Get Rid of Retirement Worries Once And For All
Saving and investing throughout one’s working career is NOT the only retirement option. A person can always opt for a traditional retirement.
Modern Retirement Planning
Contemporary Financial Advisors tend to layout a roadmap to retirement that requires a person to adopt middle class values and exercise lots of discipline. That is, the individual looking to retire is expected to:
- Spend his/her private time learning about investing and economics
- Develop a savings and investing strategy, using the information they obtained
- Establish an emergency fund
- Save and invest consistently
- Avoid or eliminate debt
- Pay deductibles (dental, optical, health, and life insurance)
- Maintain a good credit score
- Live in a decent neighborhood
None of the aforementioned advice works well unless the individual also commits to a stable lifestyle. So, fledgling wealth builders are (subtly) encouraged to:
- Attend college or a trade school immediately following high/secondary school
- Postpone marriage until they reach their late 20s or earlier 30s
- Buy a home, prior to having children
- Have children in their early to mid-30s
- Max-out their company’s retirement plan and IRA, especially once their children are off to college.
Traditional Retirement Planning (Default Option)
If modern retirement planning proves to be too difficult or dull to maintain, one could dispense with the continuous learning, planning, and sacrificing. There are religious, service, and government organizations that will assist people with meeting their core needs:
- Food – food banks, meals on wheels, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/Food Stamps.
- Shelter – social housing (i.e., senior apartments, etc.)
- Clothing – Salvation Army Clothing Bank, Goodwill Clothing Bank, etc.
- Healthcare – Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
- Cashflow – Social Security
Beyond meeting one’s core needs, however, the individual must rely on family. The retiree’s children must be willing to work harder to support aging parents while raising children (sandwich generation). Or, they must be willing to forego having children until later years.
Conclusion
Both retirement plans are valid. Modern retirement planning is proactive. It requires each individual to adopt a specific set of values and exercise lots of discipline. Whereas traditional retirement planning calls for strong family ties, a well-resourced community, and a willingness to depend on others. The plan that works best is the plan that best suites the person, the person’s family, and the person’s community.
What do you think?
