I've been helping people plan and transportation into retirement for 30 years. I am their financial advisor (FA). I have seen people flourish during retirement. They expanded on hobbies that they never told me about. Their health improves and when we meet a year later they look rested and usually happy.

So you would think with all that experience I would be ready for retirement, I'm not.

Financially I would be okay. I haven't squirreled away as much money as I wanted. There were difficult times in the past 15 years. Like 2008/09 market crash and great recession. I had just left being an FA as employee for a huge company and started my own business as an independent financial advisor. That was in January 2008 and in the hight of the crash. I also devorsed from my husband and became and single parent. I had a great business plan, but it didn't include a great recession. It took about 8 years to accomplish what I thought would happen in 4. During those 8 years I was acquiring clients and just surviving financially. I was were I needed to be when my daughter started college and every extra dollar went to the educate her.

I worried about money a lot. I worried about being that person who could advise others but not take care of my own situation. But I'm self employed so I can work for as long as I like, right? Mom worked as a hairdresser until she was 77. So I'm all psyched to keep on keeping on.

Then this summer I was diagnosed with cancer. I'm still receiving chemotherapy as I'm writing this. I've tried to work through this, but one of the issues of being self employed is you have no boss. I haven't disclosed to my clients my health status and I'm barely working. I just reacting.

I will be 65 in January. A huge financial experience will go away once I'm on Medicare. Today I'm paying $1500 a month for my health insurance. In January that goes down to $350 a month!

So it makes me think I can keep going a few more years on a part time basis. But my health will be the deciding factor.

I used to be worried about out living my money now I just want to be living in 20 years.

I have worked since I was 15 and full time since I was 22. I have loved work. It does define my purpose. I'm helping people every signal day I'm working. I've known some of my clients for more than 30 years. We are friends too. I know their history. I will miss them when I quit working.

I've been trying to expand my friend groups for 10 years. The first things I tried was learning to play ukulele and I was part of a ukulele group we met every other week. We went on ukulele festivals. I was making a cool group of friends. The COVID. The group disbanded and never returned. I stopped playing. I wasn't that good and playing by myself wasn't fun. I did make one lasting friendship through the ukulele group.

This past year I joined a meetup group for women who are empty nesters and near my age. I started meeting with them about 3 months before cancer. I kept going, but I haven't told any of them about my cancer diagnosis. I'm hoping I'll make at least one new lasting friendship through that.

I had some big ideas about volunteering. I was a social worker with the state before I became a financial advisor. I promise myself once I was financially independent I would return to doing something in that field, but right now I can't even think what I would want to do

I thought I would be in control of when I quit working, but life my not give me a choice in the matter.

I have a buy sell agreement with a business partner, a man I've worked with for 30 years who is 12 years my junior. He said he is prepared to buy my book of business anytime I am ready. I told him I really want to work until full retirement age, 67, but if my cancer returns it will be sooner. Emotionally I can't work through another illness.

So Yes this is a great question.

Denise