When I was in my early 20s, I longed to retire at 30. Now that I have reached that marvelous age (plus several years), I realize I need more time. Besides, I can’t imagine not doing what I’m doing now. I would probably be lost without my writing that constantly defines and affirms every day who I am and what are the little things I can do to leave my little mark in this world.
A retirement survey by HSBC called The Future of Retirement in fact showed that many Filipinos would like to work even after they retire.
Boy Javier, an advertising executive, on the other hand, decided to get off the train early. And he is having the time of his life, according to this MoneySense article in the personal finance section of INQUIRER.net.
When I “retired,” I stopped wearing a watch and abandoned most things attached to it. An hour or a day or a week is totally irrelevant. Now is important. Now is forever.
Now I am reading a book. Now I am playing with my three granddaughters, cooking pasta, diving in Anilao, putting for my fifth bogey in the front nine. Now I am free! When I set my watch aside, I did not “retire.” I went off the train and took the bike into the unknown.
It’s been eight years since I retired. That bike has taken me to dreamland – to islands in the Visayas and Mindanao, some so small they could not be found on ordinary maps; to a farm in Lipa where there is always fruit in season and a hammock and a beer for listening to music with; to cheap bookstores so I could renew ties with Sufi and Zen masters, pundits of Wall Street and corporate America and journeymen of the sports and spiritual varieties; to hospitals where I awaited the wondrous births of my three granddaughters, made vigil over my wife’s thyroid operation, and anguished over my mother’s long and fatal battle with a stroke; to the kitchen where I experimented with pasta, meat, and seafood; to Palawan…to Boracay…to Thailand. Have you ever been held by border police while crossing Juarez into Texas?
It all sounds so…I don’t know…ideal? Romantic? Is this what I want with my retirement too? Then should I do everything to retire by 40? 50?
I want to feel this way now. I don’t want to wait till I’m 40 or 50, or even formally retired from work. I don’t think the age and the formal status matters. Filipinos need to do the work that they love so that it doesn’t feel like work. (Easier said than done, I know). Yet if we do find that Holy Grail, then perhaps we all don’t have to formally cross that “retirement” line.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Hi Salve, may I be allowed to answer your question “most Filipinos in the US still want to retire in the Philippines?” Have spent lotsa time there to know the guys there think.
One thing I’m sure: US Pinoys are very aware that they can afford much higher living standards in the Philippines compared to the US once they retire. They’re mightly anxious about being sent to nursing homes in the US at 65, costs maybe $50k a year, and oh without the dignity that we Pinoys afford the elders! Hey, $50k a year gets you everything here! House and lot, car, leisure money, domestic help, and TLC from grandchildren
with plenty to spare.
Whether they proceed, however, still depends on how deep their ties here are, or someone (friend, sales agent) who could facilitate their transition here. For 3rd generation Pinoys it might not be an option anymore.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Hi Salve,
my friend is currently in Germany who works with the US Military base in Frankfurt, on my part, am here in UK, although not all, but I have considerable number of friends and colleagues who thought of the same idea, i.e., retiring in our country, Philippines. I guess, that is the same for Filipinos in US, you could check most buyers of the rising condominiums in the country are owned by OFWs from US either for investment purposes or as a retirement haven . .
August 28th, 2007 at 11:30 am
hi randee, how true is it that most Filipinos in the US still want to retire in the Philippines? I’ve heard this often enough but since I haven’t read any study on it, I still wonder…
August 28th, 2007 at 11:01 am
ron, I used to teach in UP Diliman as a part-time lecturer. Perfect thing to do during retirement! Great idea. Funny your idea about buying attitude. Dami kong gusto regaluhan niyan, nyahaha.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:14 am
I have a friend who currently work in the US airforce, he joined the military in his early twenties and as per US constitution, they have the option to retire when they have served the country for 20 years, now, he is asking me, should he retire when he turns 44 y.o. (20 yrs of service)? I ask myself the same question since we both want to retire in the Philippines. For me retirement is when you are free from employer-employee set up, thus, it would mean, I may have my own business or undertake activities that are close to my heart whilst receiving income to sustain my lifestyle . . . Hi angie. . . am still awaiting for your reply to my queries….re: financial planning services. . .