Regrets of the Retiree
I meet a lot of people over the age of 55 – the time when people are looking forward to retirement. Invariably I ask them one question – what are your regrets in life..and the answer (financially speaking) is very interesting…
1. I wish I had done my own business: So many people feel that they should have done something on their own is not funny!! However 99% of those I meet would have failed in their business. Most of them got paid because they had a contract. Yes some of them got sacked – but luckily they found a job elsewhere so there were no financial regrets.
2. I wish I had stood up straighter: Many of the PSU bank employees felt that they could have taken a tougher stand when their bosses asked them to do something wrong, but UNIVERSALLY, all of them lacked guts and choose convenience over conscience.
3. I wish I had started saving/ investing for retirement earlier!
4. I wish I had hobbies – and wish I had developed it in my late 40s instead of now wondering what to do.
5. Wish I had approached retirement more scientifically – with a plan, strategy, etc.
6. Most of them had enough money to retire -but were largely rudderless socially.
7. Regrets about not knowing what to do in the kitchen! many of them could not make a cup of tea.
8. Stupidly paying very high taxes without realizing how taxes can be deferred. Banker Chartered accountants too!!
9. Having a life 100% concentrated on children and their lives.
10. Not having a nice big social circle – of people younger and older than them. Loneliness kills.
there could be more…but this is a start…
Sreekanth
Great article sir…..You are certainly making a big difference in many peoples life like me. Hope we would be able to avoid these regrets by following your advice.
Thanks again for the wonderful blog.
Renga
Amazing article, I loved it 🙂
lakshminarasimman
sir 9 and 10 is the main culprit
sad fact is most of your readers are all young people who will know how to use calculators to get 5 crores for retirement, how to automate mtnl phone bill transaction when they are 70 and end up all alone in old age thinking money will take care of everything
i have seen lot of young people commenting in your blog if they have money they dont need friends etc
VK
As for the social group aspect, I think the big apartment complexes are providing some solution to that. I see lot of old folks walking about in our apartment complex and they easily mingle with other older folks…leading eventually to some family dinners + developing acquaintance of the younger crowds too. Same is not true for independent house dwellers.
Their kitchen incompetence does appall me! While people from my gen (and my circle in particular) have managed to learn cooking cuisines from across the globe (lentils to lasagna…), I am often surprised to run into people who can’t even handle their own tea. Some of them, I’ve seen, can’t even take their own dinner. Their wife has to put the dinner on the plate!