midlifejourney.com

Author: F. A. Rewell

I just looked at my investment portfolio. It isn’t pretty. This roller-coaster ride my retirement funds are taking is not fun.

I don’t know about you but I am getting more than nervous. Many of us in these “middle years” are trying to build a safety net of funds against the inevitable disappearance of that monthly social security check.

I know—you don’t want to even think about age 62, or 66 or 70 coming your way, but it will someday and saving for those “golden years” of relaxation and leisure is a goal we all should have. Only with the stock market, banks and financial institutions crashing, trashing and burning around us, my “golden years” are going up in smoke.

If only I had started back in my twenties to really begin to save… those early dollars would be worth a lot now, and be a cushion against this crisis. If only, if only….

I’ve witnessed many endings to this story:

• Those who saved every day, retired early, and refused to spend a dime of their savings, just in case there was another depression… never did anything, never went anywhere. Happy but dull.

• Those who never saved, spent their money faster than they earned it, enjoyed life, partied hearty, died quickly of a heart attack, leaving all their debt to anyone the collection agencies could find

• And then there are those who saved some, spent some, enjoyed some, got sick, didn’t die, lived in a moldy nursing home for ten years surrounded by urine soaked sheets, and covered with bed sores and totally forgotten by the world because everyone they ever knew had long ago died…

Am I depressing you?

The problem is quite frankly, I haven’t saved enough and don’t have nearly enough time to save more for retirement. I shall never be able to retire comfortably and will be bagging groceries or shelving books in the local library until I’m 95, provided I don’t get sick or fall and break some bone.

The best I can hope for is when I do actually fall ill, I will be flat broke and the government will take care of me.

Hmmm…. I think I’ll take my vitamins. Might even invest in pharmaceuticals.

A good friend just bought her retirement home. She’s been living in one place for the past 34 years, has a good job and knows she will be retiring in about 10 years. The last of the kids is off to his final year of college and is moving on. It’s time for her to make the big choice about what to do with the next third of her life.

If you’ve got the money and a plan for your retirement, this is the time to buy that dream house for the future. Prices have hit rock bottom (all things being equal…) and if you have great credit and equity in your current home, now is the time to make the move.

The options are multiple: Continue to live where you are, especially if you own your home outright, take the equity and buy your dream villa in the location of your choice. Or if you wish, sell outright, buy the dream house and if you are not yet ready to make the retirement leap… rent for the couple of years it takes till you are ready to jump into those leisure years.

Get all your ducks in a row. Call your friends and get the best referral for a realtor, lawyer, mortgage broker… investigate, ask questions. Don’t be afraid to explore all your options. Visit potential locations, check out where old friends are living happily into their retirement. And live a little. Time is of the essence.