BP Should Have to Pay Big Time Regardless of the Consequences

This was part of a story on the Sripps News Service:

The $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill is not going over well in BP's homeland.

Britain's Daily Mail accused President Barack Obama of bullying BP into coughing up the money and said flatly it would come out of the pockets of the nation's retirees: "British pensioners will pick up the bill."

What could hurt is the company's decision, at Obama's behest, to cancel a previously declared dividend and suspend the remainder for the rest of the year. BP dividends account for about one-sixth of British pension funds' income.

That's unfortunate, but the spill is doing immediate economic harm to the people of four states who can't wait for the damages to be litigated in U.S. courts.

The British press has been hyper-vigilant for any American impugning of Britain in connection with the spill. Obama was accused of such when he referred to BP by its former name, changed in 1998, of British Petroleum.

This was reply to this story not including the retirement sayings that I added:

I am a Canadian.

The Canadian Pension Fund has money invested in BP, so my pension payouts may be affeded in some way if BP has to pay for large lawsuits.

But as far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter to me whether BP is sued for so much money that it has to go into bankruptcy and disappear as a company completely.

I believe that there are hundreds of millions of people in the U.S, Canada, and many other countries who feel the same way.

This comes down to a matter of responsibility.

BP is run by a bunch of arrogant and selfish executives who have screwed up big time.

Plain and simple, the company should have to pay big time, even if the company has to go into bankruptcy.

It doesn't matter whether British or Canadian retirees are affected. There pension funds took the risk in investing in this irresponsible company so that makes the people who run these pension funds just as irresponsible.

When British retirees say they will have to pick up the bill, this is just some more selfish thinking on their part and does not reflect any critical thinking on there part. That is why the world is so screwed up and we wind up with environmental disasters like the one that is happening in the Gulf of Mexico.

Again, the British retirees' pension funds took a risk in investing in BP and should have to suffer the consequences, regardless of how dire.

Ernie J. Zelinski, Creator of Retirement Quotes Website
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

The Lazy Persons Guide to Success - For Workers and Retirees

I recently received this e-mail:

hi!

im joaquin Diaz Cieri from Argentina and i just finished El exito de los perezosos (The Lazy Person's Guide to Success ) and it changed my point of view of the life, job, relationship, carrer, etc.

I keep working on my lifestyle so i hope i can live in the way you tell us.

just wanna say to you: THANKS! THANKS ! THANKS!

This was my reply:

First just a note that I just noticed your e-mail today.

Thank you for your comments about the Spanish edition of The Lazy Person's Guide to Success.

Weird, but about 10 minutes ago I discovered that someone started a Facebook page about The Lazy Person's Guide to Success:

More important, you may want to read my Redroom Author's blog entry about the e-mails I got from Cuba from Rolando and how he read the Spanish edition of Lazy Person's Guide to Success.

See So You Think You Have It Tough and read the second e-mail where Rolando talks about being in jail for 3 years because he was trying to be an entrepreneur in Cuba.

By the way, one of my books was published in Spanish in Argentina.

See GUÍA HACIA LA FELICIDAD from Argentina Publisher San Pablo:

Ernie J. Zelinski
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(over 120,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
Featured on The Retirement Quotes Café and The Retirement Café
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 240,000 copies Sold and Published in 17 Languages)

Retirement Needs and Wants Are Two Different Things

This comes from a recent press release by Hewitts Associates:

Four in Five Americans Not Expected to Meet all Their Financial Needs

Typical U.S. employees will need to have resources equal to more than 15 times their final pay to maintain their standard of living after they retire, according to analysts at Hewitt Associates Inc. About 80% of workers may fall short of meeting all their financial needs in retirement, says Hewitt Associates.

The figures come from a Hewitt study of projected retirement savings totals of about 2 million employees at 84 large U.S. companies.

First, are we talking about "wants" or "needs"?

Plain and simple, everyone's needs have always been provided — otherwise they would be dead.

The problem with U.S. society today is that a need is any luxury that the neighbor happens to have.

Second, actuaries such as well-known Malcolm Hamilton give good reasons why the large majority of retirees, whether they live in Canada, the U.S., or other Western nations, can live on far less than 80 percent of their pre-retirement income.

Indeed, government statistics indicate that retirees live comfortably on 45 percent to 62 percent of their pre-retirement income.

Although these studies by Hewitt and financial institutions indicate that retirees will require a relatively high retirement income to support these "needs", the writing is on the wall: Most retirees will be living on a small fraction of the income that they made working.

