I once bumped into a conversation where someone asked what is the best time for one to plan for his retirement. Stretched a little further, what is the best time to plan for old age?

This question is often reserved for middle aged and working class but I believe it is a question to be directed at everybody, even life starters. In essence, my message is for all my readers.

In my opinion, the best time to plan for old age was the moment you became conscious of yourself. If you did not do it then, the next best time to plan for your retirement is now.

Important as it is, the anxiety that surrounds retirement could make one to get immersed in planning for the future to forget the now. You have to live in the now before you can enjoy life in the after now.

It is common practice to yearn for the counsel of financial experts and investment gurus while one is planning for his retirement. This is not enough. What about relationship experts? Health advisors? Spiritual mentors? Fun makers? Fitness experts? Holiday planners? Content creators?

Desirable as it is to have enough money for life after work, a peaceful retirement goes beyond having enough money or investment. You can have plenty money and still have a miserable retirement if other fundamentals are missing.

What is even the best definition for retirement? It has no generally acceptable definition. In some establishments, retirement is statutorily tied to age or years of service.

To some, retirement means financial freedom, when your money and investment begins to work for you. Don’t forget social investment, when your investment in people begins to yield returns. Sometimes, social investment yields more than economic investment.

To others, retirement means exercising control over your time, when you are not obligated to do things by someone’s dictates. You can choose what to do with your time whenever.

Retirement is a combination of all the aforementioned and many more that my reader can add. If we agree on this, then this dialogue is timely.

Who are you? I did a short video sometimes in 2021. It is on my YouTube channel and reproduced here https://youtu.be/1y-73YVv9E4 for your viewing pleasure.

Without your identity card, who are you? If it takes you more than 30 seconds to answer this question, then you need to consciously start planning for your retirement.

You should save for life after now. You should invest for your money to start working for you when you are no longer active but retirement means more than having plenty of money.

The major twist in retirement is change in lifestyle routine and many who underrate this important variable succeed in living in the now but fail in life after now.

If you plan all your life around your current day job or vocation. If everything about you revolves around your spiritual obligations. If all that matter to you is about your spouse and your children, there is a gap.

What do you do with your leisure time now that you are very active and busy? Do you engage in sports? Do you read or write? Do you have friends with whom you share your worries and excitement? Boredom kills slowly but the distance to the grave is another boring journey.

If you don’t think of what to do with your time after you leave your bubbly life woven around your current day job or business, a time is coming when you will need more than money to enjoy life.

If you don’t get involved in people and people don’t know much about your person, you may be living your best in the now but you may struggle to achieve quality life after now.

A friend once complained loudly to my hearing that his mother’s burial was poorly attended by our large circle of friends. I asked him how many of such has he attended but he said he’s not a party person and everyone should understand that it’s his humble nature.

I told my friend he was wrong. You are not created to do the only things you enjoy doing. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice your time to please others but not necessarily by displeasing yourself. You must not attend all functions but you cannot ignore all. It’s more than money.

That dream holiday you have been saving for after retirement may not come to pass if you spend all your energy on your current day job. Why not take some time off to unwind now? Many fantasise about fanciful life after now but fail to live in the now. You need both.

Getting involved in the lives of your children is part of your retirement plans but by this I don’t mean you should plan to depend on your children when you are old. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

You can provide all the resources your children need to fulfill their life aspirations and still not be involved in their lives. You can see your children every day until they become adolescents and still know next to nothing about them.

You have to consciously establish connection with your children by asking questions to show them you are interested in them. Your children must not like everything you have preference for. Your blood may be running in them but don’t forget they are not you.

Sometimes, you have to try to like what they like, even if it doesn’t catch your fancy, particularly if it is not ungodly, immoral or illegal. The thought that your children think about you, lovingly, is one of the boosters you need for a peaceful retirement.

You don’t need to be the outgoing type to make friends but make friends anyhow. The company you find in your day job today will be replaced at old age by your fellow idle friends who also need you to stay alive. Loneliness can kill your joy even in the midst of plenty.

As I wrap this up, I ask, who is afraid of retirement? I will say the one who is yet to know himself. You have to retire from one active life to another to stay alive. The real retirement is in the grave but live in the now so you can live in the hereafter. Do you really know yourself? https://youtu.be/1y-73YVv9E4.

To say I miss my presence in this space is an understatement. I miss my ardent readers, many of whom slid to my private page to probe my long absence. I will continue to cherish your company, it keeps me going. Thank you all.

While reaffirming my commitment to my solemn vow to make myself available to my calling, please permit me to say, and with all modesty too, that I needed the short time off my social media handles to enable me live in the now so I can live in the after now.

I AM BACK.

©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr
03 April 2023