Retirement Goals and Volunteering: A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey

After over forty years in the home building industry, I retired at the age of 57. I loved creating neighborhoods – especially for the first time buyer. A single-family home is still the American Dream, and I enjoyed being part of that dream.

Retirement came because of the pending financial crisis and my recognition it takes ten years for the industry to fully recover. I won’t delve into the politics of what caused the crisis – the government approving loans for buyers who did not qualify or the banks who took advantage of the programs. I have first-hand experience watching what home ownership provided for some of our underserved families.

But I found myself adrift after forty years of being focused solely on my career. I had one hobby – fishing – and I owned a boat.

I created a list of my goals in retirement: earn my Coast Guard Captain’s License, learn to play golf, take extended cruises on our boat, travel the world, and make a difference through a volunteer commitment to a local charity.

The most challenging of these plans was selecting a charity. As a Vietnam Veteran, I am very interested in helping the homeless – especially veterans. I spent several years working in a local food bank and then moved on to a homeless shelter.

I learned that there is very little that separated me from many of these clients. I met veterans with advanced degrees who had turned to alcohol during periods of stress. The common element was that they did not have a support system. I was blessed be my wife of 55 years who was there for my when I returned from Vietnam and supported me throughout my career.

Twenty years later we have accomplished everything on my list. Now we are in phase two of retirement. I call this phase “risk vs. reward”. In the first twenty years we took manageable risks – the Amazon, Antartica, Greenland, etc.

This blog will be dedicated to continuing to find rewards in retirement, while balancing some of the challenges brought on by age.