And my guess is that many of these retirees will be just as happy as when they were working - or even happier.

My guess is based on the number of people who have written to me over the years about their experiences with retirement and unemployment.

Ernie J. Zelinski
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 120,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 240,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Why Don't Retirees in North America Get a Free 7-Day Vacation

Why don't retirees in North American get a free 7-day vacation?

Hawaii would be great!

This is sounding good, isn't it?

Well retirees in Macedonian will be getting a one week free vacation from their government.

The Government will cover the transportation costs, lodging, spa treatment, food, doctor appointments, in other words every aspect of the vacation is covered.

More than 10,000 retirees will become eligible to take advantage of this incredible deal as early as January 2010.

The retirees are not limited to locations and can select any spa center across Macedonia.

Source: Government surprises Retirees with Free Vacation

Here are some retirement quotes relating to vacations from Travel Tips for Retirement at The Retirement Quotes Cafe:

Visits always give pleasure: if not in the arrival, then on the departure.
— Edward Le Berquier

If you look like your passport photo, in all probability you need the journey.
— Earl Wilson

Not he who lived long knows, but he who traveled much knows.
— Turkish proverb

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.
— Saint Augustine

Check out these retirement resources:

Retirement Quotes on Good Reads:

How Much Do I Need to Retire?

Retirement Sentiments on the Retirement Quotes Cafe

Ernie J. Zelinski Quotes on Goodreads

Recent Stories about Baby Boomer Retirement

Here are some recent stories about baby boomer retirees and how some are not faring as well as they would like.

Thousands of retirees returning to old jobs: Federal Times By REBECCA NEAL National Science Foundation officials thought they'd found the perfect candidate in 2007 to head their Beijing office — a retiree with more . . .

Boomers working longer; retirees returning: Corvallis Gazette TimesRecently I have been reading about the shifting demographics of older workers and something called encore careers. Marc Freedman has written a book titled ...

Retirees 'face increased money problems: 'Independent Almost a third of people may face financial difficulties when they retire, the Financial Services Authority warned this week. Its research revealed that 31 ...

Here is a more positive story about a retiree who is coping quite well:

Dave Bakke: Retiree's 'good life' includes Spam, lizards, cold baths: The State Journal-Register By DAVE BAKKE You hear people vow that someday they're going to chuck it all, move to an island in the ocean and live the good life.

Here are two different versions of a The Best Retirement Book by Ernie Zelinski that is one of the Best Retirement Gifts to Give Yourself:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free - Canadian Edition by Ernie Zelinski

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free - American Edition by Ernie Zelinski

Retiring is easy. Staying retired — now that's the trick!

Here are 10 retirement quotes for retirees and soon-to-be retirees to help them retire happy, wild, and free: These retirement quotations come from the Sensational Quotes for Smart People Website:

Retirement gives people the opportunity to think about and reconnect with themselves and their neglected dreams or the forgotten pleasure of activities that bring joy.
— Mona Gallagher

If you retire right [ with or without Social Security] the only thing you will worry about is when to eat and when to sleep.
— Unknown wise person

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
— Rabindranath Tagore

The concept of freedom is never truly realized until one settles into retirement mode.
— A. Major

It [my retirement plan] will involve living on a private island, with a genius chef, cigars and fine wines. I'm gonna be fat. That's what I enjoy. That's the payback for all the hard work.
— American rapper Jay-Z

Retirement: A Time to Become Much More than You Have Ever Been
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The best retirement is no retirement at all.
— Unknown sad sack

When the majority of people get my age, once they retire and get Social Security they lay on the couch and do nothing. The next thing you know, they're not with us any more.
— 77-year-old Retiree August Gonsoulin

The best time to start thinking about your retirement dreams is before your boss does.
— Unknown retired person

If you don't keep busy, it's [retirement] all over. I found out that from people much older than me. "Keep moving," they say, and that's what I'm doing. When I get up in the morning with aches and pains, I don't let it control me. When you sit down and don't do anything, you are going to disintegrate. Well, you're going to disintegrate anyway, but you'll do it quicker.
- Adelaide Bentley

Retiring is easy. Staying retired — now that's the trick!
— Richard Parker, Author of Retired & Staying Retired; Enjoying the RV Lifestyle

Here is a link to an article that mentions me:

Ernie Zelinski on American Chronicle

Retirement Blues - How Do Retirees Deal with Boredom

I received the following e-mail the other day (the name has been changed due to the nature of the e-mail:

