The Time of Your Life

Nov 27, 2018

We live longer than previous generations. You may have more years ahead of you than you think. Perhaps you are familiar with current U.S. life-expectancy numbers for the general population: seventy-six for men and eighty-one for women. These are the numbers for newborns and are not particularly relevant for you.

Here are more appropriate numbers to consider:

Remember what life expectancy means. If you are a member of a group, say sixty-year-old women of average health and genetics, you can expect that by the time you are eighty-four, half of your group will have died and half will still be alive. That means you will have a fifty-fifty chance of lasting beyond your current life expectancy—perhaps well beyond it.

Maybe you think of your life expectancy based on how long your parents or other relatives lived. But are you taking advances in medicine into account? Life expectancies have been increasing approximately two years per decade for the last century or more. For example, if your parents were born thirty years before you, then your equivalent lifespan would last an additional six years. If they died at age 80, then the genetic component of your life expectancy would be about eighty-six.

Medical research marches on, with advances in diagnosis and treatment emerging all the time. Unless the U.S. suffers an uncontrolled plague or a war, life expectancies probably will continue increasing markedly during your lifetime.

Your long life expectancy could give you many years, perhaps 30 or more, to enjoy yourself and accomplish great things, if you so choose. As you plan for your retirement, you need to take the extra years into account.

Here are the areas for you to concentrate on:

What you do with your time. If what you do gets you excited and gives you joy and meaning, then your extra years will be a blessing – to yourself and to others.

Your health. It‘s critical to invest in your health to prevent or lessen serious health issues and to give you the energy you need. If you buy a car and plan to keep it for a long time, you would want to make sure that it is properly maintained. The same is true with your health. Proper maintenance includes exercise, proper nutrition and preventive medical care.

Family and friendship. Your retirement gives you a chance to spend more time with both friends and family. Being alone and lonely isn’t good for your health – so invest in your significant relationships.
Your money. Your money must finance those potentially many years, particularly in light of inflation, with gradually increasing costs for goods and services. Use two main tools – budgeting and projections – to get a handle on this.

These issues are discussed in detail in Serious About Retiring: A Practical Roadmap for a Healthier, Wealthier, Happier Retirement by Mark S Fischer, CFP & MBA, to be published in Spring 2019.

Cello as my retirement adventure

Nov 6, 2018

I started taking cello lessons when I was 73. A friend told me that to be a really good cello player, I needed to put in 10,000 hours of hard work. I calculated that at my rate of practicing an hour each day, I would be good enough to play string quartets when I reached 118 years of age.

So why the cello and why now? For me there has always been something special about cellos. I love the way they look and how they sound when played well. Four and half years ago I semi-retired after 28 years in the financial planning business. I wanted to do something in music.
I had some musical background. I grew up listening to classical music. Both of my parents loved music and played their vinyl records frequently. In high school I checked classical records out of the library and played them at home.

In fourth grade I took up clarinet and took lessons through my school. I played in the (football) marching band through high school. And I played in our local community orchestra for a year. Then came college, graduate school, and jobs of many kinds. I have always been a committed worker, and there was never enough time for playing music.

Now, in my semi-retirement, I had more time. I called MacPhail, the largest music non-profit in the country which is only 15 minutes from where I live. I said that I needed a teacher. They assigned Jacqueline Ultan. I was shocked when I read about her background. Not only had she been teaching for many years, but she also led two bands and composed the music for them. Why would she take a beginner like me as a student?

Jacqueline enjoys working with a variety of students of different ages and experience. She has been an inspiration to me. She is incredibly patient and encouraging. She works with me and expects near perfection in my playing the simple exercises. I coined the term “perfect enough.”
In an early lesson I noticed that there might be something wrong with my cello – it did not sound like hers. To my surprise, however, when she played my cello, it did sound like hers.

Last summer, after only a year of lessons, I auditioned for chamber music camp for beginning adults at MacPhail and amazingly was accepted. It was thrilling to work with three other musicians my age on two pieces and then play in front of other students in the program.

Will I ever be good enough to routinely play chamber music? I don’t know. But I enjoy the journey. I like to play the cello. I like my lessons and teacher. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I tackle a piece that seems impossibly difficult for me, yet after a few weeks I play it perfect enough.