June 19, 2026
Reader
I was at the gym today and ran into a fellow I hadn't seen in a long time. We made the usual casual hellos — how are you, how's the family — and then he asked me if I was still retired, and was it like five years now?
It made me stop and think. Has it been five years? Not quite — but it will be four years this August. Wow. How fast life moves.
Then, later in the day, I was reading an article about retirement that stopped me cold. It said that while most people assume they'll have 20 to 30 years in retirement to do all the things they've been putting off, the real number — the number of genuinely healthy, active years — is closer to 12.
Twelve.
So, I did the math. Does that mean I only have about eight healthy years left?
Now, I know — so much depends on what we do to take care of ourselves. Strength, balance, nutrition, staying engaged. All of it matters. But some things are simply beyond our control. We've all lost people we love far too soon, and as we get older, that becomes more true, not less.
It made me ask myself a question I don't think I ask often enough: Am I actually doing the things I really want to do?
I have a bucket list for travel. Several more European spots I've been wanting to see. Switzerland has been on that list for a while now.
So, here's what I've decided: I'm not going to let money uncertainty be the thing that keeps me from that Switzerland trip. Or the next one after that.
And that means being intentional about income — not just saving, but actually using what we've built, confidently and with a plan. Because here's the truth: most of us don't skip the bucket list things because we can't afford them. We skip them because we're not sure — and that uncertainty is what freezes us.
Here's my challenge to you this week: pull out your bucket list — written down or just rattling around in your head — and ask yourself honestly: what's actually standing in the way? For most of us, it's not that the dream is too big. It's that we're waiting to feel ready.
Later is now. Years go fast. I know, because I blinked and four of them already went by.
Warmly,
Wendy
Founder OverSixtyInsights
Quoteof the Week:
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
— Mary Oliver
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