Thursday, December 30, 2010

Health Tips and Health Quotes for Retirees



Here are a few health tips for retirement presented through health quotes by the famous and not-so-famous:


    After you're older, two things are possibly more important than any others: health and money.
    — Helen Gurley Brown

    Any man who can get out of bed in the morning is in pretty good shape. Ask any man who can't.
    — Unknown wise senior

    Many people suffer poor health in retirement, not because of what they eat, but from what is eating them.
    — Anonymous wise person

    By the time most people discover that good health is everything, they've lost it.
    — Unknown wise person

    He who has good health is young.
    — H.G. Bohn

    You want to go easy on the suicide stuff — first thing you know, you'll ruin your health.
    — Robert Benchley

    Eat only when you are hungry. Drink only when you're thirsty. Sleep only when you're tired. Screw only when you're horny.
    — Al Neuharth

    A good laugh is the best medicine, whether you are sick or not.
    — Unknown retiree

    Anybody with normal blood pressure these days just isn't paying attention.
    — Unknown wise working person

    One should only see a psychiatrist out of boredom..
    — Muriel Spark

    A lot of good behavior is due to poor health.
    — Unknown retiree

    Just about the time your income reaches the point where food prices don't matter — calories do.
    — Unknown wise person

    Laughter is the remedy for many little ills. It can cure more quickly than the doctor's tiny pills.
    — Unknown wise person

    To feel "fit as a fiddle" you must tone down your middle.
    — Unknown wise person

    Why not cultivate retirement health instead of treating disease?
    — Unknown wise person in retirement

    A lot of people lose their health trying to become wealthy, and then lose their wealth trying to get back their health.
    — Unknown wise retiree

    The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.
    — Mark Twain

    Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill-health.
    — George Bernard Shaw

    Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
    — Erma Bombeck

    Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
    — Constitution. The World Health Organization.

    People who don't know how to keep themselves healthy ought to have the decency to get themselves buried, and not waste time about it.
    — Henrik Ibsen

    If I would have known that I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.
    — Cartoon caption in the retirement book The Joy of Not Working, one of the best retirement books that suits your needs

    I retired early for health reasons — my company was sick of me and I was sick of them.
    — Unknown wise person


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Great Fashion for Great Retirement Living


For living smart in retirement, I believe that fashion should consist mainly of T-shirts and Blue Jeans.

I don't sell T-shirts but I have designed a few for myself and had them printed by Zazzle.com.

Some of these T-shirts are displayed along with some of my favorite retirement T-shirt sayings at:

Retirement T-shirts

Also, I have posted at least 100 quotes relating to clothing, dress, and fashion on

Sensational Quotes about Fashion

My two favorites are:

    "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."
    — Oscar Wilde

    "I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity — all I hope for in my clothes."
    — Yves Saint Laurent
Of course, the natural companion of the blue jean is the T-shirt — the only two items you need to make a fashion statement in retirement.

What's more, style will last for decades whereas today's fashion is designed to be unfashionable tomorrow.

This means that fashion and money are companions only if you are the fashion designer and not when you are the one purchasing fashion.

Here are a few more quotes to place fashion and money and retirement in perspective:
    Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always twenty times better.
    — Margaret Oliphant

    Nobody is so miserable as the person who longs to be somebody other than the person he is.
    - Angelo Patri

    An empty head leads to an empty pocket.
    — B.C. Forbes

    The waste of money cures itself, for soon there is no more to waste.
    — M.W. Harrison

    Fashion is made to become unfashionable.
    — Coco Chanel

Friday, November 12, 2010

The New Retirement Ain't Going to Be as Good as The Old Retirement


Living smart in retirement may not be as easy as it appears to some, given the plight of many Americans' retirement plans.

In fact, the new retirement ain't going to be as good as the old retirement.

Saving money tips may not be enough to get people to save for retirement given that a lot of Americans are just struggling just to get by.

In November 2010 AARP released a survey about New Yorkers’ perceptions of Social Security and what role Social Security should play in future retirement planning. (As Ernie Zelinski wrote, Social Security is a secure way to find great pleasure in being terribly deceived.)

Forty-one percent of New York residents as compared to 39 percent of Americans nationally, stated that the protection of Social Security as a source of retirement income was the most pressing issue facing the U.S. except the creation of jobs.

Other national issues were addressed including taxes, deficit reduction, health care, immigration and energy.

The retirement survey also found that:

  • 19 percent of New Yorkers say they are very confident they will have enough retirement income to live comfortably.
  • Eighty nine percent of New Yorkers believe that Social Security is highly important to their retirement income.
  • Most seniors in New York rely on Social Security and would struggle without it.
  • Sixty-three percent of New Yorkers would either not be able to afford basics or would have to make significant sacrifices.
  • Fifty nine percent (59%) of New Yorkers agree that the average Social Security check of about $1200/month is too low.

