#retirement #EarlyRetirement #ForcedRetirement #WorkingLonger
Illness, injury, layoffs and care-giving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they would like.
So say experts as quoted in an article by Andrew Soergel for the Associated Press. It was published July 8, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But the thrust of the article says nearly one in four don’t plan to retire, despite the fact they are aging.
The article gets that data from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. It says two in 10 people older than 50 don’t expect to stop working, according to the article.
Government data shows one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June 2019, the article says.
“People have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement,” the article quotes Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Ronni Bennett, 78, was pushed out of her job as a Web site editor at age 63, according to the article. One thing she did when that happened: she moved from Manhattan, where her job was, to Portland, Maine, the article says.
Although she searched for work after her layoff, it was like “banging my head against the wall,” the article quotes her.
Bennett’s example is fairly typical in this day and age. First, she was fortunate to survive at her job until age 63. Others were not quite as lucky.
It boils down to this: it probably won’t matter how long you WANT to work, the workplace will more or less dictate when you “retire.”
Decades ago, workers looked forward to retirement. In fact, an early-retirement package was a real gift. Workers were much more secure then. They had ultimate confidence that their employers would keep them until at least age 65, the common retirement age back then.
Remember, though Social Security and some pension plans – if you are fortunate enough to have a pension plan—have age rules about when you can access them. But your “retirement” may be foisted upon you much sooner.
What should you do? How should you plan for that unknown time when you “retire?” First, have a Plan B started. Have some of your paycheck go into automatic savings as early in your career as possible. Second, take a look at one of the many programs out there that allow you to devote a few, part-time hours a week toward picking up extra income – potentially a lot of extra income – while you still have your job. These programs require work, but it’s not really like having a second W-2 job. They also require you to have a mind open enough – education, skill and background are not factors – to check them out. To look at one of the best such programs, message me.
We are all getting older. Regardless of how healthy you feel today, as time passes your health will start to deteriorate. If you are lucky, that deterioration will come more gradually, and you can feel healthy well into your elder years. Of course, much also depends on how well you take care of yourself.
The job market today is fluid. Companies reorganize rapidly and frequently. You will never know from day to day when your last day at your job will come.
So, prepare now for that eventually. If you are lucky, when the day comes when you have to leave your job, you can do so with a smile, because you properly prepared.
Peter
Monthly Archives: January 2020
PRINCESS FANTASIES BROUGHT TO THEIR KNEES
#princesses #HarryAndMeghan #TheRoyalFamily #DreamsAndFantasies
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are stepping down as senior royals in Great Britain.
Why would they do this when every little girl’s fantasy is to become a princess?
Katrina Trinko, editor in chief of The Daily Signal, took on this topic in a column in the Jan. 17, 2020, edition of USA Today.
It turns out that being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The American “princess” wants out, Trinko writes.
Despite Disney’s princess entertainment empire, being a princess has, well, strings attached.
“Meghan’s ‘thanks, but no thanks’ princess rejection should cause us to reexamine our cultural fixation with princesses,” Trinko writes.
“With all the options available to women in 2020, does it really should so fun to spend a lifetime shaking hands and smiling politely? Yes, royalty can — and, in many cases, does — promote charitable causes and advance international goodwill. But, you don’t need to be royalty to do either of those things,” Trinko continues.
This episode allows us to discuss the difference between fantasy and dreams.
Fantasies seem impossible to achieve at the time they are fantasized. Dreams are always possible to achieve, providing the dreamer does what it takes to achieve them.
Meghan did not seek to become a princess. She’s an actress by profession. She just happened to have married a prince. A similar situation occurred decades ago when American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Princess Grace gladly gave up her acting career. Duchess Meghan wants financial independence. They can’t use their royal highness titles anymore, so they will have to figure out how to make a living. That doesn’t seem to worry Meghan or Harry.
The point here? It’s OK to have fantasies as a very young child. When those fantasies become “work,” and create encumbrances in your life, they don’t seem quite so fantastic.
Dreams, however, are desirable because they give you something toward which to work.
If you have dreams, but don’t see how you can achieve them now, know that there are many vehicles out there that can potentially provide resources that can move you toward your dreams more quickly. You just have to be willing to check them out.
