Last Monday, Peter and I met with Tim, our investment advisor from TIAA-CREF, the organization that manages the retirement plans for many educational institutions.   We discussed things like minimum distribution requirements and rollovers, and I signed my name and wrote the date on lots of documents.

The meeting was reminiscent of our our recent meeting with a lawyer to update our wills.  Not fun.

As Tim said (noting my grim expression), "You only retire once; it’s what we do all year long."  Because many of his clients are university faculty members, who tend to love their jobs, they haven’t been eagerly awaiting the day when golf would be the most pressing thing on their agenda.  So Tim is used to grim expressions.

I have come to realize that the abruptness of my decision to retire, to wrap up my job in a month while trying to gear up for school, was not well thought-out.  But it is a decision I've made and am living with. 

So a piece of advice for all--even if retirement is far in your future, it’s good to be planful.