Now or Later

So now the life expectancy of a 65 year old female living in the US is about 20 years. Take off a few years for a Black female and I could still be around till I'm 82. On the other hand I've now seen the passing of two friends; one at age 59 of colon cancer and one at 62 of a rare blood cancer. A dear friend of only 54 is battling breast cancer, another friend my age has been fighting a cancer of  unknown origin for some 4 years.

Every article you read about retirement tells us to save, save, save. Put money in long term care accounts, save large chunks of your monthly salary. Make sure all is well for the future. But then we are all only too aware that the future holds no guarantees or promises.

So, do I live it up now and scrunt into the future or scrimp, save and deny myself all extravangances now in the hopes of securing a comfortable retirement? Well in case you're expecting a profound answer to this question that will guide and inform my approach to retirement, forget it. I've chosen to live it up now, just because now is all there is. If I'm still around in the future I'll be living on social security and maybe a few food stamps if Obama gets to save those benefits. Otherwise, if I have a memory, I'll reminisce about all the fun I had in my 60's or maybe just daydream about the fun I could be having in my 80s. Who knows? This is as rational as I get.