#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
Tag Archives: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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
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
STOP, BREATHE: PART 2
#stop #breathe #CalmDown #suicides
Suicide in the United States was up 63 percent among middle-aged women, and 43 percent among middle-aged men.
So says an article by Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times. It was published in the April 23, 2016, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Suicides are at their highest level in 30 years, Tavernise writes. It ‘s not just among middle-aged people. It’s up to 13 per 100,000 people, the highest rate since 1986, Tavernise writes.
“The findings in this report,” by the National Center for Health Statistics, are extremely concerning,” Tavernise quotes Nadine Kaslow, an Emory University researcher and past president of the American Psycological Association.
American Indians had the sharpest rise of all racial and ethnic groups, with rates rising 89 percent for women and 38 percent for men. White middle-aged women had an increase of 80 percent. The rate decline for black men, and declined in one age group: men and women older than 75, Tavernise quotes from the report.
Researchers who reviewed the analysis said the figures were consistent with recent research and painted a picture of desperation for many in American society.
Why do so many, who live in the greatest country in the world, want to kill themselves?
Certainly, the economy in recent years has not been kind to many, particularly those with less education. Jobs are going away, and not returning. Some who had decent-paying jobs have had to take lesser-paying jobs because they were downsized, reorganized etc.
One can lament the situation many face, but to resort to taking one’s own life is a drastic measure.
If you feel so much pressure that you just want it gone, take a breath.
Look around you to see what’s good in your life. Do you have a good family? Do you have lots of friends? Remember, the rising sun each morning is a blessing, and not just another day.
So, once you’ve recognized what’s good in your life, look for something that will help eliminate what’s not so good in your life.
If your job, or lack of job, is not giving you the financial security you want and need, there are many vehicles out there to combat that. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau.
Yes, you may have to step outside your comfort zone, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised the number of people out there – perhaps whom you don’t know yet – who are or would be willing to help you.
Stepping from one’s comfort zone is not always easy, but it has to be easier than premature death.
We can blame lots of things for the positions many people find themselves in. But casting blame requires energy needed to help one get his life back. If one expends his energy thinking good thoughts, realizing that there is much good around him and that he should be grateful for that, it would be a good start.
It’s difficult enough, when you have an illness or injury that is going to take your life, to deal with death. Perfectly healthy folks certainly don’t need to resort to death to relieve their problems or stress.
Take in all the good things out there and live.
Peter
STOP! BREATHE! : PART 1
stop #breathe #CalmDown #suicides
Waiting in line. Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A driver cuts you off while texting.
Life has its annoyances.
How do YOU deal with what annoys you?
Many people show their anger in destructive ways.
Others don’t let annoyances provoke overreaction. They breathe, and deal with it.
Gracie Bonds Staples, columnist for The Atlanta Journal Constitution, discussed this in a recent column.
Staples writes that she has honked her horn at distracted drivers at traffic lights. She was simply trying to let the driver know the light was green and it was time to go. It never occurred to her that such a thing could provoke enough anger that the driver wanted to kill – perhaps not literally – her.
“Any perceived offense, not matter how small, can turn bad quickly,” Staples writes.
She pointed to a recent article about a driver honking at another car. The driver and passengers in the vehicle being honked at followed the other car home and fired a warning shot. Those drivers returned to the man’s home two days later and fired several rounds at the man’s home.
Fortunately, a neighbor saw and reported them, so they were arrested.
Staples also talked about a wife who was so angry that her husband didn’t buy her a Valentine’s Day gift, that she attacked him with a baseball bat.
It’s difficult to imagine that such incidents provoke such overreaction. But there could be an explanation.
The economic recovery after the 2008 recession didn’t help everyone. Many people who lost jobs, homes and other financial assets in the downturn have never recovered. These people look at those who’ve benefitted from the recovery with disdain, and want revenge.
That vengeance is so bottled up that they take their anger out on other things and other people. Little annoyances become big offenses. Suddenly, they feel they have nothing else to lose.
The economic downturn has led to an increase in suicides, drug and alcohol abuse and other destructive behavior, according to recent reports.
If you are among those who are mad at the world because your life has changed for the worse, and you see no way it will get better, stop. Breathe. Calm down. Find a place at which you are at peace, sit and relax.
Whatever your instincts tell you, remember that your reaction could make your life worse than it already is – not to mention hurt others who mean you no harm.
There ARE solutions to economic losses, if you are willing to look for them. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll find people who’ve been broke, but found a solution, and are helping others do the same.
No matter your troubles, know that America is still a great place. The future is not dim, but bright. You can recover from your troubles without resorting to misplaced anger. Sure, little things can be annoying, but remember not to fret about things you can’t control, and work on the things you can control.
As sure as the sun rises every day, nothing is as bad as it seems. In fact, the future is something to very much look forward to.
Peter
PENSIONS: WHAT YOU WERE PROMISED MAY NOT BE DELIVERED
#pensions #retirement #RetirementSavings
Retired Teamsters are sweating.
For those covered by the Central States Pension Fund, a multiemployer pension fund, the outlook is grim.
Central States is paying out $3.46 for every dollar it’s taking in, according to Mary Sanchez, columnist for The Kansas City Star. Her column appeared in a February 2016 edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
To avert a dissolution of the fund, Central States applied to the Treasury Department, the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which ensures pensions against bankruptcy, and the Department of Labor for permission to cut pension payments to beneficiaries, Sanchez writes.
If the plan goes through, many beneficiaries would face cuts of up to 60 percent in the payment they had spent their lives working for, believing it was guaranteed, Sanchez writes. Until 2014, it wasn’t legal to do that. But that year, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act was attached at the last minute to a must-pass omnibus spending bill, according to Sanchez.
On its face, it’s not fair to those retirees. It is not their fault that their pension fund is losing its economic viability.
But it’s not as if this was a surprise. We’ve been warned for years that because there are more retirees than workers to support them, a pension crisis was looming.
The Great Recession exacerbated the problem because many of the workers have lost their jobs. In the case of the Teamsters, union membership has declined. There are fewer jobs, and more of the jobs that still exist are being done by non-union labor.
In fact, many employers are not including pension benefits as part of the employment package.
If you are still working, chances are very good that you are on your own to fund your retirement.
What to do?
First, especially if you are young, dedicate a portion of what you earn toward your retirement. Put that amount from each paycheck into a fund and, with the help of a trusted adviser, invest it properly. Don’t fret the gyrations of the stock market. Time usually heals such wounds, and the market, over time, has proved to increase a person’s wealth considerably.
Another solution is to find one of the many alternative ways to earn money outside of your job, and see whether it is right for you. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. If you like what you see, and do it properly over time, you may not have to worry about your retirement.
If you are currently retired, or near retirement, such Plan B options may help you live a secure retirement.
As Sanchez points out, the solution to the pension debacle will be costly. Even the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is in danger, she writes.
Though making the pensioners pay the price may be unfair, it may be unavoidable.
Even if you were promised a good, secure pension, be it from the public or private sector, don’t presume those promises will be kept forever. The option of working longer may not be available. It’s best to take such matters into your own hands. Only you can assure a comfortable, secure retirement.
Peter