Comment 1 

My perspective of retirement is the permanent transition from exchanging time for money to trading time for experiences and service. Instead of working every day to pay the bills, retirement can be spent doing things we love. I picture myself continuously giving back my community. In some sort of form of work-related service. While I may retire from employment at 40 or 75, I will continue to serve, just on my time.

I believe that purpose must inherently come from within, and should not be gratified by work, leisure, or any object. In saying that, upon retirement I will create a sense of meaning by passing down knowledge where applicable, continue to serve my community, and explore the world before I pass on.

I may expand my circle, and retirement may affect my relationships in a positive way. At my young age, I am slightly more concerned with obligations other than friendships, so with more time on my hands I will be able to socialize with my colleagues more often. 

Retirement has always seemed like a distant island in my vision of the future. It is something I can hardly see; in fact, it is something I may never see at all. Like this week’s studies explained, confidence in comfortable financial security has reached new lows, and it is especially concerning for millennials and people belonging to Generation Z. To remedy this financial uncertainty, we must educate ourselves to create passive income individually that will pay dividends in the future.

Santrock, J. W. (2018). Essentials of life-span

development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

Comment 2

How do you picture your retirement?

I know this may seem strange, but I do not really see retirement in my future. I am a well bodied person and I actually enjoy working and taking trips on my vacations. However, I do have a retirement plan on my job. I currently work in Education. I plan on working until I am no longer living so to speak. I like the rigor of getting up and going to work everyday and the hustle and bustle of fighting traffic. 

How will you create a sense of meaning, and what will a typical day look like?

I find that getting up and being a productive person is all the sense of meaning I need. I feel needed on my job, and I am very much supported by my family and friends in what I do. I like helping people and that gives me all the sense of meaning that I need. A typical day for me is enjoying what I do in my career and I would not trade it for any retirement plan. The work I do, doesn’t really feel like work to me it all comes naturally. I feel that if I would retire, it would affect how I engage with people. Almost like having keys to a car, but no car is outside. I would feel disconnected to the outside world and I connect so much with people, I would probably fall into some type of depression.

What do you need to do in your life now to create this environment that you are picturing? I feel that I need to keep myself educated in my field. I am in school now for my bachelors in Psychology, this degree will help me connect with my students on a different level. The program already has me looking at ways that I can improve my current work output. This degree will also help me advance in my current field on an administrative level. So, education is very important for me.