August 5, 2009

Baby Boomers were told we could never retire


Baby Boomers were supposed to keep working and never retire, but now we are being forced into a uniquely different kind of retirement. We thought we were going to have to work until we dropped dead, but as companies such as General Motors are giving buyouts and separation packages to thousands, we all wonder how long will this all last and who will be the ones at the lake, fishing.

So, just over a year ago, thousands of Baby Boomers were at their jobs that they probably had for many years and were going to retirement planning seminars and being told to not expect to retire when they expected, but that they would most likely have to work well into their 60’s and even 70’s or longer. They were starting to adjust their retirement savings and think of what types of career they could keep doing, while knowing that the company they worked for would not keep them that much longer. Many were looking into career changes that would be more rewarding to them personally.

That was just over one year ago. How much things can change in a year is an understatement! Before we were being told that we would probably have to over work to keep our standard of living that we wanted and now those thousands of jobs just disappeared, just as half of all the retirement funds. The scenario may be actually similar in that Boomers will have to continue to work many more years than they had thought, but now that would be just to keep their homes!

We are all going through a huge learning curve right now. We are beginning to learn, the hard way, that we don’t need to spend money that we don’t have...because we actually don’t have it! It is a good lesson and probably the only way all of us would ever actually begin to live more modestly would be by going through some desperate times.

No one really knows where all of this is going but one thing for sure is that we are all in this together and we all will be learning what is going to happen next.....together.

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