Life in 15-year blocks

The first 15 years… the Foundation Years~

For me will be the growing-up years. Waking up early for school is pain, classes are pain but bearable if seated next to good friends, after-school the sleepiness goes away and the endless energy come. 

This is the period we learn to walk, goes thru PSLE, get a CCA and/or learn a sport and find out we like the other sex~  Always not enough money to spend but also doesn’t mind not having those money. From being dependent on our parents to spending all our free time with friends. 

The second 15 years… the Hypergrowth Years~

From age 16-30 things start to get serious. From O-levels to tertiary to NS to university to work. Some of us even got married within this 15-years block. Some even became parents. 

From a liability to the family, to a breadwinner. From dating your first girlfriend to getting a BTO. But in terms of a working life, one has hardly left the launchpad. There’s still quite a way to go…

The third 15 years… the Peaking Years~

Peaking in terms of career, most people would have reached the most important position in their working life by 45. The 31-45yo timeframe will be the time when we still have the energy to make those business trips, work on 100 slide presentations or go for that dinner with the colleagues. 

One may argue that some people continue to get promotion and grow after they reach 45, and indeed so, but 30-45yo is also the time when most people have to manage a growing family with young kids and financial balancing. These 15 years will probably be the most challenging as the career is on a growth trajectory, kids are growing so fast, and the parents are getting old…

I’m reaching 45 this October, and if I look back at the last 15 years… Oh wow… I’ve gained so much but lost so much as well… 15 years ago I had so much Pride, was always worrying about Financial Wealth and had just witnessed the birth of my son…

Changed job twice, travelled for work and holidays countless times, got 3 levels of my coaching cert, lost a loved one, and this year I’ve gotten the promotion I wanted. It may not be the highest position but I’m contented. 

So what next after 45? I’m not sure myself. It might be a phase called Plateauing. Watching the kid grow up, grooming new talents at work while continuing to find meaningful projects to do. Sure I can do this for another 5, 10 or 15 years. But if I've reached financial independence, I might go straight into the Retirement phase?

The fourth 15 years... the Plateauing years~

So what is the difference between the Plateauing years and the 15 years prior? I guess its more on the allocation of time and effort allocated to the 5 Types of Wealth: 

During the Peaking Years, most of us will spend more of our time working on our Financial Wealth. There's simply no choice because we need to build their retirement nest. By doing that, we lose the time and energy to pursue other areas of Wealth and we usually give up our Social and Time Wealth. That's when we lose our connection with our friends.

At the Plateauing Years, the focus will be on recouping those lost time and improve on our Social Wealth. Financially most of us will not be financially independent yet but I feel that at this point one has either more or less reached the peak of the career (in the Peaking Years) or should focus on more important things in life (which is not money!). Spend less time and energy on work, build more lasting relationship with family and friends (just a few close ones will do), gain more control over time to do that long-awaited family trip while the children are still relatively young because in another few years they will be busy with their own life!

The last 15 years and more... the Retirement years~

So what's the difference between Plateauing Years and Retirement Years? For me personally the defining difference is one word: Financial Freedom. One should be free to not have to work, and only work because of personal interest or just to keep oneself moving. By not having to work a full-time job, one will have the time and energy to pursue all other interests from the other 4 pillars of Wealth: Social, Physical, Time and Inner/Spiritual. 

One may ask why Social Wealth takes a backseat during Retirement Years? To be honest I think its not by choice, but by the fact that friends and family will migrate, pass on and just.. go away... 

I'm terrified of the thoughts that old friends will call me up for coffee, and then telling me they have less than X number of months left etc. So let's not wait till our Retirement Years to reconnect with our good friends~