#HappyRetirement #GiveBack #StayPositive
Happiness in retirement may not entirely be based on how much money one saves for that purpose.
Many other things go into it, according to Wes Moss, chief investment strategist for the Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors, host of the “Money Matters” show on WSB radio in Atlanta and personal finance columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He discussed his eight rules for a happy retirement in his newspaper column June 7, 2016.
His eight rules include: 1) Skip the BMW. Own a car that is comfortable, reliable and affordable. 2) Stay the course on investments. Don’t chase the next “hot stock.” 3) Give back. Find a cause you care about and contribute your time, talent and money. 4) Don’t move or renovate. Make sure you are happy with your home before you stop working. 5) Buy the big stuff before you retire. When you spend your money is just as important as how much you spend. 6) Start now. He writes that 44 percent of unhappy retirees in Moss’ study group were dissatisfied with how much retirement planning they’d done. 7) Know your rich ratio – the amount of money you have in relation to what you need. Or, monthly income divided by monthly expenses. 8) Stay positive. People probably won’t retire when they want to because they don’t believe they can, he says.
It’s certainly important to save for retirement, starting at the youngest age possible. Some in previous generations did not begin saving until their children were adults, or near adulthood.
With the job situation very fluid today, one should not expect to work for as long as he or she wants. People are very often retired early not by their own choosing. If you’ve developed good saving and investing habits as a young person, you need not fear this problem.
Also, one should always have a Plan B, in case a good job goes away prematurely. It’s difficult to be a happy retiree when one is forced into the situation. One Plan B might be to turn a hobby into an income-producing activity. Another might be extensive, careful investing throughout your life.
There are other Plan Bs that allow people to make additional income without the need for an extra traditional W-2 job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
As Moss writes, retirement is more than just sitting in a chair resting from years of labor.
It’s meant to be an enjoyable part of your life. You can certainly do things you love to do, but many experts say that it’s best to have a purpose in life, no matter what your age. That’s probably where Moss’ “give back” rule comes in.
“The happiest retirees envisioned a future and worked consistently toward that future with optimism – secure in the knowledge that while the economy and stock market can be a crazy ride, the long-term trend has been decisively positive,” Moss writes.
If you are young, think about when you might want to stop working, and prepare for that time. Set a goal. Follow Moss’ advice and don’t let fear and pessimism kill your dreams. Enjoy your young life, but also prepare for a good life as you get older.
Always have in the back of your mind that one day, the good job you have might disappear. If it doesn’t, you will have lucked out. If it does, the well-prepared person will goforth knowing he’s done his best to be happy in the face of an unexpected turn.
We can’t control our circumstances, but we can do what we can to react positively when things don’t go as we would want.
Peter
Author Archives: pbilodeau01
GRIT IS A GOOD THING, BUT …
#grit #innovate #GradePointAverage
Creative people are good at asking new questions, but the grade-point average rewards those who can answer other people’s questions.
So writes New York Times columnist David Brooks, in a column published in the May 13, 2016, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brooks calls the grade-point average “one of the more destructive elements in American education.”
“In life, we want independent thinking and risk-taking, but the GPA system encourages students to be deferential and risk-averse, giving their teachers what they want,” Brooks writes.
In other words, the education system highly rewards students who are good at a lot of things, rather than those who are very good at one or two things.
Even if you are not good at something, the education system wants students to use their grit, and do things they don’t like, to grind out a good GPA.
There is certainly nothing wrong with grit. It helps people overcome obstacles and gets people through difficult times.
But the education system is designed for students to learn things, and they are evaluated by how well they can spit those things back.
“Schools across America are busy teaching their students to be gritty and to have ‘character’ – by which they mean skills like self-discipline and resilience that contribute to career success,” Brooks writes.
In other words, they teach kids to be good employees, rather than innovators.
In today’s world, innovators are handsomely rewarded, providing they solve a problem that needs solving.
In one adage, the “A” students end up working for the “C” students.
How does one deal with this?
There are a couple of ways. First, be a rebel.