To examine one of the best, message me.
Becoming a princess may not be so glamorous once you actually get there. It’s nice, if you are a woman, to be celebrated in your role as a wife and mother, as Trinko points out.
But, as Trinko suggests, it’s best to ditch child-like fantasies and “consider whether the happiest ending of all just might be not marrying a prince.”
Or, if you do, figure out your new life quickly and act accordingly.
Peter
AS RETAIL JOBS SHRINK, WOMEN LOSE
#retail #RetailJobs #ShrinkingRetail #OnlineShopping
Stores are closing by the droves.
The people losing their jobs predominantly are women.
A report in USA Today’s Dec. 18, 2019, edition says many of the retail jobs that remain are going to men.
We can’t do anything about the shrinking retail business.
More people are opting to shop online, rather than go to physical stores.
Certainly, physical stores have value. Though many shopping Web sites allow customers to buy first, try it on and send it back, many shoppers enjoy trying things on in stores.
If you need to buy a mattress, you generally like to lie on different ones to see which one makes you most comfortable.
Stores also help the undecided shopper. You may know you need a new jacket, for example, but which one should you buy?
Web sites certainly encourage browsing, but you can’t touch what’s online. You need a store for that.
So, if you’ve been working in retail for years, and are now watching your job(s) slowly — or, in some cases, quickly — disappear, what should you do?
There are many vehicles out there that allow you to generate a new stream of income without getting a new “job.”
If you’ve been working in retail, you may have to change your outlook on what you can do.
Actually, you can work at these programs regardless of your age, education, background or experience.
If you are looking for something different that may change your life for the better, and want to check out one of the best of these vehicles, message me
Retail jobs aren’t the only ones disappearing. Almost every sector of the economy is changing because of technology.
You can’t stop that change, but you can change to help create a whole new life for yourself.
You just need to be open to looking at something you may have never thought of doing.
Change will happen. You have to decide how change will affect you, and how you will change so you can prosper as change occurs.
Peter
DOWNSIZING AND BUYOUTS: WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
#downsizing #buyouts #JobLoss #SeparationIncentives
Your company has decided to downsize.
Perhaps it wants to eliminate a division(s) that it doesn’t see as part of the future.
It “generously” decides to offer some qualified employees a separation package, or buyout, to encourage them to leave.
Let’s say you are among those employees.
You want to keep working a few more years, but they have given you what you consider a generous offer. What should you do?
Most buyouts have certain things in common. First, what they are offering initially is probably the best you are going to get. There’s usually no negotiation for a sweeter package. More or less, it’s take it or leave it.
Secondly, you have to make this decision without all the information. You don’t really know, and no one will ever tell you, what YOUR future is if you stay.
There is usually a company option to reject certain employees’ applications for the buyout, but that rarely happens to an individual. If you thought you were indispensable, think again. If the company does not want a certain group of employees to take the buyout, it will not qualify them.
Thirdly, the decision rests on YOUR individual position in life. If you are financially able to take it, you may well be advised to do so. If you want to do something else, worry about that later.
If your job is eating you alive, or your boss is not treating you the way you believe you deserve to be treated, you may be advised to take it. Your life is not going to get any better, and could very well get worse, if you stay.
If you are not financially able to take it, you will probably have to suck it up and stay, and deal with what happens next.
Now, what if you could prepare for such an event ahead of time? What if you could spend a few part-time, off-work hours doing something that could potentially build your current and future wealth?
Though we are not talking about a second traditional job here, the concept involves a more pleasant form of work.
It turns out that there are many such vehicles out there for those who are willing to look for them. If you are open-minded enough to want to check out one of the best, message me.
Buyouts, downsizings etc. almost always come without warning. You walk into work one day, and an announcement is made.
If you could prepare ahead for it, you could walk away with a sweet deal and a smile.
If you don’t prepare for it, the decision can be much more difficult.
We used the term “generously” when we talked about such offers. Many workers simply get thrown out the door with nothing.
You can prepare for that, too. If you do, you could accept that situation with a smile, too.
Peter