If life were a fairytale, most of us would wish for limitless beauty, love, money and so on and so forth (Keep adding as per your flavour). But other than all of these, something else would be in high demand too!
We are talking about “Immortality” folks. Immortality would also rank high on the list of fairytale wishes for a lot of us. Who even wants to get old? Imagine being youthful, bright and vigorous for eternity (Lana Del Ray “Young and Beautiful” plays in the background)
Yeah, yeah sounds like a dream doesn’t it? That’s because it is one! Sorry to break your bubble folks but it’s better if some of your dreams remain dreams only. Trust us, it’s better that way.
In the movie Troy, Achilles aka our very own Brad Pitt says, “Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now.” This quote very aptly describes how the very act of aging is what gives our life meaning.
If everything goes well, you will work for approximately 30-40 years of your life. You will spend sweat and energy in making all your impossible and not-so impossible dreams come true. Then one day far, far away from now, you will get old enough that the government of your country will ask you to stay back at home and rest….. Forever! Yeah, that’s right! This is the way things on this little planet of ours work.
So have you ever thought about what will happen when “retirement” happens? Socho, socho plan kya hai?
The reason for this question is that for an average Indian, among all the various small/big aspirations, a lot of things are often left unaccomplished, which they then take into their retirement. And what happens after that is known to everyone. We drop it. Our golden years are usually not very fulfilling in terms of money and we end up taking most of our aspirations to our graves.
So let’s first have a look at the 5 most desired retirement wishes and plans. After that we’ll see what can we do in order to ensure that our retirement wishes actually see the light of day.
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Table of Content
Home Sweet Home
This is one of the primary retirement wishes of most people.
Who doesn’t want a beautiful house of their own? Lilac walls, pretty garden, cozy sofas and an Italian kitchen…You get the picture, right? In today’s time a house is seen as a sign of stability and security.
A house also becomes an important part of your identity. It’s the place you go back to everyday to live with your near and dear ones. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s only with love that your house becomes a “home”.
During working years, it becomes really difficult to buy a house. With all the responsibilities of young/middle age, it becomes almost impossible to buy a house of your own. So, the idea is that during the years around your retirement you should invest in a house of your own so that you don’t have to suffer during your retirement.
Imagine yourself moving around as a tenant in old age! Not good, right? Therefore, all of these reasons make a house a “Hell, yeah!!” in a retired person’s list.
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Travelling around the world, anyone?
All you Yeh Jawaani hai dewaani fans, you know what I mean by this, right!. This generation of people understands the importance of gaining experiences through travelling. The wanderlust, the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline that runs through your body when you see a jungle safari – we understand that all of it makes you wanna roll on your back and giggle like a happy kid.
Travelling ensures that you have a plethora of awesome things to recount when you get old. However, who said that you can’t travel when you get old. Rather, the plan should be to travel even more when you retire. What will you do with all the free time you have in hand? We have a great plan for you here.
Travel all you want after 60. After retirement, travelling will become a hobby for some of you considering the joys of travelling. The enriching experiences that await your life post-retirement are surely something that you can look forward to and count on. Save money now so that you can spend it later on travelling. Looks like one of the most interesting retirement wishes, right? Trust us, it’s worth it!
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Chalti ka naam “Gaadi”
In today’s time, owning a car is not a luxury but a necessity. Average family size in urban India in 2019 is 4 persons per household. With a family of 4, it is obviously not possible to fit all people on a two-wheeler. Sometimes, it’s not even possible to take public transport because of odd-hours or unavailability of vehicles or surge pricing by the cab companies. What do you do then?
This is the basic reason why it’s a good idea to get yourself a car by the time you retire. Travelling after retiring would become a much easier enterprise when you have a car for personal use. We will always wish you health and happiness but just in case things go a bit downhill for your health when you get over 65, it would be for the greater good of you and your spouse to have a car of your own. To each their own but a car makes for one of the most highly coveted retirement wishes for a majority of people!
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That Priceless Something!
Let’s talk about another of the most sought after retirement wishes. We all have that one materialistic thing that we always wished to buy, be it for ourselves or our partner. It could be anything – a diamond necklace for your significant other or a rolex watch for yourself, but didn’t buy because it was all too pricey. Welcome to the other side of the line folks!
Retirement is not the finishing line but just a new beginning and in this “new world” you can own/buy for yourself whatever you want. It’s the perfect time to spoil yourself as well as your significant other.
Don’t think so? That’s because you are not there yet!
Imagine having all the time in hand to pursue your hobbies, be it gardening or painting or even solving puzzles. Anything and everything is on the plate once you retire! Buy “that” item and do yourself a favour please. You should not let anything hold you back once you retire. Make your retirement a well-planned phase of your life, and not because we are saying but because you owe it to yourself.
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Volunteer for changing the life of others (in addition to yours)
Okay, putting aside all other hedonistic pursuits you have in mind let’s focus a bit on the real world problems of today. In our attempts to sort out our own life, we forget that we are not the only ones who have issues. There are many in the world who are doing better than us (and it’s okay to be jealous of them) but please don’t let yourself forget that there are millions and millions who are doing worse. The poor and underprivileged have no means to support and sustain themselves in today’s changing economic times.
Someone who is retired has the most precious resource of all to spend on others. TIME!
Yes, we are all on this planet for a short while and have a limited amount of time to spend around (sounds philosophical we know) so why not make something of it.
Use this time to volunteer for causes greater than yourself. Teach underprivileged kids, volunteer to take care of animals, associate yourself with an NGO, or do any other thing that you feel like in order to contribute a little to the society. Trust us, it will make you feel unprecedented joy and peace.
Your retirement does not have to be the end of the good days of your life. Rather it should be a time where you give yourself the much needed rest after all the years of relentless hard work. A happy end goal of your work life, so to say. Take your retirement like an upgrade where you have successfully completed the last level and have now been promoted to the next one.
Retire a happy man/woman by making a foolproof financial plan for your future. You ask us, how can you do that? We will tell you by investing now and reaping the benefits later!
Invest with Sqrrl today and make your life large (lol, rings a bell doesn’t it). Take some resources out of your present and save them (just like a squirrel does during winters) so that you don’t have any regrets in the future. May the cosmos bring you infinite joy, luck and money (but nothing would work if you are not working) so plan now and stay one step ahead of everyone in the game!