Take the grit that you learned to develop in school, and use it to innovate.
Thomas Edison tried many times before he successfully invented the light bulb, so he had enough grit to know to stay with his idea.
If you are not an innovator, or if you have resigned yourself that you will work for someone else forever, there are many alternative ways to make money outside of a traditional job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Sometimes duplication, rather than innovation, can create potential fortunes.
As for the education system, it’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Learning is difficult to quantify, and the GPA system is, up to now, the best way educators have found to quantify learning.
In recent times, an array of competency tests has come into vogue. These tests have been used to evaluate teachers, much to the chagrin of the educators.
A good teacher should not be penalized, since students’ performance on competency tests can be attributed to many things.
So use the education system to cultivate grit, but use that grit to go out and do great things for others.
Peter
DEFINITION OF SUCCESS: MAKING SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT PROUD OF YOU
#leaders #bosses #ServantLeadership #MakeSomeoneProud
Make a list of everyone you care about.
Then, find out what would make them proud of you. How would that feel?
John Addison, former Co-CEO of Primerica, closes his book, “Real Leadership: 9 Simple Practices for Leading and Living With Purpose,” with that action step.
In Addison’s case, he wanted to make his parents proud.
He points out that not everyone had the kind of caring parents that he did. In that case, find some other person or people you care about that you’d like to be proud of you.
Often, accomplishments that evoke pride don’t have much to do with money.
Sometimes, if success leads to money, it may not be WHAT you achieved that matters, but HOW you achieved it. How many people did you help become successful along the way, is a question you should ask yourself.
Addison’s point is that if you conduct yourself in a manner that makes someone you care about proud, success is likely to result.
Certainly, there are wealthy or privileged people out there who got that way but hurting others, or using others who did not reap their just rewards.
They may have accomplishments to brag about, and they may make THEMSELVES proud, but they may not evoke pride in many others, much less among others that they may care about.
Addison’s book tells his story of fighting hard to preserve the company as he and the many who were associated with it wanted it. Sometimes, in the business world, one company is taken over by another, and its culture – even its reason for being – is sacrificed.
Addison risked his own well-being to make sure that didn’t happen to his company.
So what do you think you could do to make someone you care about proud?
Of course, we’re assuming that you care whether anyone else is proud of you. Most, undoubtedly, do care.
Perhaps you might be looking for something to come into your life that will change how you see life.
Maybe you’ve run into some bad luck over the last few years. You might even think that the chances of anything good happening to you are slim to none.
It could be that you aren’t looking in the right places.
If you are looking to change your life, there are many ways out there to do that. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll see the stories of people who decided they were going to do something different, and found a way to evoke pride from those they care about.
One might have to think and do things a bit differently, but it can be done.
So don’t just make yourself proud. Sure, it can stoke your ego to do that. But you’ll probably find more success if you do something that will make someone you care about proud.
Peter
REAL LEADERS SHARE CREDIT WITH OTHERS
#leaders #bosses #ServantLeadership
Really great leaders share credit for good things and shoulder the responsibility when things go wrong.
A mediocre leader tries to impress people with how important he or she is. A great leader impresses upon people how important THEY are.
These are among the “Nine Simple Practices for Leading and Living With Purpose” in John Addison’s book, “Real Leadership.”
A boss is different from a leader. A boss can be a good leader, but a boss, or, if you prefer, a manager, tends to give orders and expects his staff to carry them out.
Real leaders, who may or may not be a “boss,” will help his or her staff or colleagues do their jobs by giving them what they need to be the most productive. As Addison puts it, they will shine a light on their people not to look for what they may do wrong, but to make sure what they do right gets the proper attention.
Addison’s book talks about the Hawthorne Effect,” in which a Chicago company told its employees that it was going to study them to look for ways to increase productivity. About all the company did, Addison says, is brighten the lights in the workplace.
Now, one could look at that as boss trying to find ways to get more work out of the people for the same wages. But the workers didn’t see it that way, Addison says.
They were so delighted that someone was paying attention to them that productivity soared.
