Breaking the Financial Trap: Creating a Secure Retirement (part 1 of 5)
Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
by Lance Walker
SkyVault Multimedia Publishing
Part 1 of 5: Hope Is Not a Strategy
Solving the mystery of financial independence is probably the single most important issue on the minds of Baby Boomers and Ambassador Generation members today. Each economic shock, each round of layoffs or repossessions, each day of a fruitless job search causes the issue to grow in our minds.
The answer turns out to be quite simple - and that simplicity actually makes it very difficult for many people to accept. For that reason, the truth is often overlooked or rejected, even though it is actually right in front of our faces every day.
In addition, it also requires education. Not general education, or higher education for that matter. What's required is financial education - a specialized type of knowledge that, quite conveniently, is not taught in the vast majority of the world's schools.
In other words, if you want to live like most people can't afford to live, you have to be willing to think differently than most people are taught to think. Reality, not familiarity, must be your guide. You must be willing to accept the fact that just because you've been taught a certain thing your whole life, doesn't necessarily make it true.
You can still live well and create a secure retirement. But you need accurate information, and a firm grasp on the real rules of the game in order to make that happen. And the first rule is, "hope is not a strategy".
This article is written for those of us who fully intend to win the game, but prefer not to rely on hope. If that includes you, then please read on.
All over the world, the "safety net" our parents relied on - pensions, government support, and living wages that encouraged savings - has been quietly dismantled. There is no longer a social contract between employees and employers; the responsibility for providing for retirement has been almost completely shifted to the individual.
Meanwhile, the cost of getting older is escalating at an alarming rate. Our kids' college tuitions are going up as much as 20% a year or more. Our parents' medical and nursing care costs are skyrocketing. We're watching our healthcare systems implode before our very eyes.
And deep down inside, we know that the recent federal tax cuts are resulting in budget shortfalls at the local level, which are already triggering tremendous, hidden tax increases, as vital services are eliminated and our bridges, roads, sewers, and other infrastructure crumble for lack of proper maintenance.
We cringe when we see yet another senior citizen handing us fries at the drive-through window, knowing they should be at home having meals served to them instead.
We cringe, because we know that someday soon, that could be us. We don't want to think about it, but deep down, we know that more and more people are simply destined to work until they die. And there's a quiet, rolling fear building in our souls.
In fact, according to the 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey, only 47% of American workers have even bothered to calculate how much money we'll need to save by the time we retire - much less formulated a plan for actually saving it.
Many of us have gambled on the stock market - and lost. Our paychecks are stagnant; that is, if we haven't been laid off recently. The latest refinancing boom has left millions of us with little or no real equity in our homes, and forclosures are at an all-time high.
So, for many of us, it's too late to just SAVE our way out of this mess. If we want to "beat the system", and escape the trap with our financial lives, we're going to have to improve our profitability and increase our cash flow - quickly and dramatically. But is there a way to honestly, legally, and ethically do so?
=====
Lance T. Walker is a noted author, career coach, e-business consultant, and proud U.S. Air Force veteran. Reach him at http://www.lancetwalker.com. SkyVault Multimedia Publishing provides marketing consulting, web site development, and Internet business services to owners of small and micro sized businesses. Learn to use today's technology to build your financial
success at http://www.skyvaultbooks.com .
This Article has been viewed 3 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.