In this week’s Torah portion, we read about Noah’s ark and the flood that destroyed the world. Many commentators ask, How can it be that Noah was a “righteous man,” such that he was saved from the flood, but immediately after leaving the ark, he planted a vineyard and got drunk?
Rabbi Yissocher Frand quotes the Chikrei Lev written by Rabbi Leibel Hyman, who gives an answer: “During the whole period of the Flood, Noah had a horrible time. He was not enjoying life on a cruise ship. Besides the fact that the whole world was destroyed, and he was aware of that, Noah literally could not sleep.
“There are animals that eat during the day, and there are nocturnal animals that eat during the night. Just feeding the animals – every single species that was in the world – by the time Noah came out of the ark, he was a broken man to say the least.
“He was, however, a man who felt that he accomplished his mission. He literally saved the world. From now on, everyone is going to be a Ben Noah – one of his descendants! What more can people accomplish in this world than what Noah accomplished? He saved the world and he saved it at great personal stress and pain. The experience was horrible!”
“When a person feels ‘I have done my job in this world,’ certain emotions go with that feeling: It is time for me to relax, to take off my shoes, put my feet up on the table, lean back, and enjoy myself. It is time for me to call it a career, call it a lifetime. The way Noah envisioned doing that was to plant a vineyard and drink the produce thereof and enjoy life. His attitude was: I have it coming! I earned it! I did what I was supposed to do! What else do You want from me? Herein lies Noah’s tragic mistake. There is no such thing as ‘I did my job. Now I can go and retire.’ One can retire when he is in the grave. Until that time, we have a mission to complete.”
This is one of the gifts Noah left to the world that can teach us about modern-day personal finance in a nutshell. Maybe you hit it big and take early retirement, or maybe you need to wait for your pension and National Insurance Institute (Bituah Leumi) or Social Security to kick in, but at some point, you retire. For so many of us, that is the ultimate goal. No longer having to work another day in their life. But then what?
Rabbi Frand adds: “Again, this is not suggesting that we need to die in our offices. No one in the history of mankind ever said on his deathbed in regret, ‘I wish I spent more time in the office.’ However, we must remain productive. When we reach the ‘Golden Years,’ while we can perhaps ‘sit back’ and take it easy from our work, we must remember that the Jewish approach remains, ‘It is today when it must be done; and tomorrow when the reward will be received.’”
Changes in the approach people take toward retirement
In nearly 30 years in this business, I have found that there has recently been a change in the approach people take toward retirement. As a financial adviser, it’s often my job to help individuals fund their retirement. I have found that the job increasingly entails getting them to start planning and thinking about how they want to spend their time when they no longer need to punch a clock.
Clients are much more thoughtful now about how they want to stay productive during this new phase in their lives. While more family time, taking it a bit easier, and more personal enjoyment are still goals, figuring out how to make a difference or even giving back to the community have become priorities.
Darrow Kirkpatrick, who operates the very popular caniretireyet.com website, talks about finding purpose in retirement and writes: “There has been relief at having a more relaxed schedule. But some anxiety too. Am I ‘wasting’ my life? The answer has been to reconsider my purpose.”
A note for those who love to travel. If you don’t plan on living abroad for years at a time, travel isn’t a retirement plan. It can be part of a larger plan, but it’s not the plan itself. Keep in mind that even if you were to travel two months a year, that still leaves more than 300 days to fill up.
Get a head start. Start planning for retirement a few years in advance. How to fill up the day in a meaningful way is very important. Speak to other retirees to understand how they transitioned from decades of going to work to this new chapter in their life.
As I have written previously, I use the phrase “new chapter in life” on purpose. I have found that those who have succeeded in this transition looked at retirement not as the beginning of the end, but rather as a new chapter in their life. I have found that this attitudinal approach is crucial in creating an optimism that helps give a meaningful purpose to this stage of life.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il
Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing.