“You’re not moving to Mexico anytime soon, are you?”
It’s a question I’ve heard several times over the past few weeks since our return from Zihuatanejo where my husband and I are purchasing a second home.
No, I’ll still be around, albeit with a bit more travel sprinkled into the mix over the next few years.
With the kiddos gone, Andrew and I have been exploring the idea of “What’s next?”
We’ve also had multiple friends, acquaintances, and clients die unexpectedly over the last few years--a real kick in the gut--which prompts the usual soul-searching of how one is spending one’s remaining days.
Did you know that the average life expectancy is only 27,375 days? Doesn’t sound like much, does it?
Sidenote: Check out the books by John Strelecky. I started with “Café at the Edge of the World.” It will help you start to put your remaining life in perspective.
Andrew and I have decided that we are going to “get busy living” and that “THIS is the first day of the rest of our lives.”
Put another way, I’ve asked myself, “What do I want to do or experience between now and dead?”
As much as I love the current life I’ve curated for myself, it is time to incorporate a new adventure—spending some time experiencing a new culture and learning a new language abroad.
Andrew and I are too young to retire. Well, I suppose you’re never too young to retire, but we’re not ready to anyway.
Fortunately, for me, I can work with clients and on client files remotely. And, the flight to Zihua is short—just a half day’s airline travel door to door—which means that we’ll be racking up the United Skymiles as we spend time in both locations.
The added perk for me is that I will be able to reclaim my weekends instead of working every Saturday on client files.
With Andrew and I embarking on our own new adventure, I’ve made an interesting observation about my role as a parent. Because I am so excited about what’s going on in my OWN life, I am no longer solely living vicariously through my children’s lives. Sure, I’m still excited to hear what is going in their worlds but now I have my own exciting news to contribute.
With each new stage of your life, you should be reviewing your estate plan design to see if it still aligns with your goals and priorities. There may be room for improvement.
Call us today for a review of your existing estate plan. 850-439-1191
As far as purchasing our “villa”/condo. in Mexico, we will be purchasing it inside of a trust with automatic rights of survivorship to our children if we still own it when we die. This is very similar to the living trusts that I draft every day for our clients. Who wants their loved ones to have to deal with costly and time-consuming probate when it can easily be avoided through various probate avoidance mechanisms, such as trusts?
Although I can’t complain about my life thus far—it’s been terrific—there are still so many places I want to visit, experiences I want to have, and things that I want to do in the limited amount of days I have left on this planet. Which is 9,839 days according to one online calculator.
What about YOU? What do YOU want to experience in the precious time you have left? Drop me a line and let me know!
Kristen “Getting Busy Living” Marks
