There were so many days over the years that I wanted to call in sick to work even though I wasn’t ill, or I considered taking an extended vacation, or just generally did not feellike going in to work. But I did. Because I knew, even as an 18 year old starting my first real job, that getting what I wanted was going to require lots of hard work and plenty of sacrifices.I kept my eye on the prize and just kept going, though bad bosses, economic downturns, and lousy days.
At first, my savings went into a jarthat I kept in my bedroom. It was pretty satisfying to watch it fill up. That really kept me motivated to keep going when things were hard—because it is no fun starting at the bottom of the ladder, and that’s certainly where I was. As I moved up that ladder rung by rung, I made a little more money each time. And as I got older, I got smarter.The money went into a bank account and started earning me interest.That motivated me even more—my money was making money! From there, I went to a financial advisor, who recommended a retirement account and some investments. There were some bumps along the way, but I prevailed in the long run. Working so hard back then enabled me to retire comfortably.It really paid off.
When I was deciding on a place to live, one thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to go anywhere that was going to get cold. Snow is nice to look at but I’m too old now to be wasting my time shoveling or paying some teenager who lives down the road to do it for me. That ruled out a whole bunch of places. I also didn’t want to go somewhere that got too hot. Of course, it had to have some good fishing, too. That pretty much narrowed my choices down to the Caribbean. There are so many great places to live down here that it was hard to choose. So many great beaches, so much fishing. I ended up picking Anguilla because it isn’t too crowded. I find it to be mostly populated with temporary residents like vacationers, which means there are great restaurants and nightlife. It also means that the rest of us Islanders tend to be a tight little community. I’ve got a nice condo here and I don’t need much more than that, my boat, and my rod and reel. The cost of living here is on the high side, as it is on just about any island but as long as I’m smart with my money, I’m fine.
My days consist mostly of relaxing, fishing, and the occasional trip to St. Martin to get whatever supplies I might need that I can’t get here on the island. It’s a pretty great life, I must say.