I recently read a great book, "Die With Zero" by Bill Perkins. It is a great book for everyone, not just retirees. It is a reminder that while working we are trading our living hours for money and that we need to enjoy that money at some point. With the point of spending being sooner than later or "some day".
One point of the book that really has stuck in my head is his description and discussion of memory dividends. The gist of the idea is that we create memories with experiences over the years and then those memories can pop up when you think of them and create a little bit of happiness again for that past experience. The more great experiences you have the greater your memory dividends can add up as you get older.
As I look around my study, I get memory dividends as I look at photos from our recent trip to Spain, Italy and Egypt. I smile and feel happy just looking at the photos and thinking about that awesome experience. I can also see photos of Vietnam, Philippines, Hawaii and Singapore. I see figurines and statues of a cannon, a hula dancer, the Wall Street bull and a Merlion among many other trinkets I have picked up. In my glassed in bookcase I see a Key West sign, currency bills from different countries, color sheets that granddaughters did on a Disney cruise, bottle caps from a variety of root beers I've sampled and many other things. All of these produce memories and good happy feelings thinking back on those experiences.
Since reading the book, I have a new appreciation for creating experiences right now to enjoy and provide future memory dividends. I just turned 60 and feel like the next 5-10 years will be the best time to travel and do things before my wife or I get sidelined with an age related injury or disease that will slow us down.
The experiences don't have to be travel. They can be a new thing you tried, a family event, a personal accomplishment and many other things. A couple of years ago I was on a quest to try 100 new things. Some of those experiences still pop up as memory dividends. One of those "new things" was attending a rattlesnake festival. I dislike snakes as much as anyone and this memory popped up the other day with a discussion with my oldest granddaughter (6 years old). We have a running joke of me being afraid of snakes while she likes them. She will often put a play snake near me or on me to try to scare me. Of course Pawpaw always screams like a little girl to her great delight!
I encourage you to read the book or any other book that stresses living in the now rather than wait until "some day" to do that thing you've always wanted to do.
How do you remember great experiences you have had in the past? Do you hang photos or collect small souvenirs like me? Or do you have another way to record those experience to remind yourself? Maybe a journal or scrapbook? Let me know of any great experiences you have had that continue to provide you with memory dividends today.
Also comment on the book if you have read it and tell me your thoughts and anything that jumped out at you.
My way to remember is with photo scrapbooks. I have a bookcase full!
ReplyDeleteWe always thought we would travel but it turns out we like to stay close to home. I like to take a week here and there and plan "Senior Field Trips", usually themed. One spring it was educational, we visited a solid waste facility that was a big topic of conversation on physical science day, an art museum on art day, a presidential center on history day and a wind turbine set up on environmental science day. Every trip includes exploring restaurants.
I also invented what I call "Mimi Camp". I invite all ten of my grandchildren (the teenagers are starting to skip some activities) and also plan around a theme. Last year was a Wild West with a trip to a farm for horseback riding, water pistol duels and a cowboy campfire, etc. We even filled squirt guns with dye and shot at white tee shirts.
I think the hardest part has been spending. You program yourself to save and invest for so long and it has taken us a while to be able to remember NOW is what we were saving for. I also see so many people that wait too long for the trips they wanted to take. We retired at 60 and I am glad we did most of our big traveling early. As we approach the big 7 - 0, it is a more challenging world.
I have read many an article on the slow spend rate of most retirees. You appear to be creating a lot of good experiences, especially with those grandchildren. I love the "Mimi Camp" and remember reading about your adventures on your blog.
DeleteOur financial advisor uses the adage "Go-go; Slow go; No go" to describe the stages people go through over their later life. She has a budget line for travel and encourages us to use it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great financial advisor. I've read a lot of articles about retirees not using their hard saved money or waiting too long to use it.
DeleteIn our experience, travel insurance can get harder to obtain as more and more companies seem to have upper age limits for their policies regardless of good health. I'm glad we have already travelled to so many long haul destinations but fortunately still have many closer to home for later life.
ReplyDeleteWe recently purchased travel insurance for the first time for a trip to Spain, Italy and Egypt. I have not thought about it getting more expensive and harder to get as we get older but that makes perfect sense that it would.
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