At the same time, another retirement study conducted by Protect Seniors.Org found that the vast majority of American retirees predict that their children and grandchildren won't be unable to participate in the "American Dream" and afford retirement.

Almost three quarters of poll participants said that they expect their children and grandchildren to have worse career and lifestyle opportunities than they enjoyed.

Over 65 percent of the American respondents replied no when asked if they thought their children will be able to afford to retire.

Over 70 percent of the Americans surveyed said that they doubt that their grandchildren will be able to afford a comfortable retirement.

"This is a real tragedy," said Dr. Mackell, former Chairman of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, who was involved in the study. "In the past it was a given that children would enjoy better career and lifestyle opportunities than their parents. That chapter in American life appears to be ending."

In short, you may want to recalculate your retirement number if you want to retire comfortably.

Most American workers are worried that their retirement savings won’t last the rest of their life. Only 40 percent of current workers say they will have enough money to finance a 25-year of retirement, according to a 2010 Towers Watson survey of 3,099 full time employees in the private sector. Just 62 percent of the survey respondents think their retirement savings will last even 15 years.

Take the Retirement Survey at Retirment Wisdom That You Won't Receive from Your Financial Advisor Blog.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Short of Retirement Savings — Don't Blame the Government or Me!



Here is a summary of a recent AARP (formerely American Association of Retired People) survey:

Retirement income for many low-income recently retired baby boomers or the soon-to-be retired is likely not enough and makes their retirement dreams scary.

Sixty percent of the newly retired with low retirement incomes are not confident they can pay for basic needs such as food, shelther, and water when they retire, particularly while Obama ignores reality on Social Security.

The 2010 survey by AARP paints a dejecting picture of baby boomers who are struggling financially to make the transition to full-time retirement and make their retirement incomes meet their basic needs. No need for a simple retirement calcultor.

The survey polled American baby boomers across all socio-economic backgrounds who are 45 years or older.

American adults who made less than $25,000 per annum are especially unprepared for retirement and should have a better retirement plan.

On the other hand, only a bit more than a third (36 percent, in fact) of adults who made more than $25,000 a year said they were not confident they could pay for basic needs such as water, food, and shelter and may have to resort to retirees credit card debt.

Across all income groups, 28 percent of older American baby boomers were forced to stop contributing to their retirement savings plans in the past six months,

At the same time, almost one in six American baby boomers had to prematurely withdraw from their retirement savings.

Sadly, many baby boomers admitted they had little or no retirement savings.

Interestingly, 48 percent (almost half) of all adults surveyed said they had less than $50,000 in retirement savings.

Worse yet, 16 percent of these baby boomers said they had no retirement savings at all.

More than a quarter of the baby boomers surveyed said they had to delay or put off health care and dental treatments in the past six months. More than a third (34+ percent) of the older adults said they had trouble paying for gas or transportation.

Truth be known, if most Americans and Canadians weren't so spoiled and so irresponsibile with their money, they wouldn't have financial problems in their retirement years.

Put another way, if you are a baby boomer, it's all your fault if you cannot retire at 55 or 60 because you have not attained your retirement number.

Don't blame the government or the economy or anyone or anything else.

Particularly don't resent people lived frugally and who have saved enough for their retirement years.

Here are some gambling quotes to put things in proper perspective so that you don't think that the casino is the answer to your retirement income woes:



    If you think that going to the casino is the only interesting thing to do in your retirement, you haven't read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski.
    — Wise retired person

    People who can afford to gamble don't need money, and those who need money can't afford to gamble.
    — Anon retiree

    There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can.
    — Mark Twain

    Winning a Lottery: My Retirement Plan with the Most Bugs to Be Worked Out
    — Retirement Advice on The Retirement Cafe

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Quotes about Growing Old Without Growing Old


Here are some quotations about age and aging that come from the website Sensational Quotes for Smart People:


    #1 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    Growing old is compulsory. Retirement from work is discretionary.
    - Unknown wise person

    #2 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    Never think oldish thoughts. It’s oldish thoughts that make a person old.
    - James A.Farley

    #3 of Top-Ten Quotations about Age and Aging

    The idea is to die young, as late as possible.
    - Ashley Montagu

    #4 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
    - Will Rogers

    #5 of Top-Ten Quotations about Age and Aging

    Forget how old you are - this get's more important the older you get!
    - from the bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

    #6 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    The trick is growing up without growing old.
    - Casey Stengel

    #7 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.
    - Plato

    #8 of Top-Ten Quotations about Age and Aging

    Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.
    - Unknown wise person

    #9 of Top-Ten Quotations about Age and Aging

    Age only matters when one is aging. Now that I have arrived at a great age, I might just as well be twenty.
    - Pablo Picasso

