blahs

Lately, for some odd reason, I’ve been getting a lot of unsolicited financial advise. One time during a staff meeting, I was seated next to my Russian co-worker who started telling me what her net worth was. She told me she could already retire with all the investments she had and was advising me how to maximize contributions to our retirement account and etc. Sure. She was so secured she could retire but just couldn’t yet. She tells me she wants to wait till she’s 63 so she can get the maximum Social Security benefits and she had only 5 more years to go. I remember during that same staff meeting, she bursted into tears, telling our supervisor how difficult her clients were. Hmmm….Okay, wait till you’re 63 or die of stress. Whichever comes first. Basta maximum lang ang SS??!

This afternoon as I was going through my cases, Amigo, our janitor (I’m sure he had a name but he never corrects us) started telling me about rising mortgages and foreclosures. We would usually just exchange ‘holas’ and ‘kumustas’  but he was extra chatty today and shared a little more than I need to know. He told me how he works 2 jobs everyday and how he barely sees his kid because of his real estate investments. It’ll be all worth it kuno. If his kid grows up missing all that quality time with him, would it really be worth it?

A lot of people I work with have been in the same place longer than I’ve been on this earth. They make plans of traveling the world when they retire.  Unfortunately for some, they never see that day.

Life is too short.