I’m not referring to your faith in God, but rather the faith you have in your retirement plan. Realistically speaking there is no way I should be even considering retiring at age 45. I have bills to pay, family to feed and I could easy spend the money on vacations, a new couch and a new car instead of all of this saving. I don’t even really know if things will work out. There could be a period of stagflation that has low investment returns and high inflation that kills off my dream or a change in tax policy from the government. There are so many ways to fail at this plan it isn’t even funny. So why do I keep trying to get there? I believe I can do it despite everything that can go wrong in the next decade. That to me is the classic definition of faith: believing in something without proof.
I believe in my plan because I think it is reasonable to me. Others might think my inflation projects are too low, my return assumptions are too high, or that I’m just crazy for wanting to live on about $25,000 to $30,000 a year when I can easy make three times that doing something else. Yet I still work towards this dream of mine.
Faith in your plan keeps you going in those low spots when you envy the spending of others or you doubt the wisdom of your choices. It’s what keeps you explaining to people that you can’t go out for lunch because I already decided to to buy a DVD this week. They might not understand not trying to have everything with credit, but I keep explaining anyways.
Without faith in your plan you will fail. That I can tell you for sure. You can’t do something that takes decades to achieve with a half-hearted commitment. You have to believe with every fiber of your being that you can make it. That despite everything that will go wrong in your life that enough things will also go right that you can still get close to your dream even if the date is off by a few years.
Yet faith won’t create the impossible, you still have to work towards that dream every day. So think careful on your plan and create one that you can believe in. Use returns that are less than 10% a year, unless you have a track record to the contrary. Research what you don’t know to understand better. But above all, you must believe or have faith in your plan.
So you do you believe in your plan?
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