    #10 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

    Laughter is pleasant, but the exertion [at my age] is too much for me.
    - Thomas Love Peacock
More Quotations about Age, Aging, and Getting Older


    Why do people write books that say it's better to be older than to be younger? It's not better. Even if you have all your marbles, you're constantly reaching for the name of the person you met the day before yesterday.
    - Nora Ephron

    Except for an occasional heart attack I feel as young as I ever did.
    - Robert Benchley

    The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened.
    - Mark Twain






Sunday, September 19, 2010

Favorite Quotes about Dating


These are my favorite dating quotes that come from the Sensational Quotes for Smart People Website:

    #1 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    A girl phoned me and said, "Come on over. There's nobody home." I went over. Nobody was home!
    - Rodney Dangerfield

    #2 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    Whenever I want a really nice meal, I start dating again.
    - Susan Healy

    #3 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    Never date a woman you can hear ticking.
    - Mark Patinkn

    #4 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    I'm dating a woman now who, evidently, is unaware of it.
    - Garry Shandling

    #5 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    Dating means doing a lot of fun things you will never do again if you get married. The fun stops with marriage because you're trying to save money for when you split up your property.
    - Dave Barry

    #6 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    I was dating this girl for two years - and right away the nagging starts: "I wanna know your name."
    - Mikey Binder

    #7 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    Never date a woman whose father calls her "Princess." Chances are she believes it.
    - Anonymous

    #8 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    Sleep with a guy once and before you know it, he wants to take you to dinner!
    - Mires Yori.

    #9 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    My boyfriend and I broke up. He wanted to get married and I didn't want him to.
    - Rita Rudner

    #10 of Top-10 Dating Quotes

    How many of you have ever started dating because you were too lazy to commit suicide?
    - Judy Tenuta

    More Quotations about Dating (To be used as serious dating tips for otherwise)

    It's relaxing to go out with my ex-wife because she already knows I'm an idiot.
    - Warren Thomas

    No married man is genuinely happy if he has to drink worse whisky than he used to drink when he was single [and dating].
    - H.L. Mencken

    I have such poor vision I can date anybody.
    - Garry Shandling

    I tell ya, my wife was never nice. On our first date, I asked her
    if I could give her a goodnight kiss on the cheek - she bent over!
    - Rodney Dangerfield
Also see The Singles Cafe

For Retirement Quotes See:

Monday, August 23, 2010

Sensational Retirement Quotes for Smart People


Here are some retirement quotes that come from Retirement Quotes for Smart People webpage on Sensational Quotes for Smart People Website to put retirement in proper perspective:

    "The new retirement reality may be a messy proposition"
    — Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

    "We have a manufactured vision of what retirement is, and that doesn't necessarily correlate with reality. Unless you have a well-thought-out scenario, you're going to be in for a shock at retirement."
    — Paul Allen, 64, a self-employed software developer in Dallas

    "Why shouldn't retirees expect some reduction in Social Security and Medicare benefits, and soon? Before we retired, or will retire, we lived beyond our means by voting for those congressmen who would keep taxes low and borrow from the trust funds to pay government bills. Woe to the politician who would ask us to fully pay the taxes necessary for the services we expected from government.
    This large accumulated debt to the funds is coming due. So we have an obligation to help pay it off by accepting less from them or paying higher taxes on our retirement income. As retirees, we have no right to just pass our debt off on our kids. We certainly helped create it and should help pay it off."
    — Werner Gruhl, Columbia

    "I used to have dreams that I died at my desk.
    Now that I've retired, I don't have those dreams anymore."
    - Unknown retiree commenting on an online article about retirment.

    "If you have debt and you are going into retirement, I don't think you are ready for retirement,"
    — Gary Gilgen, a certified financial advisor and director of the financial
    planning department at Rehmann Financial in Troy, Mich
For more retirement quotes and retirement sayings, see Retirement Quotes at the Retirement Quotes Cafe

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Retirement Planning Idiocy at Its Best


A poll in late 2007 showed that 80 percent of Americans believed their standard of living would go up after they stopped working, even if they decided to retire early.

So many Americans believed in this illusion despite the fact that some 40 percent of Americans had saved absolutely nothing for retirement.

Talk about a stupid retirement plan.

Contrast this to 2008, when the recession and market downturn hit. Then 63 percent of Americans said they had given up on the idea of retirement altogether.

While that finding was interesting, in April 2010 the Employee Benefits Research Institute's (EBRI) Retirement Confidence Survey last found that this percentage had jumped to 70 percent.

