Wednesday, July 18, 2007

10 Great Things About Turning 60

Actually I already turned 60 in November of last year but it takes a while to start appreciating why. Here's my top 10 list so far:
#10 - I'm Retired
After a couple of years of volunteer work in Almonte I am now permanently retired and it is great. No more worrying about blue Monday morning, commuting in bad weather, kissing corporate butt.
We have decent cashflow and no financial problems so why not kick back and enjoy the leisure. I don't know why anyone would want to work after 65. I was through with it at 58 and glad to be.
#9 - Steam Locomotives
I love watching them work on tourist rail lines, and I enjoy seeing them when visiting railroad museums, but I'm old enough to remember when they were actually in use on the CNR and CPR.
#8 - Great War Veterans
Now that we're down to our last one I take pride in the fact that I grew up knowing some of these grand old soldiers personally. While I'm sure it's a great thrill for the kids of today to read about Vimy, I learned firsthand what it was like from a guy who walked up the Ridge that day. RIP George.
#7 - Rock and Roll
I can remember 50 years of the stuff from Elvis to AM rock radio to Woodstock and Psychedelia to Metal and New Wave, Synthpop, Grunge, and Garage Rock. My son in law just discovered how great Randy Newman and Steve Miller are. I knew that 30 years ago.
#6 - Technical Savvy
Unlike many of the folks who are 10-15 years older than I am, I worked with computers all my career and adapted with them. I can fix a PC, blog on the Internet, do online banking without panic. It's a skill I hope I can maintain.
#5 - Senior Discounts
I get my banking fees mostly for free and I'm now getting discounts on cruises, restaurant meals and lots of other goods and services. All right!
#4 - Pocket Watches
Got my first real one from Grandpa in 1953 and since then I've collected a few others. They are works of art and keep time better than modern mechanicals - almost as good as quartz if they are properly maintained. I can remember when people used them too.
#3 - Grown Up Kids
It's great to have an adult daughter and son-in-law. We can travel with them, help them when asked, give advice if needed - just enjoy their company.
#2 - Decent Health
At this point we're still good to go on vacations, walk anywhere, do just about anything we want. It's a good age to be.
And the #1 reason:
- I'm a leading edge Boomer.
All the advantages I had of being ahead of the demographic crowd apply now. The decisions we make today are mostly followed by the mob 5-10 years fom now.
There's no crowd of retirees competing with us yet for pensions, health care, spots on cruise ships or vacations in February. They are still raising kids and working their butts off. By the time they are ready to jam up the retirement/leisure market I'll be home and cooled out by the fire (hopefully).

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