“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr., American minister (1929–1968)
Now that I’m retired, I’ve set a couple modest goals:
- I don’t want to be a financial burden to my children (notice I didn’t say burden). I have a plaque from long ago that I keep in the garage, the better to remember where it is. On it is written this:
2) I’d like to plan the rest of my life with sufficient prudence that, when I pass, my heirs will get something. I have yet to determine what that will be; it is difficult to ascertain with certainty. Something whispers in my ear anything will be a bonus. I heard that same whisper when my parents passed.
They were far from wealthy. When they died, they divided their comparatively meager estate between charity and their multiple offspring. I think the charity was grateful. I was, too, but for the memories, not the monetary inheritance.
My father was a believer in education. All of us siblings attended at least graduate school, no mean feat for a college science professor who never earned more than $10k/year until near the end of his career. The melting of that icicle has continued to trickle. To some degree I think all in my sibship have encouraged education and emphasized the importance of learning in…