Interesting. It appears that more Americans are starting to face reality and realize that it takes at least a bit of money to be retired.

On another note, this was an unusual letter titled Retirees owe it to their kids to ease U.S. debt to the editor of the Washington Post regarding the Social Security System in the U.S.:

    Why shouldn't retirees expect some reduction in Social Security and Medicare benefits, and soon? Before we retired, or will retire, we lived beyond our means by voting for those congressmen who would keep taxes low and borrow from the trust funds to pay government bills. Woe to the politician who would ask us to fully pay the taxes necessary for the services we expected from government.

    This large accumulated debt to the funds is coming due. So we have an obligation to help pay it off by accepting less from them or paying higher taxes on our retirement income. As retirees, we have no right to just pass our debt off on our kids. We certainly helped create it and should help pay it off.

    Werner Gruhl, Columbia
For an interesting on article on Social Security by Ernie Zelinski see:


Here are some Sensational Quotes about retirement:

    Money is what you make it. Depending upon who you are — and your frame of mind — money can be anything you want it to be. Money can be: the root of all evil; or that which answers all things; or something that burns a hole in your pocket; or a means to freedom; or an interesting concept; or even a stupid concept. Whatever value you place on money, you must take responsibility for it. If money is evil to you, you created it being evil. If money is a problem to you, you created it being a problem. If money is joy to you, you created this concept. Take responsibility for your concepts. And be clear that these are just concepts. Nothing more and nothing less.
    — from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success

    "It [retirement] was absolutely boring. You can't go and say, 'I'm retired now.
    That's it!' It won't take long and you're really gone for good and someone
    throws the last shovel of dirt on a coffin with your name on it.
    That's the moment you're really retiring — when you die."
    — Ozzy Osbourne

    "I personally am taking my retirement savings seriously and have by living very frugally been able to increase my savings to 60 percent of my gross earnings. I’m targeting a very early retirement. Achieving this high rate has been partly achieved by watching my Lifestyle Creep as you identify in Point 5. As I achieve pay increases I have actively decided not to change my standard of living."
    — Comment on an article about retirement planning

    Webster’s Dictionary defines retirement as “withdrawal from active engagement in one’s occupation or profession.” It is in fact much more.
    — LYNN ANDERSON, Kansas Senior Press Service

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Saving Only 10 Percent of Your Income Is for Losers


Here is an excerpt from a retirement planning article about how hard retirees are finding to make it in this day and age:

    "The man who runs Palm Beach Share-n-Care Centre, where retirees and the aged to gather for events and activities, said pensioners hit hard by superannuation funds had to pull back on their favourite pleasures.

    "You can tell in the bingo, they're not spending as much as they normally would," said Mr McRae.

    "That's normally a pretty good indicator of how well people are doing.

    "There's a lot of pensioners doing it tough at the moment. There's probably a lot who have done money in the stock exchange."

    Plans for overseas holidays have been cut indefinitely, largely because nest eggs have evaporated, and the number of those on the borderline to poverty has increased, he said.
Financial advisors advocate that you use a simple retirement calculator to determine how much retirement income you will need before you submit your retirement letter. The exercise in determining how much money you will need for retirement will not result in perfect information, however.

Even if people could come up with perfect information, most people won't make use of this information because they aren't about to increase their savings much, if at all.

There are two problems conditions that most North Americans suffer from:

1. A need is any luxury that their neighbor happens to have.

2. Instant gratification takes too long.

    Ernie Zelinski has just started writing a book called How NOT to Retire BROKE in which he is going to make the point that saving 10 percent of your income is for losers and people should save at least 40 percent of their income so that they end up with an adequate retirement income.

    I was delighted to hear that someone is doing even better with their saving rate than Zelinski proposes.

    On January 17, 2010, in reply to a blog post "5 Reasons Why You Will Retire Broke and Unhappy," an individual who writes his or her own blog post called Retirement Investing today stated:
      "I personally am taking my retirement savings seriously and have by living very frugally been able to increase my savings to 60 percent of my gross earnings. I’m targeting a very early retirement. Achieving this high rate has been partly achieved by watching my Lifestyle Creep as you identify in Point 5. As I achieve pay increases I have actively decided not to change my standard of living."
    In short, knowing how much money people need to retire comfortably will do them absolutely no good if they can't handle money.

    It was J.P. Getty who said, "People who don't respect money don't have any."

    Check out David Letterman's Retirement Plan of David Letterman

    Here are a few new retirement sayings

      I have retired, un retired, and retired again all in the past 10 years.
      — Unknown retiree

      “We’ll rock till we drop. We have all agreed this won’t be the last time. Everyone’s rocking."
      — Ronnie Wood, (in July 2010 at age 63, in response to rumors that the Rolling Stores were going to retire. At the time, lead singer Mick Jagger was 67, guitarist Keith Richards was 66, and drummer Charlie Watts was 69.)


