Retirees and Soon-to-Be Retirees Net Worth Has Plunged

Not so long ago I came across a report by the o the Employee Benefit Research Institute that said a startling 59 percent of workers age 55 or older have less than $100,000 in savings and investments, excluding the value of their home, according t Another 18 percent have between $100,000 and $249,999, and only 23 percent have $250,000 or more.

Many people who were looking to retire in the near future are now expecting to work until they are 70, 80, or 90.

It seems that things may be worse that first reported. The serious decline of house prices, the stock market crash and the economic recession (could be upgraded to a depression) have ravaged the wealth, or net worth, of Americans near the traditional retirement age of 65.

See:

Near-Retirees' net worth has plunged

Quotes for Retirement:

• Bought one, got one free — first rung on the achievable goals ladder.
  — T-shirt worn by Mr. Boffo cartoon by Joe Martin
• All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.
  — Samuel Johnson
• The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise.
  — Bible

Retirement Resources



ERNIE ZELINSKI'S The Money Cafe featured on Launch Your Money Cafe Project:



101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting


Best Retirement and Finance Guides

Retirement Resources for the Recession

Here are some benefits from the economic recession:

From a food website:

Food will improve in cafes and bars because only the cafes and bars
serving high quality food at reasonable prices will survive.

Some new delicious dishes may be born during the present recession.
Like great music, some of the great food we eat today such as pizza
and stew were created during economic downturns.

People who don't know how to cook may learn how to do so simply because
they can no longer afford to eat out all the time.

The economic recession does has a silver lining for employers – it
has created an opportunity for employers to pick up highly-experienced,
motivated and loyal employees at very reasonable rates. Ron Brown,
sales director at Australia's recruitment firm Plus 40, which specialises
in the placement of older workers, says the pool of older workers
looking for retirement jobs has increased sharply in recent months.
“A lot of those people have less than half of the retirement savings
they had three or four months ago.” Corporations can now get all these
added extras – experience, a high level of skills, commitment, stability
– for the same rate as a young unreliable and unexperienced employee.

Here are two retirement recession resources to check out:

Upside of a Recession

101 Reasons to Love a Recession Progress Report

Resources to Help You Deal with the Recession

Retirement Quotes and Retirement News

Recent Retirement News:

1. As nest eggs shrink, many defer retirement
MSNBC
But as the financial markets have raveged retirees’ savings and investments, Laursen has put his retirement on hold. On top of a big hit to his retirement ...

2. rather ...
Retirement deals leave big holes in city departments
Tucson Citizen, AZ - 3 hours ago
Tucson's administrators have tried to control the impact of those departures with sweetened retirement packages, reducing slightly the long-term payout in ...

3. SD retirement, trust funds lose in market plunge
Forbes, NY
By CHET BROKAW , 11.17.08, 01:58 PM EST The stock market plunge has caused large losses for the South Dakota Retirement System and several state trust funds ...

Resources for Retirement:


Health Is the Best Retirement Gift to Give Yourself

Where to Retire

Best Retirement Guides and Finance Resources for Seniors

How to Make Friends in Retirement

How to Prosper During a Recession

101 Business Resources to Make You Rich

Two Retirement Quotes about Leisure to Help You Retire Happy

All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.
— Samuel Johnson

The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise.
— Bible

Retirement News from the Last Week

Here are clips from recent retirement articles:

Catholic Sentinel
Faltering economy makes for tough times for seniors, retirees
Catholic Sentinel - Portland,OR,USA
By Ed Langlois The fall of the stock market has caused particular
pain for retirees and those about to retire. One woman felt compelled
to leave her new ...

Americans react to recession in different ways; what about you?
USA Today - USA
"My husband's retirement plan went down to practically nothing," she
says. The Albrights aren't alone, by any means. It would seem Betty
White, 76, ...


Future retirees will lose total contributions worth some €80 mln ...
BusinessStandard.RO - Bucharest,Romania
If future retirees lose total contributions this year worth some €80
million, the fund managers will lose some €3 mln. Most of these managers
expected to ...

