Graduation and Life ..............Advice from your future self
With graduation growing near, as well as the start your working life, is it too soon to start thinking about retirement? Not if you want to retire while you are young enough to enjoy it. Also, there is more to retiring than just having enough money. You’ve probably had some great times and made really good friends. Some you will keep in touch with and others you may remember if you manage to reconnect in person later. Now, however; is the time when you will begin establishing friendships and activities that will take you through the balance of your lifetime. Now that I’ve tossed several concerns your way, such as finances, building new friendships and what to do with yourself when you are not working, I encourage you not to worry. The discovery and building process is most of the fun. First off, make a conscious decision right now that you will enjoy your life and dedicate yourself to being a happy person no matter what, right now. Life can be difficult and today’s economy makes that truer now than in recent memory. Even in the best of times, the 6
U the Magazine | Spring 2015
truth is, that happiness is really just a state of mind. Your job could be riding a golden Slip and Slide all day long and there would be something about it that is not fun. So you must decide to not let the negative aspects of your day spoil the good ones. Now back to that pesky money thingy. If you are like most people, coming out of school will constitute some of your most challenging years financially. In generations past you would go to work for a company, work there for thirty or forty years. Your retirement day would be greatly anticipated with the company throwing a nice dinner in your honor, giving you a gold watch then you would begin collecting a generous pension that would keep you smiling and taking annual vacations to the Caribbean Islands for the balance of your years. That was then. Now your co-workers might take you to lunch where one of your office mates may be kind enough to pick up your tab. Then you are off to try and stretch out whatever money you have managed to sock away in your 401k and hope that coupled with Social Security will be enough.
Believe me, I am not trying to keep you up at night worrying about these things. In fact, I wish someone had told me sooner what I am about to tell you. The most important thing you can do in your early years is save money. How much is less important than the fact that you are doing it. Decide right away that some portion of your paycheck will go into some kind of long term savings, preferably a retirement plan, but whatever it is, treat it as you would a sacred object. Don’t touch it until you reach that day when you are ready to walk away from the working world and ride off into that sunset of bliss and carefree days. Set a goal, not of what you want to end up with, but how much you are going to save from each paycheck. If five or ten percent is too much, then save one or two percent. If that is too much then save $25, but discipline yourself to save SOMETHING every time you get paid. If you leave it alone, you will be surprised how quickly it will add up. Contrary to what your boss may want you to think, there is more to life than just work. Throughout your working life you will be handed platitudes about family coming first and having more in your life than just work. Here is the truth, they are usually lying when they tell you this. Many of your fellow worker bees will figure this out quickly and score high points for becoming dedicated to their work. They will become so conditioned to this that work will be their whole lives. Once they retire, such people often have no plan of what to do with themselves once they no longer have an office to go to every day. Many of them struggle to have a purpose in life and that life is often a short one once that one thing that gave them
Courtesy of North Carolina Central University
Photo by Becky Kirkland, NC State
By J. Keith Jones jkjones1964@gmail.com www.jkeithjones.com