      "It [retirement] was absolutely boring. You can't go and say, 'I'm retired now. That's it!' It won't take long and you're really gone for good and someone throws the last shovel of dirt on a coffin with your name on it. That's the moment you're really retiring — whenyou die."
      — Ozzy Osbourne

    Tuesday, July 20, 2010

    Working, Traveling, and Being Broke in Retirement


      WORKING IN RETIREMENT
    According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of today's American employees include working for pay in their retirement planning as one of their retirement wishes.

    Most of those surveyed say they will have a retirement job because they want to, and not because they will have to.

    Pew, however, finds those statements out of step with the experiences of people who are actually retired.

    Just 12 percent of the retirees Pew surveyed say they are currently working either full or part time for pay at any type of retirement job.

      TRAVELING IN RETIRMENT
    92 percent Baby Boomers plan to travel around Australia after they retire, but half of those surveyed don’t feel confident in having the money to do it when they retire.

    New research released by ANZ reveals that 92 percent of ‘Baby Boomers’ want to travel around Australia on retirement, with 83 percent planning to engage more in hobbies sports.

    However, ANZ’s “New Retirement” survey found almost half of Australians aged between 45 and 64 do not feel confident they have adequate funds to do what they want in retirement (49 percent). With only 24 percent extremely or very confident about their finances.

      RETIREES AND BABY BOOMERS FEAR BEING BROKE IN RETIRENT MORE THAN DEATH!

    A report has found only one in four Australian baby boomers are confident they have saved enough money for their retirement.

    The ANZ survey shows nearly 50 per cent of people aged between 45 and 64
    do not think they have enough saved to maintain the kind of lifestyle they want in retirement.

    In contrast, only one-quarter of people in that age group are confident they have enough money to retire comfortably.

    At the same time, according to a survey by Allianz Life, 61 percent of the 3,200 American baby boomers and retirees surveyed (ages 44 to 75) said they feared outliving their retirement income and retirement savings more than they dreaded dying.

    Perhaps this is the new retirement where people will have to continue working at retirement jobs such as writing and self-publishing books such as

    Even so, it is best to retire rich but to die broke.


      NEW RETIREMENT RESOURCES
    Here are a few new retirement resources:


    Tuesday, May 4, 2010

    Reasons Why You Will Love Retirement


    Here are some entries from 365 Reasons Why You Will Love Retirement


      You get to fill your days with healthy retirement activities — such as swimming, bicycling, excerciing, and yoga — instead of unhealthy, stress-filled work activities such as meetings, boring tasks, and commuting.

      If you don't feel like doing anything at all except lounging around your apartment — that's exactly what you get to do.

      You no longer have to be nice to all those ex-coworkers who you didn't like all that much. Better still, you can send them anonymous nasty e-mails every day.


    Here are some retirement quotes for retirees that will help them retire happy, wild, and free:

      The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived.
      — Oscar Wilde

      Webster’s Dictionary defines retirement as “withdrawal from active engagement in one’s occupation or profession.” It is in fact much more.
      — Lynn Anderson

      Retirement is a process, not an event.
      — Unknown wise person

      If I wanted to become a tramp, I would seek information and advice from the most successful tramp I could find. If I wanted to become a failure, I would seek advice from men who have never succeeded. If I wanted to succeed in all things, I would look around me for those who are succeeding, and do as they have done.
      — Joseph Marshall Wade

    Friday, April 16, 2010

    Retirement Quotes to Help You Retire Happy


    Researchers at the University of Greenwich suggest best friends not family are the key to a happy retirement.

    This is because so many grandparents have the freedom of their twilight days interrupted by childcare, they say, and are not able to do fun things in retirement.

    Those with children or grandchildren were no more happy than those without, the study of 279 retirees presented to the British Psychological Society said.

    But those with strong social networks interviewed for the study were 30 percent more satisfied with their lives than those without, according to the researchers>

    Here are a few of the latest retirement quotes and retirement sayings that I have accumulated to help you retire happy:


      #1 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Thank Heaven for Retirement!
      — from How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free

      #2 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money.
      — Jonathan Clements

      #3 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Retire? I'm going to stay in show business until I'm the only one left.
      — George F. Burns

      #4 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Life is a game. Happy people are the players. Unhappy people are the spectators. Which would you like to be?
      — from Life's Secret Handbook by Ernie J. Zelinski

      #5 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Retirement is the time when you never do all the things you intended to do when you were still working.
      — Unknown wise person

      #6 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      If my dreams could all come true paradise/retirement would be — in a little bungalow — somewhere by the sea.
      — Unknown wise person

