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I'd like to retire, possibly
even retire early, but I don't know if I'm ready for retirement or if
I'll have enough money for early retirement. Health insurance
costs continue to go up, for that matter, everything, especially
health care, is getting more expensive.
There's dozens of things to consider.
Financial freedom will be very important. It's
probably second only to good health during retirement. Social
security won't be enough, and when to start collecting it? Other
sources of income may be needed. Other things to plan for are
medicare and health insurance.
Retirement takes planning to do it right.
There's a lot of information available on the web and
from consultants, but it takes time to explore the possibilities
and be creative in planning for an eventual retirement. It seems
to me that a lot of the planning takes some form of personal growth or
self improvement. We have to find ways of improving what we have
or what we are. Everyone has tried to loose weight, quit smoking
or tried to just take better care of ourselves.
A lot of the expert information I've
read advise that if a person wants to have the independence of
being self employed and earn more money, he or she needs to
find something he's passionate about, work at it and the
independence and extra money will come.
The problem is that most of the people I've
talked to don't have a clue as to what that "passionate" thing is.
Most people have a great deal of knowledge about the job or
career they chose to work in. But often, a hobby or vocation
that's been done on a part-time basis will provide a new
direction in retirement.
I've always had an interest in personal
development, the freedom of self employment and trying new
things. I've read and listened to a lot of motivational and
personal development stuff from authors like Earl Nightingale, Zig
Ziglar and Napolean Hill. The information these guys and other
authors give is priceless. However, the difficulty is in following and
applying their advice in our daily personal and professional lives.
Planning for retirement can be similar to a
self-improvement project. Changes in life style, time management
and personal development have to be made. Goals have to be
made and some work will have to be done to achieve those goals.
Just quitting work won't do the trick. Without a plan,
retirement is like taking a trip without a destination. It's
doomed to failure.
Personal development and self improvement isn't easy.
A goal might be anything from loosing weight, to learning a new
dance to quitting smoking. A lot of people go to personal
development or self improvement seminars, buy books, tapes and videos,
then fail to use the information they get or don't follow
a program. They actually loose twice, once when they pay
for the information and again when they don't follow the advice or
program.
What you don't often see at a lot of personal development
seminars are retired folks. Retirement is an opportunity for
me to apply some of the advice I've been listening to for years
and help try to help other people at the same
time.
I like helping people. I've spent my
life helping other people be successful in their careers. I have
a lot of interests in my lifetime. I've tried a lot of things,
and I'll share my interests and experiences with people who are
looking for something that works and who want to retire successfully.
Who knows, maybe the information and leads I put on this website
will help other people have successful retirements and keep growing
personally. |