----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 11:27 AM
Subject: retirement blues


hi ernie,

hope you are well.

i have your ... retire happy, wild, and free ..book using it as my early retirement bible, also have read many of your other books.

my question or struggle now is ...after the 3 yr honeymoon is over (of E.R. started 5 yrs ago, am 55 yrs now) and after i have gone thru my bucket list of things to do, what else is there to do? or inspire to do?

i just came back from my annual mexico otra casa and coming back to the mundane existence after catching up with the bills and errands, make me feel like a dead zombie.

have you ever felt this in your retirement life- i know you probably busy with your seminars. but for myself, not working, sometimes just passing time at the casinos to forget my existence but also loosing, i just don't know what to focus on anymore.

am i the only one who feels this blahs?

what else is there in life after one done it all?

i hope to hear from you, you are the only one who can inspire me. when i read your books i felt you were my twin as you wrote same way i felt.

i have been successful and joyful past 3 yrs thanks to your bible- but now seems like nothing else to do or live for.

at times i feel since we all gonna die someday anyway might as well plan a grand exit my way.

appreciate any suggestions you have,
Leslie

This was my reply:

Hi Leslie:

Thanks for your e-mail.

Regarding the way you feel about retirement at this moment, I can assure you that there are many more people who feel this way at times. Some may even feel this way most of the time.

First, congratulations on having enjoyed retirement for 3 years. Some people don't accomplish this.

If you are bored with retirement life, my opinion is that your leisure activities are too passive or too routine. For us to get satisfaction out of leisure activities, the activities have to have some challenge and risk involved. Adding a purpose to leisure activities also helps. In my retirement books, I list passive activities that offer no real satisfaction because of a lack of risk and challenge versus active activities that offer a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment because of the challenge and risk involved. Here they are:



Passive Activities

* Watching TV and videos
* Drinking beer
* Going for a drive
* Junking out on food
* Gambling
* Napping
* Watching spectator sports
* Shopping
* Talking about yesterday’s news
* Goofing off in shopping malls

Active Activities

* Writing a book
* Hiking
* Cross-country skiing
* Auditing fun courses at a university or college
* Attending plays, concerts, and movies
* Taking piano lessons
* Tracing your family tree
* Drawing cartoons
* Creating stained-glass windows
* Helping solve the world ’s problems





You state, "What else is there in life after one has done it all?"

I don't believe that you have "done it all." You mention returning from your "annual Mexico otra casa." Perhaps you need to go somewhere else in your travels besides Mexico. I had done virtually no travel outside Canada all my life aside from two trips to San Francisco in the 1990s and one to St. Lucia about 30 years ago. But since November I have been to London, Istanbul, and New York. (I have attached 3 photos from Istanbul and London - my favorite is with Nadide at the Istanbul Conventions Center). These trips have been the highlights of my last six months because there was challenge and risk involved besides doing something different.

The truth is that I resisted going to visit these 3 cities and right until leaving was thinking of canceling the respective trips. I now have Hawaii, San Diego, and Scottsdale Arizona in my sights besides plans to visit London and New York again.

Incidentally, my favorite publisher is Workman Publishing (since Ten Speed Press was sold) and they publish both 1001 Places to See Before You Die and 1001 Places to See In the USA and Canada Before You Die. Perhaps you may want to check out these books. I certanly will in due time.

To deal with your retirement blues, you could go back to work as some people do. All I can say is that if someone offered me a billion dollars to go back to work in a typical corporate setting for one year, I would not consider this for one nanosecond. Most people don't believe this but it is true.

The first reason is that I despise corporate settings so much and don't have much respect for most of the people who work in them due to their lack of creativity and motivation to make it on their own. Second, I know that a billion dollars would not make me any happier. If anything, a billion dollars would complicate my life and make me unhappier because most of my friends couldn't relate to me anymore and would likely not associate with me anymore.

Of course, you can always get a fun job, several of which I mention in How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

Again, I have to stress using your time constructively in activities that offer risk and challenge. Even if someone gave me a billion dollars I would still be creating books and e-books. In fact, I am presently creating a book called The Joy of Being Retired: 365 Reasons Why Retirement Rocks (and Work Sucks). Is writing this book easy? No, on the contrary. It is damn hard at times. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.




Yet I would still be putting this book together if I had a billion dollars in the bank. Why? Because it will give me great satisfaction once it is finished. What's more, I will get more satisfaction and happiness when people read it and write to me about how much they liked the books.