The trick for the leaders is to KEEP paying attention to the workers and KEEP giving them the credit for the good things they do.
Certainly, not all employees will respond the same way. But if you are a leader and you hire and screen well, most will.
We’ve all worked for “bosses” of one degree or another. Sometimes we have to suck it up and work for people temporarily, just because we need to.
When you work for a real leader, who sees his or her job as working for YOU, work becomes almost pleasure.
Are you working just for a “boss”?
Do you see yourself as a leader in the making?
Do you want to find other leaders to work with, who will teach you things that a boss never would?
If so, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll see and hear stories of servant leadership in the flesh.
It doesn’t take much to shine a light on others, Addison writes. But you have to check your ego at the door, and realize that helping others often brings success your way, too.
If you have a long-term goal to be a great leader, sometimes you might have to look outside your comfort zone to find the vehicle that will get you there.
Peter
HOW TO BE A HAPPY RETIREE
#retirement #happiness # StayPositive
Happiness in retirement may not entirely be based on how much money one saves for that purpose.
Many other things go into it, according to Wes Moss, chief investment strategist for the Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors, host of the “Money Matters” show on WSB radio in Atlanta and personal finance columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He discussed his eight rules for a happy retirement in his newspaper column published June 7, 2016.
His eight rules include: 1) Skip the BMW. Own a car that is comfortable, reliable and affordable. 2) Stay the course on investments. Don’t chase the next “hot stock.” 3) Give back. Find a cause you care about and contribute your time, talent and money. 4) Don’t move or renovate. Make sure you are happy with your home before you stop working. 5) Buy the big stuff before you retire. When you spend your money is just as important as how much you spend. 6) Start now. He writes that 44 percent of unhappy retirees in Moss’ study group were dissatisfied with how much retirement planning they’d done. 7) Know your rich ratio – the amount of money you have in relation to what you need. Or, monthly income divided by monthly expenses. 8) Stay positive. People probably won’t retire when they want to because they don’t believe they can, he says.
It’s certainly important to save for retirement, starting at the youngest age possible. Some in previous generations did not begin saving until their children were adults.
With the job situation very fluid today, one should not expect to work for as long as he or she wants. People are very often retired early not by their own choosing. If you’ve developed good saving and investing habits as a young person, you need not fear this problem.
Also, one should always have a Plan B, in case a good job goes away prematurely. It’s difficult to be a happy retiree when one is forced into the situation. One Plan B might be to turn a hobby into an income-producing activity. Another might be extensive, careful investing throughout your life.
There are other Plan Bs that allow people to make additional income without the need for a traditional W-2 job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
As Moss writes, retirement is more than just sitting in a chair resting from years of labor.
It’s meant to be an enjoyable part of your life. You can certainly do things you love to do, but many experts say that it’s best to have a purpose in life, no matter what your age. That’s probably where Moss’ “give back” rule comes in.
“The happiest retirees envisioned a future and worked consistently toward that future with optimism – secure in the knowledge that while the economy and stock market can be a crazy ride, the long-term trend has been decisively positive,” Moss writes.
If you are young, think about when you might want to stop working, and prepare for that time. Set a goal. Follow Moss’ advice and don’t let fear and pessimism kill your dreams. Enjoy your young life, but also prepare for a good life as you get older.
Always have in the back of your mind that one day, the good job you have might disappear. If it doesn’t, you will have lucked out. If it does, the well-prepared person will go forth knowing he’s done his best to be happy in the face of an unexpected turn.
We can’t control our circumstances, but we can do what we can to react positively when things don’t go as we would want.
Peter
LITTLE LOVES, BIG LOVES AND WHAT’S NEEDED
#LittleLoves #BigLoves #DreamBig
We all have little loves in our lives. We also have big loves.
What’s the difference?
New York Times columnist David Brooks discussed this in a column published June 4, 2016, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
One might think that little loves are for our favorite foods, and big loves might be for our family. That’s not the case, as Brooks writes.
