I want to retire early but … .

By Willie Jose

Everybody is talking about retirement.

When I  recently broached the idea to some of my  media friends that I’m planning to retire, they quickly  retorted: retiring from what, you mean retiring from  writing?

Well, they were  right, journalists don’t retire – they just fade away.

When wife, Lilia and I visited my 93-year-old Mom in Long Island, NY   a few months  ago, my sister Vicky, discussed with us about her plans to enjoy her so-called Golden Years.

“ I’ll definitely retire once the closing sale of my house has been done” I’m   readying   to retire in North Carolina and I might buy a small house in the Philippines for my vacation trips there.” she said.

With the home equity and pension fund, she will definitely  have a very   comfortable living in the US and the Philippines.

However, many Filipino boomers who have worked for many years in North America are planning to retire either in North America or in the Philippines. But most of them would rather spend a few months in the Philippines and go back to Canada or US, thereby enjoying the best of both worlds. 

My neighbour, a couple,  Aling Lina and Mang Vino, both aged 67, said that they are enjoying their usual 5-month stay in the Philippines and  spendng the rest of the year in  Toronto —and in fact they are  scheduled to visit the Philippines this month.

” We are staying in our house in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, and the life there is simple, we have lots of   fresh fruits, seafoods, all around us are mountains and hills, so aside from the scenery, we also enjoy the cool breeze coming from these mountains. But we have to be back in Canada by April just right in time for the start of the school break of our   grandson,” Mang Bino said.

 “ We are the ones taking care of our grandson during his school break. April is also the tax season in Canada, so, this is the time we have to pay our tax obligation to the government,” Lina said.

”With Lina’s pension of $1200 a month, it’s good enough for us. Kung madadala mo itong pera sa Pilipinas, maganda na ang buhay mo doon. Truly, maganda ang buhay sa Pilipinas, maluwag ang buhay. The prices of commodities are cheap,” Mang Bino said.

While he’s in Toronto, Mang Bino’s normal routine is spending time with some kababayan-pensioners like him, chatting with them at Tim Horton coffee shop, mostly exchanging views on how the Philippine authorities are doing their jobs back home.

On my planned retirement,  I’m putting it  off  for now, but it might do some good if I would  indulge myself in some kind of mental callisthenics--reflecting on how best I could   spend my retirement when the right time comes for me to give up working   for good.

At present, I’m looking forward to a blissful retirement:  prioritising more important things in life, spending time for my family, catching up reading some books, travelling places that I’ve not been to or simply staying more time on the bed without having to wake early in the morning.

And I’m also thinking of   writing my own life ‘s story-- dredging up lots of memories about my pains and fears beating  the Big C, how Jehovah God helped me survive this illness, my struggles to overcome life’s ups and downs, at kung papaano ang maging mahirap sa buhay. I don’t want to forget all these things because they are part of my life— and what’s life without these memories.

With the looming financial instability in North America, my wife and I have decided that we couldn’t retire yet. Retiring this early could only mean thinking about our financial obligations such as mortgage payments, hydro bills, condo maintenance fees,  food and clothing bills.

 For the meantime, we’d just go with the   flow, not allowing life’s anxieties to weigh us down, and stay focused on our spirituality. . On second thought, even if we had saved enough money for our retirement, still it would have been not   enough to give us the peace of mind we need in this troubled world.

At present, we are looking forward to  a bright future and holding on to  what the Holy Scriptures say “ Then he said to them:” Keep your eyes open and guard against every sort of covetousness, because even when a person has an abundance, his life does not result from the things he possesses.” Luke 12: 15

“ Whereas you do not know what your life will be tomorrow. For you are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing. Instead you ought to say, “ If Jehovah wills, we shall live and also do this or that ”James 4: 14-15  (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)

(williejose1@gmail.com)