We all learn at an early age that setting goals in life is a sure and important way to accomplish just about anything. When I began my work career one of my goals, was to retire from my job just as soon as my contract allowed. With some frugality and determination, I was able to reach that goal and retire at the age of 55.
Having a game plan in mind before retiring is pretty important, otherwise a new retiree will be confronted with the question, “What do I do now.?”………… I’ve heard many retirees say that being retired left them with a void in their lives, and a feeling of boredom or being not worth very much…….you don’t want that to happen to you……..if laying on a couch and watching television is your game plan…...great…...and if getting another job somewhere is your game plan, well….thats fine too……..but if you have other aspirations such as pursuing hobbies, or a particular interest, I suggest planning for those things before you retire.
Retirement means freedom. Freedom to help keep our union strong, freedom to travel, freedom to do volunteer work or mentor grandchildren and so many other worthwhile things. There is simply no reason to ever find yourself bored with life. Retirement means that you will now have time to give to others in ways you never imagined. It’s great.
It’s important also, to set a goal upon retirement to be prepared for the day when you might not be able to care for yourself any longer. That does sometimes happen to people. If that day does arrive, we want to be taken care of by people who will provide us with dignity and security. That’s really important because it seems today that children and the elderly are the least thing on the minds of many in todays society………before that day arrives though, I sure do want to suggest that the first thing any Steelworker retiree should do upon retirement is to join his retiree organization…...the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR)…...that’s one thing we SOAR members can do…..keep our new retirees informed about our organization…..for some of them, it could mean the difference of being bored in retirement, or having a way to feel like they are doing an important work….
Our union negotiated pensions and benefits for our retirees to pursue whatever they like in retirement...but for some of our retirees, contributing to the strength of their union is the thing that will give them a sense of worth in life.
Being a member of SOAR allows a Steelworker retiree to help other retirees. Meeting with other SOAR members allows our retirees to help one another with questions about benefits that we all have through our contracts.
So…….let’s all encourage our local unions to form a SOAR Chapter so that their retirees will continue to benefit by their affiliation with their local union and continue to benefit the local union with some of the difficulties they face today or may face in the future.
Charlie Averill
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