Happy Thanksgiving

“What are you thankful for this year?” is a commonly asked Thanksgiving question. It’s usually asked around dinner tables, which is where we Americans typically celebrate this holiday designed to bring us together and reflect on the bounty in our lives. In fact, Mrs. Grumpus and I asked our children the same question tonight as we ate.

Grumpus Minimus #1 (the older one) dutifully answered that he was thankful for his mom, dad, family, and friends. He then proceeded to list every single one of his friends. Grumpus Minimus #2 (the younger one) said he was thankful for Hickam Air Force Base, where he likes to go and watch Hawaiian airline’s planes land (Hickam AFB shares a flight line with the Honolulu airport). I bet no Air Force Base has ever been loved as much as GM#2 loves Hickam.

A Call to Action … Again

In last year’s Thanksgiving message, I reflected on how we live in the most bountiful times our world has ever known. Based on that reflection I issued a call to action. The call to action was mostly for myself, but also for my readers. My intent was not only to inspire my readers but to place a mark on the wall by which I could measure my efforts over the following 12-months.

I just re-read that post, and as much as I love the message, I failed in many ways to meet the intent. While in the past year I did some truly novel things in an attempt to spread the Golden Albatross message, much of that fell into the category of preaching to the converted. Some of it fell straight into the category of blatant self-promotionalism. As a result, I still consider my call to action active and will endeavor to do better over the next 12-months.

Thankfulness and Choice

However, instead of reflecting on where I got things wrong or right over the past year, I thought I’d touch upon something more positive. I’d like to answer the age-old Thanksgiving question I noted above. I want to answer it because it wasn’t tough to decide what I was thankful for this year. It’s been staring me in the face over the past several weeks as I’ve re-thought and re-analyzed my retirement intentions and plan.

I’m thankful for an abundance of choices. Specifically, I’m thankful for the abundant retirement choices I currently face about how I want to live the rest of my life. I emphasized the word want for a reason, because none of the choices I’ve recently made or will find myself making over the next year, will be driven out of need or desperation. In other words, despite all the recent health and career issues that I’ve written about, and all the money mistakes I’ve blogged about in the past, I find myself in an extremely fortunate position. I’m driving this retirement train, and not the other way around.

It’s Official, I’m Retiring Next Year!

For my dedicated readers, this next statement will anticlimactic. After the realization detailed in my last article (that Mrs. Grumpus, the kids, and I would be OK financially if I retired a year earlier than originally planned), I pulled the trigger and submitted my official retirement application. The feeling was pretty damn sweet and provided some finality to all the self-reflection I’ve done recently.

However, as manic as I was in the aftermath of that decision, I also knew to temper my excitement. The submission of my retirement papers (actually it’s done electronically now) simply marks the beginning of what will be a long, complicated, and undoubtedly frustrating 12-month process for me. Despite that, the official process has started. The clock is ticking. As a result, Mrs. Grumpus and I have some serious decisions to make about the future.

Both Exciting and Terrifying

I won’t lie, the enormity of the decisions Mrs. Grumpus and I currently face are nothing short of mind-boggling. Despite all the planning and retirement simulations, making real decisions about “what comes next” has forced us to challenge all of our previous assumptions. This is both exciting and terrifying. Terrifying because we don’t want to mess it up. Who would? On the other hand, it’s exciting to see how many great choices are available as a result of our decisions up to this point in our lives.

I don’t say that in a self-serving manner either. As I chronicled in my “Meander” series of articles about my money mistakes; the luck with which I’ve avoided calamitous money decisions was just as important as the saving, investing and career decisions we made. That said, I think it’s worth noting (and being thankful for) just how many great opportunities lay before us. It’s a classic example of the proverb that as you close the door on one part of your life, several more open.