“In daily life, we have big and little loves,” Brooks writes. “The little loves, like for one’s children, one’s neighborhood or one’s garden, animate nurture, compassion and care. The big loves, like for America or the cause of global human rights, inspire courage and greatness,” Brooks writes.
In other words, the little loves are beautiful and are intimate and romantic. The big loves are sublime, and inspire awe – “what you might feel when you look at a mountain range or tornado,” Brooks writes.
He says the little loves are fraying in today’s society, and big loves are almost a foreign language. Pessimism is in vogue, according to Brooks.
Why is pessimism in vogue? Certainly, a lot of folks have gone through hard times in recent years. The security we had known just a decade ago is either gone or disappearing.
Yes, there is reason for some to be pessimistic. When a secure foundation suddenly gives way, one can be shaken.
When one is shaken, he must learn, to quote a Taylor Swift song title, to “Shake It Off.”
That’s easier said than done, to be sure. So one must start with recognizing what is good in his life. Family, friends etc., make a life, while a job makes a living.
When your living goes away, your life does not. That’s a good place to start to “Shake It Off.”
When your living goes away, you must replace it. Getting a new job that pays as much as the one you just lost can be as much of a challenge as scaling Mt. Everest. So, what can one do?
There are many ways out there to make money without a traditional job. To check out one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. To those open to looking outside the traditional job-for-money arena, these alternatives may provide an enlightening escape.
“Before the country can achieve great things, it has to relearn the ability to desire big things,” Brooks concludes. “It has to be willing to love again, even amid disappointments – to love things that are awesome, heroic and sublime.”
You CAN dream big. You can believe that, perhaps, by adjusting your outlook on life and your pursuit of a living, the big loves will return and the little loves will become greater.
Consuming pessimism wastes energy. Consuming optimism brings great relief. Perhaps your parents told you as you went to bed as a child not to let the bedbugs bite. Today’s “bedbugs” keep many people up at night. Fight them. Fumigate them from your mind. It’s OK to stay involved and aware of what’s going on, but don’t let bad things control your thoughts.
Don’t wish for life to get better, while believing it will only get worse. Embrace what is good. Fondly remember the past, but believe the future will be better than the present.
Dream big again, and bring back the big loves.
Peter
NEW RULES FOR RETIREMENT INVESTMENTS
#retirement #investments #NewRulesForRetirementInvestments
Like eating and sleeping, choosing how to invest for retirement is a necessity of life.
The number of options makes the choice more difficult.
What may be good news is that new federal rules encourage brokers and other investment sales folks to make the client’s interest a priority, regardless of how much the broker may lose in fees.
Russell Grantham, a business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed these new rules in an April 24, 2016, article.
Baby boomers are starting to retire in large numbers, and these new rules are designed to ease the burden of choosing the correct investments for them.
As Grantham’s article points out, though, the new rules may discourage some brokers from dealing with clients that have small nest eggs. It could increase brokers’ costs, he writes.
The rules are among the biggest changes in the financial industry in generations, Grantham writes.
The financial industry sometimes gets a bad reputation. Not everyone in the industry looks out for his or her own interests over his or her clients’ interests.
The bottom line for investors, regardless of how much money they have, is to find someone trustworthy to manage their hard-earned money.
Someone trustworthy will always have your best interests at heart. Someone trustworthy will manage risk according to his client’s tolerance.
Someone trustworthy won’t be calling his clients daily, attempting to generate trades that may or may not be in the client’s best interest. Someone trustworthy won’t steer clients into investments that pay brokers the highest commissions/fees, if they are not in the clients’ best interest.
Also, the financial industry is extremely competitive. Those who work in it must not just make a living, but also must make money. A great way to judge an investment adviser is by how much he or she is making for YOU. Generally, advisers don’t last in the business if their clients are making puny returns, or are sustaining heavy losses.
Know, too, that the financial markets don’t go up in a straight line. There will be some down times throughout any investment market.
But good advisers will get clients’ through the tough times with minimal, if any, losses.
