I NEVER SAW IT COMING!

As the cover says, "I Never Saw It Coming." I am talking about retirement, so let's go back to the beginning so I can explain. I have worked numerous jobs throughout my life, and even when I started with the U.S. Border Patrol in 1988, I never dreamed that I would one day have to consider retirement.

Honestly, I never thought about retirement, and when people discussed it, I ignored them because I knew I wouldn't make it to retirement age anyway. So, when it came to work, I always had life insurance through my employment to cover Linda's expenses, but I never planned on having a retirement check for Linda.

However, it occurred to me about ten months before I decided to consider retirement, and at that time, I realized I would retire. I questioned whether I had retirement savings, where they were, and how I would get them.

My problem was that I was caught off guard by the emotion that goes with it, suddenly realizing I would not be making money. I figured I had sufficient retirement capital but wasn't accustomed to spending my money instead of making it. I am experiencing stress due to the need to replace a paycheck with a retirement check. Luckily, I had set everything up initially, which prepared me well for retirement. I had inadvertently prepared everything without knowing I was doing it or doing it right.

For me, the thought of retirement was challenging enough without the added fear and stress of not knowing what would happen when I retired. As it turned out, I was prepared and ready for retirement, but it's funny that after all those years of me thinking and believing. I wouldn't ever retire, here I am. I never took the time to prepare myself for retirement properly, but here I am at the ten-month mark before retirement. I will officially retire from the government and not work and then see if my checks come in as planned.