Pinnacle Personnel Services LLC | Debbie Hatch
On my way home from Oklahoma, yesterday, I sat next to a lady who struck up a conversation.
Long story short, she’s 88 years old. She was flying to DC to celebrate her cousin’s 100th birthday!!! She told me, “I’ve looked up to her as a role model my entire life. It’s good to have role models, you know. I’ve always wanted to be just like her and I can’t wait to celebrate her birthday! She lost her husband last year. He was 102, they had a long and happy life together. They were married for 76 years.”
The great benefit of conversing with people who have experienced more of life than you have is picking their brain for advice. I told her I teach retirement planning and asked if she has any words of advice. She did:
I. People need to start saving now – even when they’re young and even when they don’t think they can afford to save. They need to plan for their own future. I think they should also remember to be careful – if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. II. They should know that they’ll need something besides Social Security in old age. With the cost of living increasing all the time, I don’t think the government will always be able to do the things it does for people, right now.
III. It pays to take care of your body. What you eat, what you do, that you get physical activity whenever you can. It’s important to move some every day – you want to be as healthy as pain free for as long as you can. I sometimes feel guilty; my friends and some younger family members have numerous health issues. Here I am at 88 with nothing but arthritis and high blood pressure. People need to stay engaged in living. I take a couple of classes, each year, at the community college. My cousin is 102 – she lives alone but she is so active in her sorority, community, and church groups. She goes to an exercise class three times a week.
I hope you find her advice as valuable as I did.
PS
She didn’t offer this as advice but during our 90 minute flight, she drank 3 cups of coffee so I’m going to assume my coffee habit is also enhancing my life <3
