My Retirement: Time vs Money

When my husband passed away, the first few years of my life were spent raising a high school student, moving half way around the world, and doing a variety of things that admittedly were not related to financial management. The idea of being concerned never entered my mind, because of course, I was a federal employee with preference, lots of skills and willing to go anywhere.

Somewhere a few years after his death I realized that no, I was not getting another job. My chances of being hired had become slim to none as I soon learned-whether because of age discrimination or something else, who knows.  I have to tell you, for a while there, panic set in. I had drastically overspent my life insurance which was my only savings, I was fifty seven,  and there I was. I was looking at an income, a regular monthly income mind, but a total salary of merely $33000 annually. What was I going to do?

Somewhere along they way, during my daily worries, a funny thing happened. I looked around me, at all the free time I had, and realized that I really was looking forward to the grabbing hold of and keeping the free time that spread out before me.   I might possibly be interested in working later, or doing something for money at some time. But I was more interested in having that time to myself. And having that time to myself was, put simply,  worth the financial adjustments.

That was almost ten years ago, and I am here to say that I have never regretted that general philosophy, and I do not feel worse off now than I did then. For me personally,  the ability to do what I want, when I want, has been the most important thing in my retirement life. I am one of those people who never had a hobby that I didn't like, places I didn't want to see, and the occasional social event I never wanted to partake in.  I was willing to choose time over money (in this particular context), and make the adjustments necessary. To paraphrase a cliche, time's gone once it's gone. Money can, for most of us, be a renewable resource, depending on our energies, abilites, and desires.  Or put another way...........

There were admittedly a few times during the last ten years when I worked..briefly. Be it doing online research for scholarly papers, the occasional passive earning period, or even exploring being a paid artists/crafts person. In each situation, I realized fairly quickly that I wanted my time back rather than the money from these various endeavours.

As for the adjustments mentioned above, some were larger, such as moving to two or three trips a year, as opposed to many more. Most of the time they became a seamless part of my life, little things like exercising at home instead of at a club, choosing a simpler yet still fashionable wardrobe, and other little things.

I am one person, and what works for me only works for me. My late husband was a man who truly loved his career, and would have found a way to keep his hand in, either through volunteerism and work (and would not have chosen to retire early). Some people enjoy working. Some people, like fellow blogger Laura, work intensively for a fairly short period in order to have a one of a kind experience-and that is the kind of work that I probably would consider. Some folks have very expensive tastes and work in order to be able to afford those things. 

There is no right way as such. That said, I've read two blogs lately that implied that free time was no good without lots of money-because you need money to do anything. Now obviously that depends on the person. But I have a fairly active social, cultural and yes even travel life coming up after my hiatus. And I don't work, or have a side gig and generally find plenty of stuff to do with the money I have.

Certainly if you need to go to a Broadway play weekly, only eat at five star restaurants, enjoy skydiving, boating, flying or nothing but five star golf courses, things will be different. And if those things are your thing, then go for it! If you are fully supporting dependent children, or caring for ailing parents financially and physically, the time and money circumstance may be different for you. And that's okay.

Obviously, I spend money. I'm helping to put a kid through college in an expensive state. Although I travel more rarely, it's by way of Bed and Breakfasts, nice hotels, VRBO's and good train seats when I go. I quilt, draw, make, jewelry and knit-all hobbies that require "inventory", although I tend to enjoy using scraps and being creating with odd fabrics and supplies. I like good restaurants, and enjoy going to movies and concerts and plays as well as the next retiree. I buy $150 SAS shoes twice a year and my face cream is of the expensive department store type. In other words, yes, somemone is needed to take advantage of that time, or part of that time. How much is the question.

But.

I'm willing to make concessions in the ways that I do those things, first of all. I'm more than happy to go during the senior hour on Friday morning to see the first release of the movie and earn rewards to get my goodies. I've been known to consider volunteering as an usher/program handout person at my local Center for the Performing arts to see national shows. I'm just as happy choosing my town hall arts center and local symphony and play house as going "into the city". I tend to prefer the really big wows mixed in with the local, and while my face cream is Lancome, my hair salon is Great Clips.

More to the point though, is that on any given day, I can think of ten things to do that are free or pretty close to (if you don't count the taxes that support the library and so on). Give me a morning or even a day at home and you will likely find me taking my two hour natural walk for exercise, reading whatever the library has sent me while sitting on my swing outside, knitting or sewing or whatever craft hits me, watching TV and Lord knows, on more than one occasion sitting by the window. I am not willing to give up any of that, including the window time, for more money-at least not right now, at this moment, ten years into my retirement. I volunteer which costs nothing other than my transportation. I live near a really good library that has lots of free activities, and a college that has free senior programs. I have friends that enjoy simple socialization opportunities and am generally someone who self entertains.

It's possible that at some point some active earnings or side gig may come into play. I'm looking at two separate houseboat/Mississippi cruise type trips after I am finally (God willing) an empty nester next spring, no longer subsidizing university. I feel fairly sure that the money that will no longer be going into the state college system will be enough to subsidize these trips. If not, then yes, I'm willing to work and or save for said experiences.

But for now, here, I have the perfect spot on the time vs. money continuum if you will. For me.

Two quick caveats on this one: First, while this is not exactly what the above topic is about, it needs to be said that the "when" of time also often fits into the time/money equation in a different way for me-from being able to travel cheaper off season and on weekdays to be able to use the matinee instead of prime time prices.

And finally, there is another side to this equation that probably deserves it's own blog post, and that is the day by day stuff that everyone, not just retirees face. Would I rather bake while watching TV and visiting with family in order to have something to take to the church potluck, or would I rather do other things and then run to the store at the last minute and spend five dollars?  But that, my friends, is a different question. For a different day.