      #7 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.
      — Will Rogers

      #8 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      I really stay busy [in retirement]. I often have to cancel my golf games on the weekends to go play in tennis tournaments.
      — Richard Davies

      #9 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Retirement: A Time to Become Much More than You Have Ever Been
      — from How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free

      #10 Retirement Quote of Second Top-Ten List of Retirement Quotes
      Retirement is waking up in the morning with nothing to do and by bedtime having done only half of it.
      — Unknown wise person
    For more retirement quotes and retirement sayings see:


    Sunday, April 4, 2010

    Retirement Plans of Many Baby Boomers Are at Least $250,000 Short


    If you are worried about retirement you are not alone. A recent survey out shows that Americans are increasingly ill-prepared for retirement. Workers are delaying their planned career end dates to instead focus on building a nest egg of some type.

    Even using Simple Retirement Calculators will show that most people need a retirement job to create more retirement income.

    According to CNNMoney.com:

    “The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey.

    That excludes the value of primary houses and defined-benefit pension plans."

    Workers who said they had less than $1,000 jumped to 27%, from 20% in 2009."

    The survey found that 54 percent of American workers with some form of retirement savings have less than $25,000 stowed away and need to spend more time retirement
    planning
    .

      Low Balances In Retirement Funds

    Only about half the U.S. workforce is covered by some type of employer-sponsored retirement plan. And most of those are 401(k) plans, which usually require employees to contribute and make investment decisions.

    Even before the financial crisis, the average balance in 401(k)s for workers nearing retirement was just $78,000. After the market plunged, that average was reduced to about $56,000. That's just not enough for a comfortable retirement, says Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF, the financial services company that offers retirement plans for employees in the academic, medical and nonprofit fields.

    "Many families, at this stage, are short $250,000 from what they're going to need," Ferguson says.

    Check out Why My Retirement Plan Is Better than David Letterman's Retirement Plan.

    Friday, March 19, 2010

    The Retirement Job or Retirement Career That Can Make You a Fortune




      It's better to be out of money than out of new creative ideas on how to make money.
      - Spiritual Rule of Money



    If you are a baby boomer approaching retirement age, no doubt lately you have been thinking that you may have to change your retirement plan to one in which you work until you drop dead on the job.


    This probably means that your retirement fantasy life and your retirement portfolio to support such a life are diametrically opposed.


    How about creating your ideal retirement career?

    Check out: RETIREMENT CARRERS at THE CAREER SUCCESS RESOURCE CENTER

    Perhaps you are looking for a fun retirement job or a unreal retirement business because you didn't do sufficient retirement planning while you were working.


    Check out: JOBS FOR RETIREMENT JOBS at THE RETIREMENT CAFE

    Here is great information about how you can increase your retirement income.



    Have you ever thought about sharing your life’s story and strategies for success with the world?

    Have you ever written down four or five how-to lessons about life or business and thought, “Man, people would pay for this hard-earned wisdom.”

    If yes, then you’re a lot more like the “gurus” than you might have thought.

    (And you might as well get paid like them, agreed?)

    Legendary trainers like Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra, John Gray, and Marianne Williamson all decided at some point to teach others.

    Want to be the next guru in your field?


    This valuable retirement job information is available at:


    DREAM JOBS FOR RETIREMENT at UNREALJOB.COM




    Also Check Out Active Retirement Career Resources:





    Tuesday, March 9, 2010

    Free-Spirited View of Retirement



    Seven Million Canadians Set to Retire

    A new report suggests the Canadian Government and Canadian businesses must start making appropriate adjustments to handle the demographic crunch facing Canada.

    Indeed, seven million baby boomers are set to retire over the next two decades, according to a TD Bank Retirement Study.

    Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said last month the Federal Government will face a structural deficit of about $20 billion in five years as Canadians transition from taxpaying workers to services-using retirees.





    Americans Planning to Delay Retirement



    A survey in March 2010 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that a growing number of American workers are planning to delay retirement. That has negative implications for the U.S. job market, where unemployment is high and layoffs continue to grow.
    Almost one in four workers (24 percent) postponed plans to retire in the last year.

    Here is a review of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free Review at Retirement Recommendations by RetirementWorks2.com that may inspire you to read it so that you retire early, choose the Best Places to Retire Happy and totally enjoy your Retirement:




      This book takes a free-spirited view of retirement, and it can be infectious.
      Zelinski not only encourages you to adopt a fresh outlook, but helps you do so in specific, concrete ways. His approach is informative, fun, and sometimes astonishing.


