WHAT DO WE MEAN BY an “enjoyable” retirement?

I suspect there are as many answers as there are retirees. But one thing remains a constant: the need for an adequate income. Given a choice, I don’t think many people would choose to live a frugal, barely financially sufficient retirement.

My father retired at age 66. I say “retired,” but the reality is one day the owner called him into the office and said he was no longer needed.

One of my relatives lived on a pension of $23 a month. Of course that was his military pension in 1866. That’s $491 in 2024 – that’s poverty level for sure. 
In retirement I do a great deal of reading, listening to and viewing opinions and strategies about retirement. Having managed pension and 401k plans for decades, I can’t let go. 
One thing I know for sure, views about retirement are as diverse as each individual.

Obviously, this depends on individual situation. I faced this dilemma in 2023, when I retired. There are pros and cons for each. Many of my colleagues opted for lump sum. That seemed to be the most popular thing to do.  I was one of the few who opted for monthly payment.
With Social Security  and monthly pension, which cover my expenses, I can be more aggressive with investing our nest egg. I don’t need to worry about funding expenses from investments in the midst of market fluctuations. 

I HAVE A FRIEND—we’ll call him Dave—who retired from Wall Street perhaps eight years ago, when he was in his early 50s. Soon after, he designed a sailboat and had it built, and he’s been sailing around the world ever since. In fact, judging from his Instagram updates, Dave is now on his second or third self-designed boat. Or is it a yacht? I don’t know anything about sailing.
At this point, you may be sighing with envy.

I’VE OFTEN BEEN TOLD that I’m too direct. To me, “direct” means to focus on the facts, get to the point, eliminate the fluff, keep matters as simple as possible.

Guilty as charged.

Think of all the time wasted by fluff. After making something more complicated than necessary, somebody is ready to provide a solution to what may or may not be a problem. Fluff thrives on confusion. It can scare folks unnecessarily. Most Americans don’t know how to deal with financial fluff.

WHEN I WROTE ABOUT the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 35,000 in 2021, it’ll surprise few to hear that I—like the stock market—was euphoric. I’ll confess that in 2022, as stocks plunged, I felt silly for having written the article.
But here I am again, writing about the latest milestone for our old friend. After flirting with the number in mid-March, the Dow hit an intraday high topping 40,000 on May 16 for the first time in its history.

EVERY TIME I READ about the decline in traditional defined-benefit pension plans, and the rise and supposed failure of 401(k) plans, I get annoyed.
You’d think all Americans once had good pensions that provided a secure retirement. That isn’t—and never was—true. Barely half of American workers ever had a pension and many of those received little value from them because their job tenure was too short. Job tenure has long averaged some four years or so.

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS nonsense about Social Security? It’s nothing but a Ponzi scheme. The trust fund is just IOUs. My favorite: I’d rather invest the money I pay in Social Security taxes because I’d get better investment returns.

All three claims reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of Social Security and how it works. Social Security is insurance—a form of annuity, a type of pension, a social safety net. It isn’t an investment and shouldn’t be viewed that way.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I felt immortal. We all did. It’s natural and likely hardwired into our brains. Such feelings of immortality have an evolutionary advantage, encouraging us to take the risks necessary to succeed.
When I planned for retirement, the notion of immortality was front and center. I consider myself in excellent health. I eat right. I’m not overweight. I stay active. I have a close circle of friends and an active social community from which to draw strength.

A FEW MONTHS AGO, my wife and I were searching for an exciting diversion on a Saturday evening. It didn’t take long to agree on the perfect experience—logging onto SSA.gov to check out our estimated Social Security benefits.
What’s so thrilling about that? Like many people, Social Security will comprise a key component of our retirement income. Even now, those future funds exert a strong influence on our plans.
Background. I’ll turn age 62 this month and still work full-time.

DURING THE PANDEMIC, I started devoting more time to retirement planning. But I had more questions than answers. I called a friend who was a financial planner.
“Retirement planning is confusing,” I told him. “I have a lot of questions.”
He laughed and said, “The answer is money. What’s the question?”
While his answer was humorous, it reflected what most retirees already know: Money is crucial for a good retirement. While it isn’t the only thing you need for a happy retirement,

I SAW A GRAPH recently generated by some retirement-planning software. It showed the investor enjoying substantial portfolio growth over the course of his 30-year retirement. Forget running out of money. This particular software program says the guy’ll be a 90-year-old multimillionaire.

My curiosity piqued, I used the same software to run numbers for my finances. I ran optimistic and pessimistic assumptions. I entered my monthly expenses and my fixed income. I tried to run out of money,

I’M IN NO HURRY TO retire—but I am making sure I’m prepared. I’m age 56, and I plan to work full-time until 70 and part-time until 75. I’m an English professor, and I enjoy teaching, service and scholarship. I also enjoy having three weeks off at Christmas and two months in the summer.
I received a fairly large inheritance, which has been growing over the years and which will allow me to do some special things in the years to come.

HAVE WE GOT IT ALL wrong? “It” is our relentless, lifelong focus on socking away great wads of money, so we don’t have to worry about earning another penny once we reach our 60s.
In fact, adherents of the FIRE—financial independence-retire early—movement aim to reach this blissful state far earlier, perhaps even in their 30s. This, of course, involves saving voraciously, with all the financial sacrifice that’s entailed. Even retiring in our 60s can seem like a Herculean task,