Retirement Revisited

BLOG 13:   RETIREMENT REVISITED

OK, I would be remiss if I did not once again speak to this RETIREMENT dilemma, especially after reading the two articles referenced below from which I have extracted excerpts; however, much of what is being rewritten below echoes what I have already said in my previous Blog (10), such as: 
FROM HEALTH PARTNERS RELEASE 5/25/17 
A Merrill Lynch survey indicated that more than ¾ of workers over 50 said they would most likely continue working long after their formal retirement. 

The article also cited reasons why these retirees will most likely continue to work, among which are: 
Their retirement funds will probably not be enough to live comfortably, especially if Social Security is reduced or eliminated and inflation continues to rise. 

Many RETIREES elect just to stay engaged in their own profession or learning a new one, which is where my firm RONALDMITCHELLETTEANDASSOCIATES.COM comes into play, since we advise or consult many retirees on what to do next; that is, buy an existing company, partner and/or invest in an existing company or even a startup, all of which captures the interest of our clients to the point that they find a new life, literally REINVENTING THEMSELVES to the delight of their spouse and their family and friends from whom they even raise additional capital to support their venture. 

The survey also indicated that retirees come from special jobs and training and feel that they want to continue to use their hard earned skills after retirement, why waste 30, 40 years down the drain? Some folks don’t even wait until they reach the formal retirement age; they just bail-out of corporate America early to escape the “rat-race” and “office politics.” 

The above article went on to say that other considerations why folks are reluctant to retire are their reflections of what happen to their parents when they retired and how many of them just withered away and died and that fear alone is impetus enough to motivate today’s retiree to think about what to do with their next twenty years plus on this planet? There is just so much golf or other activity available and still more time than money to do something beneficial for themselves right up to and through their eighties.
 
I am a perfect example of this, since I just turned 81 and I am going strong with a successful consulting practice (25 years), in very good health and strength train 4 days/week and most of all, I love what I do, whether I am consulting for a fee or giving pro-bono lectures along with book signings or just talking about my experiences. 

FROM A MOOTY ARTICLE “THE RETIREMENT CRISIS” 5/25/17 
There are 238 million Americans retired or about to retire representing 74% of our total population placing an enormous financial burden on our federal, state and local retirement benefits, which at last count was $3.5 Trillion and add the federal government’s retirement benefit commitment of another $3.5 trillion and we are up to $7 trillion of unfunded benefits that could dissipate anytime for reasons ranging from benefit cancellation to benefit reduction. 

Now, there’s more! And that is the unfunded Social Security obligations of $13.4 trillion owed to 232 million recipients, caused mainly from the fact “we are all living too damn long.” 

FROM RON MITCHELLETTE’S RETIREMENT VIEWS 5/25/17 
Bottom line! Current retirees are owed a whopping $20 trillion, nearly $6 trillion more that the entire national debt of our country and YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO RETIRE-THINK AGAIN! 

Your planned income stream is likely in jeopardy, so the Gold watch of yesteryear and the likelihood of a continued adequate income stream in the current years may become a nightmare. 

Again, I can only fallback on my own experiences with my clients and prospects and that “RETIREMENT” is not an option for most, even though, in some cases, I meet well-healed folks, who do want to stay busy as a “retirepreneur” but for the most part the people with whom I come into contact are looking for an extra source of income and a chance to continue to use their experience and moxie to stay busy and maybe even leave a family legacy. 

RONALD MITCHELLETTE-AUTHOR  7/9/17