BY CARL WHEELER
RETIRE RICH, RETIRE EARLY, RETIRE YOUNG, RETIRE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, RETIRE NOW, EARLY RETIREMENT AND RETIRE SOON ARE OFTEN KEY WORDS USED WHEN SEARCHING THE INTERNET ABOUT RETIREMENT. OFTEN THE QUESTION ASKED IS, HOW DO I LIVE A RETIRED LIFESTYLE NOW WHILE I AM STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO ENJOY IT? THE ANSWERS VARY TREMENDOUSLY.
Retirement means different things to different people. For many, retirement means more freedom and time to do what you want. For many retirement means more time to hunt, fish, sail, camp, go back packing, go metal detecting, go RVing, take a cruise, travel to foreign countries, go to casino’s, more time to work in the yard or grow flowers, more time to work in the workshop or work on that favorite hobby of yours. For many people retirement means more time to do the things you really wanted to do but never had the time. However, in these unusual economic times many have to postpone that picture of retirement they always dreamed about.
For many, retirement merely means a change of occupation. Possibly your company had an age restriction or your company had a big lay off and offered you an early out cash settlement. It can mean going from being the boss somewhere for many years to getting a part time job at Home Depot or Wal-Mart to make ends meet. In retirement it is possible you may be working for some young kid that you would fire if you were his boss. If you are in that change of occupation group don’t get discouraged there is HOPE. There are millions of other people in that same position through no fault of their own. Many large companies have gone broke and the stock market has turned many a 401K into what I call a 201K. However, it does not make life any easier to live just knowing there are millions of other retirees that are as close to broke as you feel. If you made some poor business decisions or were just unlucky along the way to retirement try to keep a positive attitude. Just be thankful we live in the United States of America where we can live safe and free, a place where we can get some help if we become down and out. Be thankful we live in a place where most people believe in God and care about each other. Many churches around the country are focused on the subject of helping seniors. If you are a senior facing financial hard times talk to your pastor. If you are embarrassed to talk to your own pastor about it or if you don’t even belong to a church go to any pastor of any church but do it today. Talk to someone don’t let worry and financial stress get the best of you. There is no logical reason not seek help and advice. There is plenty of reason to have HOPE.
On a positive note, did you know that Colonel Sanders did not start promoting his now famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe until he was sixty six years old? He had gone broke just a couple of years before retirement. Years later he sold his interest in the KFC Company for several million dollars. He died if not what you now call Rich, most certainly Famous, so there is always HOPE for you as well. Remember, those of us that live here in the United States of America are truly blessed; this IS the land of opportunity. This is the one country in the world where at any time you have the freedom to lift yourself up from where you are now to where you want to be. There is always HOPE. If you still have your good health (or even if you don’t but can work a computer) anything is possible in the USA. I actually thank God every day that I was born and live in the United States of America, to me the Greatest Country in the World.
I have been blessed with a life far better than I feel I deserve. For me in retirement, life has not changed that much. Each day after I get up I put my arms around my wife and say “Holding you is the best part of my day and loving you is the best part of my life” and that is the way I have started nearly every morning for the twenty years we have been married. It is a great way to start a day whether you are retired or not. Try it yourself and see how GREAT the two of you feel.
I have been self employed for nearly forty years. My father had a heart attack when I was two years old and I grew up poor until I was about seven years old then things got better for my parents and we became middle class. I have started twelve businesses from scratch. My first business failed but the others succeeded and I made a very comfortable living for me and my family most of my life. My personal sales and the companies have created generated well over fifty million dollars in sales. I have made and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market over the years and have gone broke and recovered twice. Being self employed I have had the freedom and money to travel to many wonderful places and lived a very enjoyable life. I have written a book called First Business Advice for those people that have never started a business (but that is not what this website is about.) My home is paid for and I am debt free but like many retired people today, with this uncertain economy I worry if I have enough money to last the rest of my life. For that reason I consider myself only semi-retired.
Often, retirement is just what ever you make it. My wife and I like to travel in a RV and we like to metal detect. We have metal detected in Aruba, Europe and all over the USA. We have metal detected in ghost towns, gold mines, on beaches and under water. That is what we do but you may have a totally different idea of fun. In retirement (if you have the financial ability) do whatever makes you happy and comfortable (within the laws of man and God.) However, don’t forget to help others along the way, which is true happiness.
If you are young and just starting to think about retirement I suggest you become debt free including your house as soon as possible. Put away as much money as possible for those retirement years. Spread it around; don’t have too much in any one investment or investment institution. If you can and are so inclined, I suggest you buy some good rental property to produce retirement income (but always pay cash) do not use borrowed money as we live in very uncertain economic times. Get debt free and stay debt free for the rest of your life. No matter how young you are, start thinking about retirement today and have a good plan. A fellow named Dave Ramsey has a terrific get out of debt plan. Go to his website www.daveramsey.com for some good advise, (I don’t make a dime for recommending this guy to you) but I would be two to four million dollars richer today if I had known about him fifteen years ago. I might actually be retired today instead of semi-retired.
To you younger people again I say, retirement doesn’t come at any certain age, when well prepared, it comes at a certain attitude. RETIREMENT IS NOT AN AGE, IT IS AN ATTITUDE.
I know a man in his forties that I consider retired. He lives just outside of Dallas in a small town on one or two acres. He has a woodworking shop out back of his house where he makes toys out of wood (which he enjoys doing.) He goes to auctions and buys and sells things. He burns logs from dead trees for heat in the winter. He makes enough money to survive comfortably and supplements his income by working part time for Sam’s Club passing out food samples. He appears to have just as much free time as I do now in my late sixties. He is happily married and appears to be living the retired life in his forties. So again I say retirement is not an age, it is an attitude.
If you are already retired but are facing some challenges keep in touch with this web site. This web site should be helpful for anyone in retirement or looking forward to retirement. In the near future there will be an exchange of information on this web site second to none. AARP may someday be looking to this web site for information.
If you know of a way for a retiree to save money let us know. If you know of a good food to eat or a good recipe let us know. If you know of a good generic drug let us know. If you know of a way for retiree to make some extra income let us know. If you know any good tip that will help early retirees or other seniors please let us know. If you are an early retiree or senior that has some knowledge to share please e-mail us today. We want to hear from you. This web site is for learning and sharing information from other retirees. This web site is for you.
The average American lives to around the age of seventy eight. Women usually outlive men, however, life is not over until GOD says it is over.
If retirement is not all that you had hoped and dreamed it would be lets keep in touch with each other and see if we can improve on the quality and length of your life. We are never too old to learn from each other and help each other.
REMEMBER - YOUR RETIREMENT WEEK COULD BE LIKE ENJOYING SIX WONDERFUL SATURDAYS IN A ROW AND THEN A SUNDAY (To give THANKS to GOD for all he provides.)
~ Carl Wheeler ~NARP-National Association of Retired People
Tags: Retirement
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