Check out these recent retirement resources:

101 Retirement Resources

Health Is the Best Retirement Gift to Give Yourself

Recession versus Depression

Friendship Resources for Retirement

101 Money and Personal Finance Resources on The Money Café

The New Retirement - Bleak and Not So Cozy

Here are some latest topics about the new retirement:

1. Retirees ‘tighten the belt’ in tough times
Lismore Northern Star - Australia
Coorabell retirees Jim and Barbara Hardie say they both lived through
the Great Depression, so are confident of surviving the current economic
downturn. ...


2. 40000 Australian retirees to shelve retirement plans – here’s how
you can benefit
SmartCompany.com.au - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
According to new research from actuarial firm Rice Warner, plummeting
financial markets will force about 40000 older workers to postpone
their retirement ...

Too Much Retirement Planning May Be As Bad As Too Little
Consumer Affairs - USA
However, pre-retirees who had done more planning reported worse losses,
on average, than those who hadn’t planned. Retirement planning strategies
encourage ...

Here are some retirement resources to help you retire:

Funny Retirement Speech Topics

FRIENDSHIP ADVICE BETWEEN BEST FRIENDS

Where to Retire - Best Places to Retire

Retirement Resources and Retirement Activities

Some More Retirement Resources and Retirement Activities for New Retirees:

THE RETIREMENT CAFE: This website addresses the new retirement including topics such as why you should retire before you expire, where to retire, how to preserve retirement savings, how to increase retirement income, how to find fun retirement jobs, and how to get involved in inspirational retirement activities.
Some Retirement Articles on this website:

Ready to Retire Happy - Get Real!
Fun Things to Do When You Retire
Retiring Too Late Means You Don't Get Another Chance to Do It Right!
How Retirees Can Be Productive Slackers!
Retire Now - Don't Die Working
It's a Great Time to Be Retired - There's So Much to Do!
Retire Before You Expire - Why Tempt Fate and Die Working?
Winning a Lottery - The Retirement Plan with the Most Bugs to Be Worked Out
Retirement Planning Tip - Get More Serious about Leisure than about
Finances
7 Secrets to a Happy Retirement

Retirement Jobs on The Real Success Resource Center


Ernie Zelinski on Facebook

THE FRIENDSHIP CAFE: Where Best Friends Learn How to Become Great Friends - Topics covered include:

Best Friends at The Friendship Café - Best Friend Quotes, Best Friends Poems, Best Friend Sayings
Best-Friends.html
THE FRIENDSHIP CAFE Friendship Poems
Old Friends Are the Best Friends
Friendship Advice on The Friendship Café: Tips on How to Make and Keep Best Friends
Friendship Sayings
Proverbs about Friends
QUALITY AND NOT THE QUANTITY MATTERS IN FRIENDSHIP

FRIENDSHIP POEMS

ON THE MONEY CAFE:

SMART AND RICH

New Retirement Resources

Here are some new retirement resources:

THE RETIREMENT CAFE: This website addresses the new retirement including topics such as why you should retire before you expire, where to retire, how to preserve retirement savings, how to increase retirement income, how to find fun retirement jobs, and how to get involved in inspirational retirement activities.

Some Retirement Articles on this website:

Does Your Retirement Plan Include Your Spouse?
Ready to Retire Happy - Get Real!
There Is Life After Retirement
Retirement Allows You to Pursue Your First Love - Which Is to Live Life to the Fullest
Retiring Too Late Means You Don't Get Another Chance to Do It Right!
How Retirees Can Be Productive Slackers!
Retire Now - Don't Die Working
It's a Great Time to Be Retired - There's So Much to Do!
Retire Before You Expire - Why Tempt Fate and Die Working?
Retire Early - Here's How!
Winning a Lottery - The Retirement Plan with the Most Bugs to Be Worked Out
It's a Great Time to Be Retired - Your Retirement Advantages!
10 Tough Retirement Questions
Retirement Planning Tip - Get More Serious about Leisure than about
Finances
7 Secrets to a Happy Retirement


