MAKING RETIREMENT POSSIBLE

Once we're in our fifties, if our thoughts haven't been on retirement all along, suddenly it comes front and center.  Over the years ...

Some of us will have planned and saved all along.  If that's you, this site can add to your nest egg.  Or replace what the economy just wiped out.

Others of us will have done some saving and made some investments, but are concerned about how long we're living these days.  Wondering if our nest egg is large enough to carry us all the way.  If that's you, this site can help shore up what you've done so far, and reassure you of stretching your savings many more years.

And still others will have had great intentions but, for one reason or another, never focused seriously on how close we're all getting to retirement age.  Or else, life just kept getting in the way and whatever extra was put aside ... or more ... just got used up. 

If that's you, this site can show you ways to play 'catch-up' and jumpstart your retirement savings.  Giving you the ability to retire ... and much, much more.

What I know for certain is that, no matter what your retirement savings look like today, I've found a way to increase them dramatically by revisiting just one life choice: your housing.

What Am I Promising?

I'm promising that I can show you actions that can have a major impact on your ability to retire.

There’s no magic involved.  Nothing mystical, just acknowledging that sometimes you need to look at what you’re doing and … if it doesn’t work for you, change it.

This site grew out of my passion: sharing with others the peace of mind that came from making just one major change in my life.  Here’s ... 

My Story:  How I Jumpstarted My Ability to Retire

Right after 9/11, my import business took a real hit from the disruption to the economy … as did my finances.  Not knowing how long that would last, it forced me to stop and assess what I was doing with my life.  The reality was that I was spending every waking hour working to pay the bank.  Not to live, but to pay the bank.  Truth?  I didn’t really own anything.  The bank did.

And I had put nothing aside for retirement.  I worked up my honest monthly budget and realized that the house (… my beautiful home I had worked so hard to buy a decade earlier …) didn’t cost just the mortgage.  It also cost me the property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, pest control, maintenance, water and sewer, and on and on.  Sure, it was increasing in value; it was in a prime neighborhood.  But when you added it all up, the payments were killing me ... and any emergencies were covered by tapping into the equity.

I saw that no other change could have enough of an impact to make a major difference.  Okay, maybe I could cut a few dinners out, or downgrade the cable package.  But that was nickels and dimes ...

After finding a quiet space in my head (and life) to focus, I made the decision to sell the house and redefine how I lived.  By lowering my monthly ‘nut’ dramatically I figured I could start putting the difference aside and make it grow in other, much less stressful ways.  At 55, I knew I still had time to make real contributions to savings, until I chose to retire ... at age 63, or 67, or whenever.

But for this to work, I had to get real creative and get out of the traditional real estate market.  Yet it still had to be somewhere where I was comfortable.  Someplace safe.  (Here are some of the numbers on my new home, under the heading A House-like Hybrid Solution.)

The actions I outline on this website are exactly what I did to get to where I am today.

The Actions I Took to Start My Retirement Savings

ACTION #1:  I stopped and took a deep breath.  Then I looked at what had changed from how I thought my life was supposed to play out, and at what I needed to do to make things right.  In short, I was GETTING TO A HEALTHY RETIREMENT MINDSET.

ACTION #2:  I realized that "housing" was the one line-item in my budget that could make a major difference in my ability to retire, so I opened up my mind, crunched some realistic numbers, and made a major lifestyle change.  As a result, I was JUMPSTARTING MY RETIREMENT SAVINGS.

ACTION #3:  Once I had my budget back under control, my monthly 'nut' down to a minimum and my business back on track, I was then free to focus on supplementing my income with down-to-earth, realistic income generators.  In other words, I was focused on MAKING MONEY USING WHAT I ALREADY KNEW to supplement my income.

Some Important Reminders

As you roam through this website, don't forget that you don’t need to do anything that you investigate.  That's up to you ... and how badly you want financial freedom.  The important thing is to know:

• that no matter what's going on, it's not fatal,
• that options do exist (yes, there is a Plan B), and
• that by taking action it truly can lead to freedom and peace of mind.

You can decide later what’s really important to you, and if the resulting freedom and peace of mind make it worth going through with any of it.  For your sake, I hope you will act, sooner rather than later.  The events in today's world economy are certainly a mighty motivator!  

As more and more Baby Boomers approach retirement, I know we'll be seeing more and more people making these kinds of decisions.  And those who make them sooner will be that much better off. 

To be sure you don't miss out on any of the developments -- and great ideas -- that come from others looking at their own retirement, subscribe now to our free newsletter.