Though the markets don’t generally go up in a straight line, they generally go up over time. Beware the financial adviser who predicts doom, and encourages clients to pull everything out and turn everything to cash. Although it’s nice to have some cash available, cash by itself generates little or no return.
All this discussion about rules for advisers begs another question: how much money do you have for your retirement, and are you investing it properly? If you don’t believe you have enough for your retirement, and don’t know how you are going to get what you need as you age, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. There are many ways to generate extra income, and this is one of the best.
So choose your investment adviser carefully, if you haven’t done so already. Talk to several before you decide. Make sure the person you choose understands how much risk you can stand. Make sure, too, that he or she creates a balanced portfolio for you, and isn’t so conservative that your returns will be puny.
You’ll know by talking to different advisers whether you can trust them. Regardless of the rules they have to live by, trust is the main thing to look for in an adviser. The adviser’s job is not just to make you money, but also give you peace of mind.
Peter
LASHING OUT AT WORK: EGO DEPLETION
#WorkRage #EgoDepletion #RegulateEmotions
Perhaps you got stuck in traffic.
Perhaps you were on hold – with that annoying music – for a half-hour while trying to order something.
These types of things trigger anger. Though we may try hard not to take that anger out on others, sometimes the self-regulatory mechanism is so depleted, we lose control.
Such are the findings of Stephen Courtright, assistant professor of management at Texas A&M University, who is researching why bosses lash out in the workplace.
Courtright’s work was discussed by Kris B. Mamula in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and recently published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Courtright calls the situation in which one loses the ability to regulate one’s emotions “ego depletion.” You may know someone who has shown this, or you may have shown it yourself on occasion.
One can replenish one’s ego over time, Mamula writes. “If you are experiencing anger in the workplace, strategically choose things to regain control in order to control anger,” Mamula quotes Courtright.
About 14 percent of employees in the United States are victims of nonphysical workplace aggression, Mamula writes.
As a result, corporations lose about $23.8 billion annually in lost productivity, grievance procedures and health care costs from abusive supervisors and related behavior, Mamula quotes a 2007 study.
Sometimes, victims of such abuse have very little recourse, other than to find a new place to work.
Would it be nice to work from home, for yourself, so that you can only get mad at yourself, and no one can take out his anger on you? If you think so, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll find stories of people who have ditched that traditional J-O-B in favor of working for themselves AND, more importantly, helping others do the same.
Authority doesn’t make a leader. Bluster is not an effective motivational tool. Leaders tend to work FOR those who technically work for them. They do everything possible to make sure their teams are as productive as they can be. They do all they can to minimize stress. They do everything possible to make them a pleasure to be around.
No one should have to be abused in the workplace. No one should have to work for someone who beats up people emotionally. It’s not good for the employees, and not good for the business as a whole.
Particularly if you have employees working for you, work to find the things in your life that upset you. Often, it has nothing to do with the employees or their work. Perhaps there are stress inducers at home, or elsewhere in your life.
“Simply put, conflict at home taxes the emotional stamina needed to absorb everyday conflicts outside the home, which can lead to mental fatigue and abusive behavior at work,” Mamula writes.
In other words, lighten up, loosen up, let things go. You and those you work with will be much happier and more productive.
Peter
NEW RULES FOR INVESTING: HOW WILL THEY AFFECT YOU?
#retirement #investments #NewRulesForInvesting
Like eating and sleeping, choosing how to invest for retirement is a necessity of life.
The number of options makes the choice more difficult.
What may be good news is that new federal rules encourage brokers and other investment sales folks to make the client’s interest a priority, regardless of how much the broker may lose in fees.
Russell Grantham, a business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed these new rules in an April 24, 2016, article.
Baby boomers are starting to retire in large numbers, and these new rules are designed to ease the burden of choosing the correct investments for them.
As Grantham’s article points out, though, the new rules may discourage some brokers from dealing with clients that have small nest eggs. It could increase brokers’ costs, he writes.
The rules are among the biggest changes in the financial industry in generations, Grantham writes.
The financial industry sometimes gets a bad reputation. Not everyone in the industry looks out for his or her own interests over his or her clients’ interests.