Ernie Zelinski's BENEFITS OF AN ECONOMIC RECESSION Website



THE FRIENDSHIP CAFE: Where Best Friends Learn How to Become Great Friends. This one is important since friendship is so important in retirement:Best Friends
Friendship Poems
Best Friend Quotes, Best Friends Poems, Best Friend Sayings
Friendship Poems
Old Friends Are the Best Friends
True Friends and True Friendship
Rules and Principles of Friendship
Friendship Advice Tips on How to Make and Keep Best Friends
Friendship Sayings
Proverbs about Friends
Friends and Money
101 Ways to Have Great Friends
Friends Heaven Sent

Quotes and Sayings about Friendship and Money

Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need more.— Author Unknown

Acquaintance. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.— Ambrose Bierce

Money separates more friends than it unites.— Author Unknown

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.— Oprah Winfrey

Benefits from a Recession

What do you think of economists now that we are in a serious recession?

Apparently these alien jerks took the wrong turn on the road to nowhere and wound up on this planet by mistake. They were trying to model a phoney economy on Mother Earth that only works in some other universe or dimension.

But a recession is not all bad: There are certain benefits:

Here is what a Squidoo Lens Maker Says about the benefits of a recession:

• A recession forces change.
• A recession makes you wiser.
• A recession makes you think out of the box.
• A recession makes you appreciate what you have.
• A recession makes a decision maker out of you.

These come from the BENEFITS FROM A RECESSION Website by Ernie Zelinski who apparently is writing a book called 101 Reasons to Love a Recession.

• Be grateful for your position in life regardless of how much equity you lost. Putting things in the best possible way, the bum you see by the junkyard still has it tougher than you.
• Drivers in the US are on pace for fewest road deaths since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. Due to the recession people are driving more slowly and less often resulting in fewer crashes according to academics.
• Many North Americans will finally lose a bit of weight because they will be forced to quit being so piggish with their food. It's about time, given how sadly obese America has become.
• At cocktail parties people used to brag about how much money they made. Now at some cocktail parties people brag about how much money they lost during the recession. Thus, you can be a big cheese if you squandered a big fortune in the stock market.
  
  Also Check Out Ernie Zelinski's: FUN AT WORK CAFE. This may also help you enjoy the recession

Retire Early - Get Real

According to a survey from McKinsey and Co. of 3,000 retirees and pre-retirees, more than half of recent retirees decided to retire early. Surprisingly, the majority did not do this out of choice. Most did so due to adverse circumstances, such as job loss, caring for an ailing spouse, or their own health problems.

On average, these people are retiring in their mid-50s. With life expectancy for a healthy 65-year-old in the U.S. around 85 for men and 88 for women, that means some will need to fund their living expenses for 30 years or more.

And, unlike the generations that came before them, far fewer baby boomers will have traditional defined benefit pensions to help them. What’s more, research from professor Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, shows that Social Security will replace less than 30 percent of pre-retirement income by 2030. It’s clear that volatile markets are not the baby boomers’ only major challenge.

Check out Ernie Zelinski's Money Saving Tips and Goodbye Letters for Work

Retirement News Doesn't Get Any Better

It looks like retirement news won't get better for some time. Here are some of the latest headelines:

1. Changing educators’ cost of living provision is a big step backward
Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA
By Greg Pilewicz Today, the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia will be considering a change to the cost of living provision of the teacher retirement ...

2. Boomers Delay Retirement, but They Won't Wait Forever
MarketWatch
But then the economy faltered, housing values plummeted, retirement portfolios shrank, and boomers who thought they had planned for financial security ...

3. You Don't Deserve Retirement
Motley Fool
By Robert Brokamp I have some news for you, folks: You are not entitled to a retirement. It's not in the Constitution. It's not in the Bill of Rights.

