Here's an interesting discussion:how long do your retirement savings need to last? Because really, what you're thinking about is this:how long are you going to live? I started thinking about this because my daughter, many years from retirement though she is, has been thinking about it. For her, it's a forgone conclusion that retirement will fall entirely on her shoulders. With an election year quickly approaching, the candidate who speaks honestly to our country's youth about Social Security and Medicare issues might just motivate them to hit the polls. (Note to self--campaign manager as possible retirement career.)

But really, retirement isn't a political thing. Time isn't either. It's very personal, and something that we feel ticking every moment of our lives. Before my parents passed on, they lived in Florida. They'd visit every year, or I'd visit them,and always, in the back of my mind, was the clock. It was ticking down the time I had left with them on that visit, which took a big part of the enjoyment right out of it. Guess what you're not doing in Florida if you're listening to an internal clock ticking down the seconds until you head back to the airport? Watching the ocean, taking in the warm breeze, building memories. That's when I realized that my clock was becoming a problem. Some things need to be enjoyed in the moment, whether you think you have millions more of those moments in front of you or only just this one. Life is made up of moments.

Fast forward to this week I find myself talking to my daughter about long-term care insurance and our family's history of illness as we age. Slightly depressing, especially when you consider that I'm right there where these don't become cautionary tales, but instead doctor visits and insurance premiums. And after years of keeping that internal clock pretty much in the background, it started up again. Just how much time do I have left? And do I have enough savings to not only maintain it, but LIVE it, ENJOY it? It was a real mother-daughter heart-to-heart, let me tell you, and in the background I'm hearing tick tock, tick tock.

So here's how I calmed myself. I looked at my financial portfolio, and it's diversified and managed by an advisor I trust. I looked at my plans for retirement, plans my husband and I have, and enjoyed a few moments of daydreaming about those warm beaches and ocean waves. And I looked at my daughter, who after an adolescence filled with more than our share of arguments, slammed doors, and too many shopping trip splurges, gets it. And I realize that everything is going to be alright.

You can't ever quiet that ticking clock, at least I can't. Somehow our brains our just hardwired to always be looking forward, and when it comes to planning for retirement, that's a good thing. Having a solid plan in place for your future finances is one way to quiet that clock and get some peace of mind. So make those investments and purchase that long term care insurance, if that's what makes sense for you. But the moments and people that make life worth living are right here today, and there's no better use of your precious time than them, in my humble opinion. I'm Retiring Tina, and I still have some work to do.