For Instance …

As but one example of the “doors opening” phenomenon, I’m now contemplating using the GI Bill for myself. Prior to my 20-year retirement decision, my plan was to serve until 21-years, secure my GI Bill’s transferability, and transfer it to my kids. However, now that I won’t be able to transfer it, I might as well use it for myself. It’s free money after all. The GI Bill not only pays for your tuition, but it also pays you to go to school in form of a living stipend. That sounds like a win-win choice to me, and one that I only realized was within my grasp after I decided to retire at 20-years.

Following-up on that idea, I started to ask myself what I would like to study since there is absolutely no pressure to obtain a back-side job, or the risk of going into debt for another degree. I arrived at an answer, and it isn’t anything that would build on my previous M.A. Nor will it confer a Ph.D. In fact, it won’t even confer a bachelor’s.

My GI Bill Decision

Based on my love for the outdoors, growing chilies, and a determination to never sit behind a desk for long hours again (other than to write this blog); I’ve decided that I should study horticulture at a vocational school. I even went so far as to find programs in my preferred retirement locations. I’m now in the process of determining if those programs are eligible for the GI Bill. If they are eligible I’m applying. If they are not currently eligible for the GI Bill, I’m working with the schools to apply for eligibility through the VA. Once I get a solid list of schools/programs that have accepted me and are eligible for the GI Bill, Mrs. Grumpus and I will use that information to help us make a final determination on where and when we will move after retirement.

The Choices a Pension Gives You

I also cannot emphasize enough how comforting I find the knowledge that my pension will start one month after retirement. Not only that, but I’m also comforted by the fact that it will follow me anywhere I decide to go. It also helps to know that it can be passed on (in part) to my wife and children should I die prematurely. Certainly grinding it out from the 16-year mark hasn’t been pleasant. I’ve made my feelings well-known regarding that point, so no need to retrace those steps. However, as I find myself in the throws of making retirement decisions “for real”, I’m convinced that staying for the pension was worth it.

The sheer number of retirement choices a military pension and associated healthcare coverage unlocks is dizzying. In fact, Mrs. Grumpus and I have found ourselves trimming down the more exotic choices, in order to concentrate on the more realistic potentials. Thus, we won’t be homeschooling our children and traveling the world for a year using nothing more than the money from my pension!

Excessive Distractions

While the excessive choices are fun to entertain as a daydream, they are a distraction from what we need to do. And, what we need to do now is determine where we will live, how we will educate our kids, and what type of work we will do — if any. Certainly, if the choice is San Diego, it’s all planned out and ready to execute as a part of my previous retirement planning. We’d just need to find a home to within our price range, in a neighborhood we like, and available when we’re ready to move. If, on the other hand, we choose to live somewhere else; we need figure out where that is going to be, do the research, visit, and decide if we will buy a home right away, or wait.

This is the End … and It’s All Good

Don’t get me wrong, these choices are all great choices to face as I approach “retirement” in my mid-40s. For that, I’m extremely grateful. About the only detractor in all of this is my health. I would have preferred that it was better, and not the main driving factor in my decision to retire. Yet, there’s not much I can do about that … other than continue to work with my docs to get as many problems “fixed” prior to retirement.

I know for a fact that once I’m no longer sitting/standing behind a computer all day, my back and neck issues will improve. Working outside in the sunlight and fresh air to grow (award-winning?) chilies should also help my mental issues. All in all, I’m damn excited, in spite of the health issues.

In fact, I should be grateful that my health issues drove me to consider an earlier retirement. Without them, I wouldn’t have realized just how wealthy I was in terms of retirement choices. Thus, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I’d like to propose a toast to end this post. You may stand and raise a glass if you wish. It’s more than appropriate to imagine my toast being read by Ted Knight’s Judge Smails character from Caddyshack as he christens his boat.

A Thanksgiving Toast to Health and Choice

….. Here’s to my old-before-its-time decrepit body. For you showed me there are different choices I can make as I enter retirement’s lobby.

Once I achieve Financial Independence through my pension, those choices will relieve my retirement tension.

This abundance of choice will most certainly lead to a better life. Although I hope it does not lead me to look for a younger second wife!

Long may choices like these continue. For myself, my loved ones, and my blog’s retinue!

Huzzah!