Dan Caplinger

You never feel like you have everything set that you're gonna be able to account for every possible contingency that you're gonna be able to deal with whatever the uncertainty of the moment is in current events, in politics, in geopolitics, in economics, whatever it is.

And so I think that holds me back as much as anything, as well as trying to figure out, okay, yeah, I know what I'm going to do the first year of retirement, and it's going to be a blast, but am I going to really want to do that?

Am I really going to want to travel?

Am I really going to want to be away from home for 10 years?

And if that's not the case, well, geez, should I just take a one-year sabbatical and then just kind of come back to where I am?

Those are some of the questions that I'm asking myself at this point.

So I think that probably the best thing that people can do is to work with the people that they know, talk with the people that they know, either who are in that situation or who are preparing the same way that you are looking to prepare.

Talk to people who've recently retired.

Ask them, what are they doing?

And how's it been?

And has it been as good as they expected it to be?

What are the things that are better?

What are the things that aren't quite as what they expected?

What are some of the things that if they had it to do over again, they would change maybe?

And, you know, how are they dealing with the process?

I think that it's important to build that network in advance, both

Outside of work and at work.

And I think people that you work with, I mean, I know, bro, I'm often guilty of this.

People will leave the fool and like, I don't do as good a job as I should keeping in touch with them.

Like maybe LinkedIn tells me to wish them a happy birthday.