Sorry folks, I’m a little slow getting this post done today!
Thinking back on the past week of life in the sandwich, it
hasn’t felt much like sandwich living. The kids are taking care of themselves.
Mom is adapting to living in her apartment at the manor. D is back from Tucson
and a symposium put on by a software supplier. And I’ve caught up on most of my
work obligations.
Actually, it was a big work week in the home office. I’m
providing back office support for a consulting partner which, in this case,
means building a new software tool to help in research on certain behaviors and
core competencies. We anticipate this may become a full-fledged performance
support package, so it has to be designed from the ground up to be converted
from a stand-alone application to a commercial product. Extra time invested now
makes a big difference in effort later.
Funny how extra effort early makes things easier later.
Retirement (to which I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately) is a good case
in point. So many young people these days forgo the opportunity to invest in
their own future for the sake of spending it on today’s desires and whims. But
a few extra dollars invested in a retirement plan every week pays such big
dividends down the road, what with the miracle of compounding. Our parents got
that message, encouraged by the great depression of the thirties and early
forties. We got that message through the economic crunch of the late seventies
and early eighties. I’m hoping our kids are getting that message through the
recession of the last few years and the jobs crunch we seem to be continuing to
experience.
We shouldn’t count on Social Security being around in its
present form when the younger crowd approaches retirement age in thirty years.
Unfortunately, by then it will be too late to build much of a nest egg to carry
them through what will likely be a much longer post career life than we can
look forward to.
So Grasshoppers, even though I haven’t been able to follow
this advice to the letter over the last thirty years, here’s my best retirement
planning advice. First render unto Caesar that which is his; in other words,
pay your taxes. Second, if you are a believer, render unto God that which is
His; ten percent of your income. If you are not a believer, do some good with
your income and give ten percent of it to the charities of your choice. What
goes around comes around folks. Third, commit ten percent of your earnings to
your own future – your retirement; if you can do it pre-tax, great, but just do
it! And fourth, commit ten percent of your earnings to the present – save it
for activities and things that will make your life happier and more pleasant.
Budget the rest, and if it doesn’t go far enough, look for more income
opportunities.
That’s really tough advice to follow, I know. But I also
know people who have followed it, and it’s always worked to their benefit. Most
of the people I know who tithe have had their gifts returned many-fold. Simple
mathematics tells us that investing for retirement early will result in the accumulation
of major financial resources you can draw on in thirty or forty years. And
saving for now keeps you free of those pesky little interest charges on your
credit cards, since you can pay for those extras with your own money!
Well, that’s about all the wisdom for today, Grasshoppers.
And mostly it’s just common sense. Take it from an old guy who learned from the
school of hard knocks, and continues to learn, even today.
Getting smarter about getting older…
-Pops
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