The bottom line for investors, regardless of how much money they have, is to find someone trustworthy to manage their hard-earned money.
Someone trustworthy will always have your best interests at heart. Someone trustworthy will manage risk according to his client’s tolerance.
Someone trustworthy won’t be calling his clients daily, attempting to generate trades that may or may not be in the client’s best interest.
Also, the financial industry is extremely competitive. Those who work in it must not just make a living, but also must make money. A great way to judge an investment adviser is by how much he or she is making for YOU. Generally, advisers don’t last in the business if their clients are making puny returns, or are sustaining heavy losses.
Know, too, that the financial markets don’t go up in a straight line. There will be some down times throughout any investment market.
But good advisers will get clients through the tough times with minimal, if any, losses.
Though the markets don’t generally go up in a straight line, they generally go up over time. Beware the financial adviser who predicts doom, and encourages clients to pull everything out and turn everything to cash. Although it’s nice to have some cash available, cash by itself generates little or no return.
All this discussion about rules for advisers begs another question: how much money do you have for your retirement, and are you investing it properly? If you don’t believe you have enough for your retirement, and don’t know how you are going to get what you need as you age, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. There are many ways to generate extra income, and this is one of the best.
So choose your investment adviser carefully, if you haven’t done so already. Talk to several before you decide. Make sure the person you choose understands how much risk you can stand. Make sure, too, that he or she creates a balanced portfolio for you, and isn’t so conservative that your returns will be puny.
You’ll know by talking to different advisers whether you can trust them. Regardless of the rules they have to live by, trust is the main thing to look for in an adviser. The adviser’s job is not just to make you money, but also give you peace of mind.
Peter
COLLEGE DEBT CRUSHING MANY STUDENTS
#CollegeGraduates #CollegeDebt #CollegeStudents
One graduate has resorted to selling her eggs to help infertile women.
She is one of many college graduates who have huge college debt and not enough income to easily pay it off.
Her story and others were relayed by Kala Kachmar of the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press in an article also published in the May 8, 2016, edition of The Tennessean in Nashville as part of its USA Today supplement.
About $2 million borrowers bear a $1.3 trillion loan burden, the headline reads.
“Who wants to live at home at 29? I don’t. But, luckily, I can. … I shouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck,” the article quotes Christyn Gionfriddo of Neptune, N.J.
Let’s examine what has happened. We have gotten constant messages for decades that to get a good job, one needs a good education – a college degree. Colleges and the government have made it easier for students of all income levels to get into college.
Some of the vehicles used to facilitate students getting into college involve loans that students are not obligated to begin repaying until after graduation.
In theory, this plan works if students can convert their educations into a good-paying job.
That doesn’t always happen.
Therefore, students are graduating with huge debt that may be difficult to repay, if their incomes can’t support it.
Some, in fact, will try to avoid repaying it.
What’s a young person to do?
First, determine in your high school years, whether college is right for you.
It’s certainly a nice goal to have EVERYONE get a college degree, but today’s economics require a more in-depth thought process for each student.
Ask yourself, if you go to college, what is the goal when you graduate? What kind of income will you be likely to earn with your degree? Will you need loans to get through school? What is the likelihood of you getting a job in your chosen field immediately after graduation? Will it be enough for you to live a decent life, and pay off your debt?
If you’ve determined that college is worthwhile enough to borrow money for, then watch your spending while in school. You may have to forgo some good times, get a part-time job and otherwise be somewhat miserly. Watch every dime you spend and make sure it is worthwhile.
If you determine that college may not be right for you, don’t fret. There are other ways to make an income without having to worry about what kind of job you have. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll see people of all income and education levels spending less, and potentially earning enough to pay off any debt promptly.
In short, don’t view going to college as an automatic decision. Don’t view your education as an interlude to be young, boisterous and have a good time. Because, when you grow up, there could be a big debt welcoming you to adulthood.
Colleges don’t care what happens to you once you get out. But you should take that into account before deciding whether to go to college.
Peter