Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Retirement?

Its 6.47 pm on a wednesday and I'm sitting here at work waiting for my wife to show up and pick me up. Im also looking at retirement planning with Quicken. Threw in a few imaginative numbers and realized that 50 is not a bad age to retire...gives me some life and movement to go see the world at that point. Its also hit me that I will be 50 in 2023, in exactly 17 yrs from now.

Just the fact that I'm not that far from 50 (yes, 17 yrs can go by pretty darn quickly as I realized from High School to a professional career in Management Consulting) has really gotten me thinking on my wish list of things to do before I go into the next world to see my dad.

Off the top of my head, here's some (and I'm sure this list will evolve once my wife and I work on it together):

  • Sponsor the education of one child in India. Not just high school, high school through college
  • Sponsor my neice (and godchild) for her education in the US. I know her mom (my sis) isnt doing all that well, but given that it doesnt look like we'll have our own kids, why not make someone elses life better
  • Continue to look after my mother so that she never has the need for outside help
  • Make a list of places I want to see (right now that would be Seychelles, Mauritius, Eastern Bloc, Rome, and yes Jerusalem ... the Roman Catholic part of me wants to see the so-called holy land that has been the cause of so much bloodshed)
  • Make a living will for my wife and dependents to ensure that they are taken care of (wow this makes me sound rich, but, whatever I have -- even if its furniture, im sure someone can benefit from it)
  • Become an organ donor (not just eyes, everything)
  • Pick a grave at the graveyard in Bombay that my dad is buried in...I want to be close to that old man...he still means the world to me
  • Take care of my wife and continue to provide her with the love, security and affections that I always have (I know this seems way down on my list, but its truly No 1)
More posts later as I start to build out this laundry list. Im sure I will start checking off a few things already :)

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