With all this bad news, this is evidence enought that you need a copy of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

Bad Retirement News for Today's Retirees

1. Bad economy has retirees rejoining the work force
KHOU - Houston,TX,USA

These days, for a lot of retirees, the two go hand in hand. “It’s really hard out here for a senior. When you’re retired, when you have everything all set ...

2. Working in Retirement: The New Reality
Metropolitan News-Enterprise - Los Angeles,CA,USA

The goal of the committee was the creation of a retirement planning process termed “planning for living the rest of your life.” This committee worked under ...

For a Happy Retirement, Be as Eccentric as You Can Be

According to Abraham Maslow, eccentrics have many of the same traits as self-actualized people. Their most important traits—high self-esteem, self-confidence, and a sense of freedom—help them achieve happiness and longevity.

To achieve immortality, you must leave a legacy. To leave a legacy, you have to make a difference in the lives of others. To make a difference in the lives of others, you must do something extraordinary. And to achieve the extraordinary, you must venture out of the ordinary. Get it? You can't be like everyone else.

Weeks and James studied over 900 eccentrics and found that the majority of these men and women live alone because others find them too peculiar to live with. Nonetheless, spending time alone is not a problem for true eccentrics; they thrive on it.

7 Money Myths by Joe Vitale

Where are you financially today?

We are hearing a lot about a recession and how many people are having money problems. The key is to see opportunity in financial adversity.

Here are 7 Money Myths as provided by Joe Vitale in one of his recent blog entry.

1. Saving is not as powerful in attracting money as giving. The more money you give, from a heart of love and to wherever you feel inspired, the more you will receive.
2. Stocks are not as secure as acting on ideas. Money making ideas are gifts from the Universe; act fast on them and you can prosper fast.
3. Planning for your retirement isn’t as powerful as living now with an awareness of your future. Putting off your enjoyment of life is pushing away your current prosperity.
4. Investing in real estate isn’t as rewarding as investing in yourself. The more you expand your awareness and education, the more you can see the opportunities to make more money.
5. Beliefs such as money is the root of all evil block prosperity. The lack of money is actually the root of all evil. Being detached but respectful toward money will help you attract it.
6. Scarcity is a function of the mind; so is abundance. Human creativity can solve any problem and find ways to profit along the way.
7. Practical spending isn’t as wise as enthusiastic spending. When you buy something that helps you feel good, you increase your energy vibration, feel better about yourself, and tend to do more things to make more money.

Available as a Free Download at The Retirement Quotes Café

Also Check out Best Jobs for Your Retirement Years

Retirement Relieves Job Stress

Interesting Retirement T-Shirt

I'm retired: Leave the relaxing to me.

Interesting Retirement Fact

Two-thirds of Canadians retire before the full Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan benefit age of 65, often times involuntarily. What does this mean?

Another Interesting Retirement Fact

According to a Harris/Decima poll of 2,200 Canadian commissioned by Russell Investments Canada Ltd., currently retired people say they need only 60% of the income generated when they were working -- a stark contrast to a similar survey a year ago from Fidelity Investments Canada which found 80% or even higher "replacement ratios" might be necessary.

The Spoilers - Countries Against Early Retirement

• Britain plans to gradually raise its age of retirement at which full state pensions will kick in. By the year 2044, the U.K,'s retirement age will be 68.
• The U.S. and Germany also plan to raise their retirement age to 67.
• Italy and Belgium have already raised their age of retirement to 60

Book Review: How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free

This review of The World's Best Retirement Book comes from the The Canadian Dream:

As part of my vacation I'm getting caught up on some reading and I came across a great little book.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie J. Zelinski is a must read, but not for the usual reasons.

Typically I read books for investment advice, spending reductions and taxation. This one is different in the regards it focuses on that old question of "What are you going to do with all that time in retirement?" Ernie actually gives a great read on how to plan your leisure time to ensure you have a rewarding retirement.