    Check Out:

    Lotteries: The Retirement Plan for Stupid People

    Midlife Happiness

    Retirement Quotes at Goodreads.com

    The image below is a scan of an article in a December 1983 article in the Edmonton Journal about Brian Tracy when he was just getting on a roll. No doubt Brian does not have to worry about the financial aspects of retirement as many Canadians and Americans hav to




    Tuesday, March 2, 2010

    Saving for Retirement: How Much Do I Need to Retire?


    In Canada Between the CPP and OAS the government will pay out a maximum of $17,400 a year to the average 65-year-old.

    Some people will say, "That is only $1,450 a month to cover basic expenses including rent or mortgage (if you have one during retirement), condo fees, taxes, insurance, food, clothing, transportation, entertainment, and long-term care expenses if necessary.

    But my friend George in Edmonton is 66 and collects this amount. He has no other income and still saves $450 to $500 a month.

    If this is not enough retirement income for you to live on, then it's your responsibility to create more.
    One of the best retirement gifts that you can give yourself is an adequate income in retirement so that you can have fun in retirement and enjoy a lot of leisure like the Greeks enjoy.


      Retirement Principles
    These are some of the most important principles for having a happy retirement:


      * Retirement should put a perpetual smile on your face.
      * To not plan for an active retirement is to set yourself up for a difficult one.
      * You don’t have to watch one minute of TV when you retire — and perhaps you shouldn’t.
      * You are never too young to retire.
      * Retiring too late means you don’t get another chance to do it right.
      * Early to bed and early to rise makes a person dull, boring, and despised.
      * Commit yourself to being a lifelong learner and your life will never be without purpose.
      * Your wealth is where your friends are.
      * Be happy while you are alive because you are a long time dead.
      * It’s better to live rich than to die rich.
    Check out these resources:




    Saturday, February 27, 2010

    How to Retire Happier and Richer

    A recent Wells Fargo survey about the retirement preparedness of Americans age 50 to 59 showed that they are not that well-prepared.

    Of this group , a third (67 percent) said their expectations for retirement had changed from those held a year ago, and over half (56 percent) expected to work longer by an average of three more years.

    These baby boomers said that they require $800,000 in retirement savings, but have saved only $300,000 (median amounts).

    This group also had not assessed how long their savings would last in retirement.

    They expected to live nearly 21 years in retirement, but planned on spending nearly 10 percent of their savings every year in retirement.

    The retirement industry recommendation is to withdraw no more than 4 percent annually.

    Here is some retirement advice to help you retire richer:


      People who don't respect money don't have any.
      — J. Paul Getty,

      You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you.
      — Rajesh Setty

      How easy it is for a man to die rich, if he will be contented to live miserable.
      — Henry Fielding

      Money is what you make it. Depending upon who you are — and your frame of mind — money can be anything you want it to be. Money can be: the root of all evil; or that which answers all things; or something that burns a hole in your pocket; or a means to freedom; or an interesting concept; or even a stupid concept. Whatever value you place on money, you must take responsibility for it. If money is evil to you, you created it being evil. If money is a problem to you, you created it being a problem. If money is joy to you, you created this concept. Take responsibility for your concepts. And be clear that these are just concepts. Nothing more and nothing less.
      — from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success by

      We have a balance of $0.32 in the bank … Which made us four-and-a-half trillion dollars richer than the federal government.
      — Jim Borgman

    And here are some retirement planning resources to help you retire happier and richer:


    Wednesday, February 17, 2010

    Retirement News for Today


    Here are some interesting facts relating to retirement planning:


      1. A third of Canadians have no RRSPs but even among those that do, 80 percent are not confident the investments in them will provide enough for Retirement, according to a BMO survey.

      2. One in four Canadians don't know how much retirement income and retirement savings they will need to retire. In other words, 25 percent do not even know how much retirement income is required to achieve a comfortable retirement. Interestingly, 54 percent estimate they'll need at least $550,000 in retirement savings.

      3. Most Canadians and Americans want to retire early, or at least by the age of 65. Incidentally, this retirement age has been the official one since the welfare state was founded by Otto von Bismarck in 19th century Germany. There are trends happening, however, that are creating a changing picture of retirement. Many people who were looking forward to packing it in are having to postpone retirement because of the economic downturn has forced them to reconsider their plans.

      4. The RBC survey showed that 90 percent of Canadians believe they will have enough money to cover retirement. But an RBC spokeswoman also said many Canadians underestimate the amount they will need once they stop work.

    Retirment Planning for Retirees and the Soon-to-Be Retired Who Do Not Know How to Spell Retirement


    Also see:

    Be Love Now

    Saturday, February 13, 2010

    Top -10 Reasons to Never Have a Job


    Here are the ten topics that Steve Pavlina uses in Top-10 Reasons to Never Have a Job

    1. Income for dummies
    2. Limited experience
    3. Lifelong domestication
    4. Too many mouths to feed
    5. Way too risky
    6. Having an evil bovine master
    7. Begging for money
    8. An inbred social life
    9. Loss of freedom
    10. Becoming a coward

    Also see 10 Reasons to Never Work at a Real Job:

    Then see How to Get Sponsorships Even If You Don't Have a Job.

