What are you passionate about and how does it relate to what you do for a living?
“Art! I am surrounded by the arts. I have a fabulous job as the director of the Center for the Arts for a university and present over 100 arts events a year, ranging from live concerts through art exhibitions. Not only that, I am the one that grew the events into the center. We started out with seven events and now we put on over 100 a year. In my other art career, I am a sculptor, painter and photographer.”
What does retirement look like for you?
“I feel like retirement will be the opportunity to fully embrace the art that I've always wanted to do – in a way that I've always wanted to – but have been unable to because I’ve had to work.”
Are you on track for retirement?
“My husband died when I was 29, and [as a single mom] I had nothing, and worked two jobs while putting myself through college, so I didn’t start [saving for retirement] till almost 40. I will be 63 this October and can retire at 66 if [I have enough saved in my retirement plan]. Otherwise, I may have to continue working until I am 70.”
How have you prepared for retirement?
“I am lucky that I had mentors, especially one who I would talk to about retirement planning because he went through the process and was able to use his experience to give me some advice.
I have [also met with] TIAA financial consultants to help me get in a place where I could understand what was really happening. All my life I’ve wanted to learn more about investing and never really had the time. So, working with financial planners helps.”
