Turning 64 – Will You Still Need Me When I am 64?
I am turning 64 during the worst health crisis in my lifetime. Of course, being a child of the 60s, my mind immediately goes to the lyrics of the Beatles classic song When I’m Sixty Four.
When I turned 60 I wrote about how I expected to feel and how it turned out differently. When I wrote that post, I did not expect that 4 years later I would be an expat in Mexico and be holed up in my casita riding out the COVID-19 pandemic. For your information, my wife and I are safer in Ajijic, Mexico in the State of Jalisco than just about anywhere in the US as it relates to the pandemic (search for Jalisco and you will see that the infection and death rate is extremely low for a population of 8M).
Looking Back
Looking back at the last 4 years, it has been a pretty amazing ride. I could not have predicted in the middle of 2016 that things would have turned out the way they have.
My wife and I are living very comfortably in a paradise called Ajijic. You can follow our expat journey here.
The Career Pivot business has been transformed into an online community from a one on one coaching business.
Both 2nd and 3rd editions of Repurpose Your Career – A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life would have been published. I am working on the audio version of the 3rd edition.
The Repurpose Your Career Podcast was launched in October of 2016. By the time this post publishes the crossing of the 200,000 download threshold will have happened.
All of that has been accomplished in the last 4 years. Only 10% of that was on my radar when I turned 60. Turning 64 is a good time to reflect on the lessons learned.
Lessons Learned
My mindset has shifted pretty significantly since turning 60. I wrote in my post Becoming an Expat Has Dramatically Changed My Mindset in December 2018 that I had made the following shifts:
- I am healthier than I have been in years
- Eating healthy has become easy
- Worry about money and healthcare are largely gone
- Stress has largely disappeared
- I am being challenged in learning a new language
I want to add that in the year-plus since I wrote that post:
Listen to the most recent episode
- Professionally I have grown to gain skills in interviewing and video production
- I have learned to appreciate nature more than I ever have in my life
- I have the knowledge that I can adapt to just about any situation (living in a foreign country does that to you)
As I look back on the last 4 years, I am not the same person as I was when I was turning 60.
Turning 64 During a Pandemic in Foreign Country
When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 20th of March 2020, my wife and I were already preparing. We made a trip to Costco in Guadalajara with a friend on the 16th of March, which happens to be Benito Juárez’s Birthday (national holiday).
Our plan was to stock up on frozen foods just in case something happened. We did not need to buy toilet paper as it was still plentiful in the stores in Ajijic. There was never hoarding of products in Mexico like what happened in the US.
From that point on we went into increasing levels of lockdown directed by the Governor of Jalisco Enrique Alfaro Ramírez. I have been referring to the governor as the 2nd coming of Andrew Cuomo. Due to his leadership, we have had very low incidents of COVID-19 in the state of Jalisco which is a sharp contrast to many other areas of Mexico.
We never needed the frozen food as most of the food we eat is produced locally. We are now starting to consume it bit by bit.
My wife and I feel safer in our home in Mexico than just about anywhere in the US.
If you want more details please listen to my podcast episode My Life in Mexico during the COVID-19 Pandemic [Podcast]
What is After Turning 64 and the Pandemic is Over
We are living in Mexico primarily for health insurance and healthcare. For more listen to my podcast episode The Miller’s Health Insurance and Healthcare Experiences in Mexico [Podcast].
My wife is now on Medicare and I will be eligible one year after turning 64. We turned on my wife’s social security a little before her social security full retirement age (FRA).
I will turn on my social security at my FRA which is a couple of years after turning 64.
I no longer need to earn an income and that is very freeing. However, retirement is something I do not view as desirable. I doubt I will ever want to retire. This pandemic has further reinforced that I want to be of service. I want to be needed.
The Career Pivot community will continue to evolve. There are plans for new and updated books. The podcast also will evolve.
The one thing the last 4 years have taught me is I cannot predict the future. All I can do is evolve and adapt to this ever-changing world.
As the song says:
When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I’d been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty four?
I admit that I will have less hair in the future.
On the other hand, I will continue to work hard so that the world still needs me after this pandemic is over when I am…
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Healthier as an American in Mexico than living in the states of course lower-cost of living in Mexico. Yet, for average Mexican living under the worse economic recession in decades with a draconian lock-down that has rendered millions of Mexican population unemployed in a country where the $200 billion tourism has come to a standstill. A depression in the states is a double depression in Mexico with serious health and security issues under a weak Mexican president. Yeah get more Americans to retire in Mexico means hard-currency for Mexicans and dollars to rebuild their economy.
Thanks for the insights Marc. I just referred your site to a friend who is turning 60 and wants to start a private practice.