In short, my advice to you is to list the things that you would like to have accomplished in your life. There have to be at least 100 things you would have liked to accomplish but didn't.

Then select one or two of these things and pursue these things.

If you like reading and still haven't read my 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting, just send me your address and I will send you a complimentary copy.

In the mean time, I have attached my e-book (in PDF format) called 101 Reasons to Love a Recession. You can forward this to all your friends and colleagues.

I hope that I have been some help.

So long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
World Class Author, Innovator, and Unconventional Career Expert
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 100,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Retirees, Early Retirement and the New Retirement

Here are some of the latest news stories about retirees, early retirement, and the new retirement. Some are good and some not-so-good:

Number of Retirees Worried About Finances Has More Than Doubled BankInvestmentConsultant.com - By Money Management Executive A full 49% of retirees are insecure about their financial future, up from only 20% who were afraid a year ago, ...

Retiree plans ruined by financial crisis ABC Online - AustraliaBy George Roberts for PM New research shows that the Global Financial Crisis has ruined the plans of about half of Australia's self-funded retirees.

Charles Schwab Study Finds 9.5 Million Retirees Hope to Re-Enter ... June was another difficult month for American workers with a net loss of 467000 jobs, compared with 322000 in May Despite diminishing employment opportunities and an economy threatening job security, new research by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc shows that as many as 9.5 million retired Americans are considering at least a partial return to the workforce and 32 percent of those currently employed expect to hold their job and delay retirement.

"It’s a challenging time to be facing retirement," said Rich Rosso, financial consultant at Charles Schwab’s Houston branch. "The situation many Americans have found themselves in illustrates the importance of long term retirement planning. But in the short term there are also a host of things people can consider to help smooth the ride."

RETIRING: Seven Keys To A Successful Retirement Wall Street Journal -Rather than sitting around doing nothing in retirement, would-be retirees should scope out what they want to do long before rolling over ...

Here are some resources to help you retire happy, wild, and free:

Where to Retire

Best Retirement Jobs

Retire Happy

Health in Retirement

No Traditional Retirement and No Free Beer for Retirees

Here are some latest news stories about tough times for retirees, including having to go back to work and having to give up free beer:

Many retirees find it necessary to rejoin the workforce
Leader Times - Kittanning, PA, USA LEADER TIMES At a time when senior citizens should be able to relax, some retirees are finding it necessary to go back to work to keep ...


Recession forcing retirees back to work and spooking younger workers
The Salinas Californian - Salinas, CA, USA The shock waves are pushing some frightened investors out of stocks and forcing some retirees to return to work. AARP California spokeswoman Christina Clem ...


WIVB Molson retirees: No Free Beer
WIVB - Buffalo, NY, USA Reuters reports that Molson retirees in Newfoundland, Canada will see their monthly allotment of beer fall from six dozen a month to zero over the next five ...

Here are some resources for retirees:

Retirement Quotes Cafe

Retirement Jobs at The Retirement Cafe

Retirement Jobs at The Real Career Success Resource Center

If you are a retiree thinking about going back to work, here are some tell-tale signs that you should read Career Success Without a Real Job:

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if you have ever invented a college or university that did not exist to place on a résumé.

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if everyone at your workplace distrusts everyone else because it is their only defence against assholes.

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if you have ever on your résumé claimed to be a member of the Kennedy clan.

The Joy of Not Working - Retirees Still Don't Have Time to Do the Things That They Would Like to Do

I just received this e-mail about my international bestseller The Joy of Not Working:

----- Original Message -----
From: Liz Hardwick
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 9:32 PM
Subject: Thank You

Just want to say thank you for a great read (The Joy of Not Working) will make sure I tell people about it.

We moved to Canada from England 10 years ago – got tired of the rat race – now live in Horsefly BC and couldn’t be happier, still not got time for all the things we want to do but it sure beats working.

Liz Hardwick

Incidentally, I am presently looking for a U.S. distributor for my two books Career Success Without a Real Job and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free since Random House purchased Ten Speed Press and terminated the distribution Agreements that I had with Ten Speed Press.

I have indicated to U.S. distributors that I intend to sell 500,000 copies of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free over the next 10 years or so.

I have backed this up by showing the distributors a newspaper article from 1992 in which I was quoted as saying I intended to sell 100,000 copies of The Joy of Not Working.

For the record, The Joy of Not Working has now sold over 225,000 copies.

