The Plan!

  I would like to say my retirement came about exactly according to plan… I would like to say that! In fact it was fortuitous circumstance that proved to be the enabler.
  As is the case with many other people I had no real plans as I began my working career. I was working random jobs and using the proceeds to attend college with no particular major in mind. During one summer break I couldn’t earn enough money (a wildcat strike at a copper mine) and thus couldn’t go back to school for the fall semester. Being fully engaged in Viet Nam at the time it didn’t take Uncle Sam two weeks to reclassify me to OneA from TwoS and simultaneously provide me with a draft notice. I ultimately enlisted for four years to get the training I wanted along with choice of first station. And after 3⅔ years I finally realized I had found a career.
  In summary, I spent 14 years on active duty and another 12 years in the Army Reserve before going on the retired rolls. That meant I was entitled to half of my base military pay every month beginning the first month after I turned 60. It’s pretty nice to be in one’s mid forties and know there’s a guaranteed income waiting for you down the line.
  After active duty, the next 27 years were spent accumulating and disposing of various kinds and quantities of goods while enjoying the life provided by a second (dual) career as a electronic design engineer and part-time soldier. It was the good life and we enjoyed it.
  While satisfying, I find it difficult to classify any of the above as a plan. I was fortunate enough to make some good decisions as a young man and ended up just doing a series of things I happened to enjoy which ultimately left me pretty well off. Some plan, I think most would call it blind luck! …03/11/11