    Quotes about Work and Real Jobs:



      Trust not what inspires other members of society to choose a career. Trust what inspires you. From this decision alone will come over a third of your satisfaction or misery in your life.
      - from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success

      Find a calling you love and you will never work a day in your life.
      - Confucius

      To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work.
      - Sister Mary Lauretta

    Monday, January 25, 2010

    Quotes about Work and Retirement



    As a matter of course, the most important elements of a successful retirement are good physical and mental health, spiritual fulfillment, great relationships with family and friends, and many interesting things to do. Committing yourself to being a lifelong learner will go a long way towards having many interesting things to do.

    What's more, when you commit yourself to being a lifelong learner, your life will never be without purpose. Having an important purpose, to be sure, can be a savior in retirement and make you forget about work.

    Here are a few quotes about work and retirement:

      There are a lot of retirement books telling you how to manage when you retire. What most people want is one that'll tell them how to manage in the meantime.
      - Unknown wise person

      The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery.
      - Bertrand Russell

      I have long been of the opinion that if work were such a splendid thing the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.
      - Bruce Grocott

      Women marry because they don't want to work.
      - Marry Garden

      When you see what some girls marry you realize how they must hate to work for a living.
      - Helen Rowland


        Check out these other work and retirement resources

          Ideas for Retirement Parties

          Funny Retirement Poems

          Retirement Gifts on The Retirement Cafe

          Retirement Cake Sayings and Party Ideas

          Best Places to Retire Happy on The How to Retire Website

            Tuesday, January 19, 2010

            Basic Retirement Advice - Dont' Give Your Retirement Money to Crooks


            Dont' Give Your Retirement Money to Crooks is basic retirement advice, but here is a story on how some crooks may succeed with many retirees.






            Also, if you live in Canada, you may want to read this article:

            Canadian Fed Pensions a Time Bomb


            Here are some new Retirement Planning Resources:

            Funny Retirement Poems

            Funny Retirement Quotes

            Retirement Calculators

            Retirement Humor

            Monday, January 18, 2010

            Less Money Going into Retirement Plans

            Fewer Canadians are putting money into retirement plans, according to the Royal Bank's annual RRSP poll.

            The RB annual RRSP polls says 32 per cent of Canadians have not started saving for retirement yet, compared to 24 per cent in 2008. The study also found only 36 per cent say they are planning or have planned for retirement, down from 42 per cent in 2008.

            The decline is sharpest among those aged 55 and over, with 53 per cent doing any retirement planning compared to 67 per cent last year.RBC also says just 35 per cent of Canadians have contributed to or plan to contribute to an RRSP for the 2009 tax year - the lowest percentage of contributors since 1996.
            Here are some retirement resources to put retirement planning in perspective:



            Health in Retirement

            Fun Things to Do in Retirement

            Wednesday, January 6, 2010

            Create Your Unreal Retirement Job or Dream Retirement Career

            Jobs for older workers are expected to increase in certain occupations in the future as employers hire seniors, baby boomers and retirees who come with experience and intellectual capital - but often without a need for expensive benefits - for temporary jobs and project work.

            If this trend develops, you may be able to create your unreal retirement job or dream career for retirement.

            These Stats apply to Canadians:
            • An estimated 950,000 Canadians would like to start a business within the year says research done by RBC Financial Group.
              Self-employment is growing fastest among young Canadians (age 15-24) and older Canadians (age 55+), says Stats Canada.

            • 'Seniorpreneurs' account for ¼ of self employed people in Canada, and 30% of the total workforce over 55.40% of Canadians think entrepreneurship is the most rewarding career option, according to a 2005 poll by Leger Marketing.

            • Self-employment is growing fastest among young Canadians (age 15-24) and older Canadians (age 55+), says Stats Canada.

            Keep in mind that you don't have to go halfway around the world and spend a ton of money to spot opportunities for retirement jobs and retirement businesses and take advantage of them.
            Opportunities for creating new sources of income are all around us, including our backyards.
            Robert G. Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, co-authors of The One Minute Millionaire (Harmony, 2002), claim that they will be able to spot at least fifteen money-making opportunities in your living room alone.

            Indeed, opportunities for creating your own great retirement jobs and retirement businesses are all around you. I discuss this at length in my latest book Career Success Without a Real Job.

            Approaching Retirement and not sure if you want to quit working? Check out these retirement job resources loaded with opportunities perfect for the skills and maturity you can provide.