Last weekend, I helped my elderly neighbours to put their house on the market (my job involved emotionally supporting them as they are devastated)
Their house is one of the most beautiful houses in my street, every brick in that house was installed with care and thought and they spent a substantial amount of money to make it a dream home. This was their dream home and this is where they wanted to die. Sadly, they are unable to live in their own home due to failing health and must move in to a retirement home.
They had hoped to travel around the world after they retired. They managed to go for two cruises since they retired and now they are not physically able.
They spent so much of their income making their home beautiful and now when they sell it, they are going to lose the pension they are entitled to as most of the government financial aid is tied to your income. ( they will get close to a million when they sell their house and will have to say goodbye to old age pension from the government)
I looked at my own financial position.. I think I am doing ok. I travel and see all the places I want to see and am not keeping those dreams for when I retire. I refuse to spend a great deal of money on my house and then when I am forced to sell it, lose my pension. I also send under 10K ( max amount I can send overseas without declaring it to the taxman) to my foreign account every year, so when I retire my savings are not in Australia and my pension won’t be affected..
I know of someone who planned an early retirement at 48, and kept collecting books to read once he retires. Everything was going according to plan until he died of a heart attack a few months before that.
By now, I realize that plans are made to be changed, and anything I don’t do now will probably be never done…
SV: I have learned that the time I have now, I will never get it back. I can’t run away from the most depressing final outcome..my death..But I can live while I am still alive. I refuse to keep my dreams for the time I retire..
I find it a coincidence this is posted because I’ve been thinking of this lately. Just recently my own family went through two tragedies (one just last Wednesday and where we lost two family members tragically. My uncle passed away suddenly last week and his grandson (whom I consider as my nephew), who was only 4 years old, passed away from a freak accident a little over a month ago.
It’s painful to have lose two people within a short time frame, and I feel completely awful and sad for my cousin who lost her son and her father within a 4 week period, but it made me realize that time never waits for you as no one knows when they will leave the earth and to embrace everything and do what you love to do whenever you have the opportunity. Strive for you dreams from day one because you don’t know what will happen to you the next day, whether you are young or old. I keep thinking about what achievements my nephew could have accomplished in the future and what his dreams would have been, but now it will never be known.
J1206: I am sorry for your loss.. I learned that there is no point thinking about the what ifs..life has to go on