It a pleasure to read a book that addresses the idea of how to have satisfying leisure time. I think most people spend far too much leisure time at passive activities such as watching TV. One example in the book is if you reduce your TV time by just one hour a day you will gain about 365 hours a year or about 20 extra days a year (based on a 18 hour day awake time) to do something more meaningful, such as reading or another hobby.

So next time you think you don't have time for anything. Try to just find one hour a day and see what happens. (Yes, I know that an hour can seem like an impossible goal some days, but try for just 15 minutes and you still gain an extra 5 days a year on something.)

Here is a little more about the book: With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retirement, How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free explores the myriad choices and decisions we are all confronted with in living out our retirement lives.

Easy to read and well laid out, the bestselling non-financial retirement book on Amazon.com emphasizes preparing for retirement long before you retire.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is a provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring book that will help you get more joy and satisfaction out of all your retirement activities.

Check out Creativity: What Is Your WOW Factor


Also Check Out These Retirement Resources:

Snappy Retirement Wishes

My Retirement Plan

Reasons to Retire

Retirement Calculators

Retirement Humor

Retirees Will Outlive Retirement Savings

Almost three out of five new middle-class retirees will outlive their financial assets if they attempt to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, according to a new study conducted by Ernst & Young LLP on behalf of Americans for Secure Retirement.

The study also finds that middle-income Americans entering retirement now will have to reduce their standard of living by an average of 24 percent to minimize the likelihood of outliving their financial assets.

Those Americans seven years out from retirement are even less prepared and the study estimates that they will have to reduce their standard of living by even more, an average of 37 percent. These reductions will be necessary even when assuming that retirees can maintain the same standard of living with income equal to 59 to 71 percent of their pre-retirement wages.

"Many Americans envision a retirement where their lifestyle continues much as before," said Tom Neubig of Ernst & Young. "Our work shows that this is not a realistic expectation and that, with the current state of savings and potentially very long life expectancies, many retirees will have to cut back far more on expenditures than they had ever expected."

Nearly three out of five middle-class retirees will probably run out of money if they maintain their pre-retirement lifestyles, a new study from Ernst & Young has concluded.

The study found that Americans will have to drastically reduce their standard of living before retirement to live comfortably, or even avoid destitution, later in life.

Middle-income Americans entering retirement now will have to reduce their standard of living by an average of 24 percent to minimize their chances of outliving their financial assets, the study found. Workers seven years from retirement will have to cut their spending by even more -- 37 percent.

See My Retirement Plan on Squidoo

Also See The Singles Cafe for the Sensationally Single

Retirement Jobs Can Be Fun and Profitable

According to Retirement Statistics Canada, more than 300,000 Canadians 65 or older worked in 2001.

• 57% were 65-69


• 26% were 70-74


• 17% were 75 or older

If you are going to work in your retirement years, why not work at a fun retirement job?

Jobs during retirement can be fun and profitabled if you create an internet business.

Here’s a list of websites or blogs that are making lots of money. This list came from A Dawn Journal by Ahmed Dawn.

• Boing Boing Makes over $1 million a year.


• Mashable This technology blog makes roughly $165,000 a month.


• Darren Rowse Estimated earnings between $120,000 to $1,200,000. He pioneered moneymaking techniques in blogging.


• Steve Pavlina Personal Development Guru. He makes $480,000 annually from blogging activities.


• Plenty of Fish Markus Frind, a Canadian, makes $5 to $10 million a year from this free dating site.


• Ashley Qualls Seventeen year old high school dropout makes $75,000 a month from her website.

This list of people making loads and loads of money on the Internet can be expanded with you on it and you can do this in your retirement years.

Check the Top 10 Retirement Jobs on the Real Success Resource Center

And Retirement Jobs on Suidoo

Retirement Living - Achieving Financial Abundance

Based on income levels, most Canadians are maintaining their lifestyles during retirement years, according to figures released by Statistics Canada in early March 2008.

Statistics Canada found that on average, a Canadian at the age of 75 received 80 per cent of the income they were earning at the working age of 55.

The study also found that retire income varied based on level of income during the individual's working years.