Go to this webpage for some tell-tale signs that you should be reading Career Success Without a Real Job:

Career Success on Twitter

Recession Has Altered Retirement Plans of Americans

No doubt the recession has altered the retirment plans of many Americans

Some Not-So-Good News for Retirees

AT&T Retirees Rally In North Haven
WFSB - Hartford,CT,USA
Retirees from AT&T rallied in North Haven Monday amid concerns about
their benefits. The company is currently negotiating contracts with
current employees


Some retirees returning to work
KSWO - Lawton,OK,USA
Lawton_A lot of folks who had retired are back on the job, and many
working far longer than they had anticipated. It isn't because they
didn't plan for

Here is some more news relating retirement plans to the recession:

In a recent poll Americans estimated that their retirement savings have dropped an average of 25 percent and almost a quarter of those polled (22%) said they now plan to retire later than previously expected.

The expected retirement age jumped 3.6 years to older than age 65 mainly due to the loss of retirement savings.

The Baby Boomer generation—once thought to be moving into the years in which they would be spending their retirement savings—might instead be accounting for more than a third (35%) of total dollars saved by Americans post-recession.

Important Note: An economics professor advices people how to solve the problems of the economy and the recession which the economics professor has avoided by becoming an economics professor.

Retirement Is Still Tough for Some

The Latest Retirement News is bleak for some:

Baby Boomer Golden Years
La Voz Nueva - Denver,CO,USA
According to the National Retirement Planning Coalition, the future
looks bleak for “tens of millions of Americans.” It says that, “almost
forty percent of ...


US Retirement Assets Tumble 24% in 2008, Spectrem Group Reports
MSNBC - USA
CHICAGO, IL - Retirement plans have lost nearly a quarter of their
value in this economic crisis. Total US retirement market assets,
which include both ...

Retirement wouldn't be difficult to attain if more people followed The Easy Rule of Life depicted in the image above.

Here is a bit about an inspirational book that I wrote several years ago which explains The Easy Rule of Life in full:

Look Ma: Life's Easy

A Book for Retirees

Above is the draft cover for the new edition of my book Real Success Without a Real Job which is now called Career Success Without a Real Job.

Here is a bit about the book:

Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations — by Ernie Zelinski

This revolutionary career book is for those millions of organizationally averse individuals who would like to break free of corporate life so that they have complete control over their lives. It will also benefit the millions of baby-boomer "retirees" who want to continue
working, but not in a traditional corporate setting. Positive, lively, and captivating, Career Success Without a Real Job is designed to help you live an extraordinary lifestyle that is the envy of the corporate world — there is no life like it!

Check out more about the book and me at:

Ernie Zelinski on Squidoo

Ernie Zelinski on LinkedIn

When the Recession Affects Your Retirement, Turn to Your Friends

I am still working on my new e-book 101 Reasons to Love a Recession.

Looks like the recession is having its effects to retirees worldwide. (If you would like to see a definition of recession go to the Love a Recession website.)

Figures obtained by The Weekend Australian show the country's 2.3 million retirees are 20 per cent poorer than they were a year ago, with the global financial crisis slashing the value of their assets.

Approximately 40,000 soon-to-be retired Australians this year will be forced into part-time retirement jobs as the economic downturn erodes the value of their homes and savings.

Research by Rice Warner Consulting shows that of the 155,000 Australians who planned to retire this year, between 38,000 and 40,000 will move into part-time employment - if their bosses don't force them out in a cost-cutting drive.

It's getting tougher for Japanese retirees as well: The Japanese slide in household spending remains unchecked. In addition, the government reported a record fall in industrial output. Japanese unemployment continues to rise.

No doubt many retirees will have to learn to adjust their spending habits as there is little free money to be had.

Of course having a happy retirement depends on many other things including having a number of best friends to share time with.

Here are five quotations about friendship to place the value of best friends in perspective:

#1 of Top Ten Friendship Sayings
It is better in times of need to have a friend rather than money.
— Greek proverb

#2 of Top Ten Friendship Sayings
When you are looking for a best friend, don't look for perfection; just look for friendship.
— Unknown Wise Person

#3 of Top Ten Friendship Sayings
A true friend wants nothing more from you than the pleasure of your company.
— Unknown wise person

#4 of Top Ten Friendship Sayings
Heaven must be an awfully dull place if your best friends end up elsewhere.
— Unknown wise person

#5 of Top Ten Friendship Sayings
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
— Unknown wise person

TV Watching Is a Horrible Way to Spend Your Retirement

Research indicates that on the average Americans spend about 40 percent of their free time in front of the TV. For retirees, the percentage is much higher. This translates into 4 to 6 hours a day watching TV — which is about 4 to 6 hours too many.

