Retirement, Pensions And Happiness

 I had a brilliant time on Saturday night with my old school friends out on the South Bank. We talked and laughed non stop for hours. Reminiscing, talking about what we are doing, talking about families. We didn't stop. One thing that we talked about a lot was out plans for retirement which is fast approaching. We all have taken very different career paths and some of the group are much better off financially than others. I have never, ever bothered about whether people have more money than me. I am very happy with my lot in life so I don't care. The wealthiest most "successful" man there, who works in banking, was horrified at some of our retirement plans. I'm not retiring until I'm 65 he said "Can't afford to I've got too many outgoings and need to earn more for my pension pot." He looked pale, grey and old. I felt sad for him remembering the fun, bright youngster at school. He was advising some of the other men on ways to invest money for the best possible income. I could catch bits of the conversation "risky but high returns" kept cropping up. I felt like saying "Are you mad?".but felt it was far to rude to say to someone I only see a couple of times a year.
  At the end of the night, one of the men, who is probably one of the most cheerful people you could meet, and I caught the train home together as we live close by. He was full of his family, his grandson, his life and how happy he is. He told me he kept quiet in the pension conversation as he doesn't have a private pension. He laughed, as long as I pay off  my mortgage and I have my family I will be happy. Some people may think I have done things wrong but never mind. I looked at him and thought how could anyone think he has done things wrong.
  I know we all need to be able to survive, and poverty in old age is no fun, but will all that extra money above what we need to live realatively comfortably really bring that much more happiness? I suppose time will tell!
  It was a really lovely day yesterday and I took Tess to the park to clear my head after such a late night. It was a beautiful autumn day and I thought no amount of money could buy this sort of day.

   I know lots of people may disagree with me but sometimes I think it's easy to be always striving for happiness in the future and not noticing it when it is right there every day. I hope everyone has a lovely day with a bit of brightness in it. xx