Regular Folk and Their Retirement Plan Status – Einstein and Insanity

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” Albert Einstein

Gonna throw some reality, some empirical truth, and some food for thought about your retirement. This goes for all ages.

By the time the average American celebrates their 58th birthday, their retirement plan, in whatever form it resides, is worth less than $70,000. As thoughts go, that ain’t sobering, it’s downright frightening.

The average annual return enjoyed(?) by those with company sponsored 401Ks, the overwhelming majority of which are invested in mutual funds, in Wall Street’s own 20 year study, was less than 4%. In other words, they performed less than twice as well as the government has with our Social Security payments, which, according to the gummit folks themselves, has averaged an impressive 2%.

That same 58 year old owes an average of over $100,000 on their home.

Though they may have other liabilities, they own nothing else which might contribute positively to their retirement.

Not sure what Einstein would’ve said about that predicament, but extrapolating from his above mentioned quote, one might credibly assume he’d suggest at least a modification of the M.O. being employed

Surely as you read this, if you recognize yourself, these thoughts have occurred to you many times. You just haven’t been able to fashion a plan in which you’d have strong confidence. I know, as folks tell me this several times weekly. They’re not happy campers, cuz they know something must change, or they’re gonna be workin’ into their 80′s. That simply is not an acceptable option for most of us, unless you love your job so much it’s simply not a job to you. Otherwise…?

Whether it’s by the use of your home’s equity, if you can afford it, or via some other source, you need to embark upon a plan that has as it’s end game, some pretty reliable income, and not the kind taking 20 years to materialize. Will sacrifice come into play? Quite possibly.

But at this point I’ll invoke the message communicated by the TV commercial about changing our cars’ oil. “Your choice — you can pay me now, or you can pay me later.”

You’re ‘paying’ for your retirement. At this point, if the circumstances outlined above describe you, the question then becomes: “Do ya wanna make some sacrifices now — or do ya wanna maintain the status quo and work ’till ya drop?”

I know it’s scary. I realize you didn’t plan to be in this situation as your 60′s come into sight. A large number of you can alter your course a bit, and make enough of a difference to help significantly. But you must first decide you actually need to change what you’re doin’, then you need to, you know, actually change what you’re doin’. It’s easy to say, much harder to execute.

Ask yourself one more question: What’s the alternative?

I’d love to talk with you about possible solutions. There’s almost always something to be done. Gimme a call at 619 889-7100 and together we’ll cuss ‘n discuss your possibilities. Have a good one.

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3. Taking Your Retirement Plan To Retirement — It’s About Not Letting The Bastards Win.
4. Real Estate Investment For Retirement — The First Step In A Purposeful Plan
5. Real Estate Investors: How EIUL’s May Fit Your Purposeful Plan For Retirement