Never Worry About Retirement Again

Never worry about Retirement Again: A Financial Guide to a Stress-Free Happy Retirement Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Laying a Foundation Chapter 2: The Shift/Shaft Chapter 3: Investor? Worker? Protector? What Are You? Chapter 4: How the Game Is Played Chapter 5: Tools of the Trade Chapter 6: The Stress-Free … Happy Retirement Process About the Author About the Book Introduction Today we live in an ever-changing, fast-paced, hectic world. In the past one hundred years, we’ve seen some of the greatest advancements in history. What a privilege it is to be living in such a prosperous time. Just think about the things we enjoy today that our ancestors could have only dreamed about. We have cell phones, high-definition TVs, the Internet, airplanes, automobiles, electricity, indoor plumbing, McDonald’s, Walmart. Heck, we have sent human beings to the moon. However, despite all the luxuries and technologies we have around us, life itself can be a very challenging experience. Most people go through similar phases in their lives and experience similar things along the way. I categorize the four phases of life as follows: 1. Childhood (play, eat, sleep) 2. Working years (save money) 3. Pre-Retirement (Am I doing the right things? Can I afford to quit my job?) 4. Retirement (relying on saved money to provide income) Childhood starts at birth and continues until our late teens. This phase of life is generally great. The main activities during this time are playing, going to school, eating, and sleeping. I find it fascinating to watch my seven-year-old son when the mailman comes to deliver the mail. He always yells, “Daddy, Daddy, what did I get in the mail?” As he’s saying this, I always think, I don’t know why you’re so excited about getting the mail. There’s nothing but bills. But he is expecting a birthday card (normally with money in it) or an invitation to a party or some other fun thing. What a great time of life! However, before we know it, childhood evolves into adulthood, and we must start the working phase of our life. We have to get a job so we can put a roof over our head and food on the table. This is where life really starts. We all have a wide-open world to do and become whatever it is that we want. However, there are many roadblocks and challenges. And all the responsibility is on you to make it and to survive. This generally is a period when people experience a high level of stress. Just think about all the responsibilities: • Student loans and credit card debt • Mortgage • Car payments • Life insurance • Health care costs • Vacations • Flat-screen TVs, phone, etc. • Saving for kids’ college funds • Saving for retirement During this phase, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed. Sometimes it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I find more and more people today having a harder and harder time trying to maintain their lifestyles while still preparing for the next phase of life. However, if you have made good decisions and have been disciplined, at some point you will enter into the pre-retirement phase. Pre-retirement is the five to ten years before you quit your job. It’s critical to make good financial decisions during this phase. This is the time that will ultimately make or break your retirement. If there was ever a time to become more educated and more cautious, this is it. This is also the most exciting time in life for many people, as they can just start to see the light at the end of the work tunnel. If they make the right decisions, they can be on their way to a stress-free, happy retirement. However, if they make the wrong decisions, they could be on their way to extending their working years. Retirement is the final phase of life. That simply means that you rely on no one other than yourself to provide an acceptable quality of life. That means no more work. Most people spend an entire lifetime accumulating so someday they are able to do whatever they want whenever they want. This phase of life should be like being a kid. Play, eat, and sleep! The purpose of this book is to help people better understand how to become successful, prosperous, and financially independent so they can enjoy life to the fullest. My goal is to reduce all of the technical and sophisticated-sounding financial theories into easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement steps that will drastically increase your chances of achieving financial freedom and ultimately enjoying a stress-free, happy Retirement.