The lowest income individuals maintained nearly 100 per cent of their disposable income in their retirement years, mostly because of income from government programs.

"Lower income workers (those in the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution) experienced little change in income as they moved from the age of 55 through the retirement years. This was largely because of the income maintenance impact of the public pension system," said the study.

"Better-off workers in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution experienced substantial declines in income by time they were 75."

The figures showed that on average, the more disposable income a person had at 55, the lower the portion of income that was replaced in retirement. For those in the top 20 per cent of income distribution at 55, on average, 70 per cent of their income was replaced during their 70s.

Retirement Quotes and Retirement Sayings That Come from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

My Retirement Plan Will Be Different Than the That of the Typical American

The leisure activities in my retirement plan will be different from that of the typical American's. According to a recent national survey of 800 American adults age 60 to 74 conducted for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, taking care of the yard and spending time with grandchildren
were statistically tied for top billing among married/partnered men while spending time with grandchildren was the clear favorite among married/partnered women.

Main Retirement Activities for American Male Retirees

• Taking care of things around the house and yard (28 percent)


• Spending time with grandchildren or other family members (26 percent)


• Enjoying things like playing golf, shopping, going out with friends (18 percent)


• Pursuing hobbies (12 percent)


• Volunteering in the community (seven percent)


• Watching where your money goes, clipping grocery coupons, etc. (six percent)

Main Retirement Activities for American Female Retirees

• Spending time with grandchildren or other family members (36 percent)


• Taking care of things around the house and yard (25 percent)


• Enjoying things like playing golf, shopping, going out with friends (16 percent)


• Pursuing hobbies (eight percent)


• Watching where your money goes, clipping grocery coupons, etc. (seven percent)


• Volunteering in the community (three percent)

See My Retirement Plan at Squidoo

Most People in India Don’t Do Any Retirement Planning

A MetLife India Insurance survey has pointed out that most of people in India do not plan for the life after retirement. Indeed, 80% of Indians don’t do any retirement planning independent of any mandatory government plans. Despite worry about comfortable life after retirement; they do a little to plan for life after retirement.

Many full time workers in developing and also in mature economies have taken a few steps to plan their life after retirement. MetLife’s Rajesh Relan has released these findings of the surveys.

According to traditions of Indian society, a family would take care of its older members. But with demographic mobility young people are relocating themselves to areas other than their home base. Thus this safety net in families is getting weak with time in developing economies. This socio problem will only be solved if people would plan their life after retirement.

Life expectancies around the globe continue to rise with increase of food and oil prices in international market. Pension reforms are putting more responsibility on employees to fund their own retirements.

Lack of independent retirement preparedness is especially worrisome in both developing and mature economies. The number of employees who plans for retirement is also low in developed countries like Australia (58%), the US (46%) and the UK (31%). the UK was "most financially fit" and ahead of the other countries where 71% people workforce have taken steps to manage their retirement life. 69% have just started to plan about needs after retirement. The aim of GFK survey is to highlight the financial needs, habits and perceptions of employees and employers in India, Mexico, Australia, the UK and the US.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Retirement is a double-edged sword. You either make it work for you - or it will cut your happiness in half. The more you know about the secrets to a successful retirement, the happier you will be once you retire.

That's why you need The World's Best Retirement Book by Vipbooks Ernie Zelinski.



Over 110,000 Copies Sold
Published in 7 Foreign Languages

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor is a provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring book that will help you get more joy and satisfaction out of all your retirement activities.

Although turned down by over 35 publishers, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free has already sold over 110,000 copies and has been published in 7 foreign languages since it was released.

What's more, go to www.Amazon.com and type "retirement" into the search feature. You will see that How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free appears in the number 1 position - out of over 175,000 listings for retirement books!


Check out these Retirement Planning Resources:

Funny Retirement Quotes

Retirement Wishes and Sentiments

Retirement Wishes and Retirement Toasts

Funny Retirement Poems

Retirement Cake Sayings and Pary Ideas

Ideas for Retirement Parties