Contrary to popular belief, one way to guarantee boredom in retirement is to watch a lot of TV. Even people who retire with substantial wealth end up watching a lot of television instead of getting involved in more satisfying leisure and recreational activities.

One problem is that television entertains but deludes people. T.V. as a whole is not very educational. When programs are educational, people don't watch them.

Some retired people say that television is a necessity in today's world. This is nonsense. In summer, I sometimes go for four months straight without turning on my TV set for even one minute. Moreover, I know a few people who don't even own a TV set. Case closed: This proves that TV is not a necessity.

Retired people watch TV without understanding what they are watching. Even if they understand, they seldom absorb anything worthwhile. In my book The Joy of Not Working, I discuss the many more detrimental effects of TV including how chronic TV watchers are more likely to be jerks and to be obese.

Retirement Quote for this Week

The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or daytime television.
— Author Unknown

Retirement Living Is Better than This Retiree Thought It Would Be

I received the following e-mail today from an individual in the United Kingdom who read The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked and who feels that retirement living is better than he had expected.

----- Original Message -----
From: Mickey White
To: vip-books (at) telus.net
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:45 AM
Subject: RETIREMENT: it's even better !!


Hi Ernie,

I took early voluntary retirement from the Mail Service after thirty plus years when

I was fifty seven. My kids bought me your book, The Joy of Not Working as a gift on the day I finished. Mind you I was happy to take E.V.R. and I agree with everything you say !!

In fact, if I'd known that retirement was going to be this good I'd have done it the day after I left school !!!

Good Luck.....

Mike .....

It would be great if all retirees felt this way.


Even The U.S. State Dept Likes The Joy of Not Working

This short review of The World's Second Best Retirement Book ( The Joy of Not Working ) comes from the United States Department of State.

"A delightful indictment of workaholism and ways to counteract it. The author views unemployment as a true test of who one really is."
- U.S. Department of State Book Reviews

What It Takes to Write Retirement Books

At My Last Book Launch with Mary Who Is 52 Years Old (I Sure Wish All Women Over 50 Looked This Good and Were This Trim)

Some retirees wonder what credentials I possess to have written two retirement books. First, I have worked only half of my adult life. In other words, I have been in and out of retirement since I was in my late teens. Second, although I am not fully retired at this time, I have been semi-retired for the last 25 years.

I work only four or five hours a day; for the other 20 or 19 hours a day I have the same freedom that all full-time retirees have 24 hours a day. Even during my working hours I have a great deal of freedom since I work on what I want to, when I want to.

There is one important point about my semi-retirement, since in my retirement books I discuss the importance of money and what part it plays in having a successful retirement. When I semi-retired thirteen years ago, I was over $30,000 in debt. So much for the theory that you need a great deal of money to succeed in semi-retirement. The same applies to full retirement.

Just Finished Reading The Joy of Not Working

Following is the most recent e-mail that I received about The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked that was sent to me by Eric Clarke of British Columbia.

----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Clarke
To: vip-books (at) telus.net
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 3:58 PM
Subject: To ErnieZelinski - Thank you!


Dear Ernie,

I have just finished reading the The Joy of Not Working. What a truly
enjoyable and thought provoking book. As a recent retiree you have
helped me to remember what is most important in life and generously
shared your personal experiences, thoughts and some tools to help
me reconnect with those things.

I am looking forward [to retirement ]with excitement and anticipation as I begin this
journey and hope that at the end I find I have grown into a fully
developed and happy child.

Thank you.

Eric Clarke
Email - chimiera (at) shaw.ca
Tele: 573-5982

Here are the covers of some of the other Foreign Editions of The Joy of Not Working:

French Edition

Spanish Edition

Japanese Edition

Czech Edition

Greek Edition

German Edition

Turkish Edition

French Edition - Canada

Dutch Edition

Korean Edition

Italian Edition

Chinese Edition - Traditional Characters

Chinese Edition - Simplified Characters

Portuguese Edition

Polish Edition

Indonesian Edition

The New Retirement - Retire at 70, 80, or 90

The turmoil in the financial industry and markets in recent days has caused serious anxiety among retirees or near-retirees, as they have seen their savings plummet in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Either they are now planning to stay in the workforce longer, or they are-in many cases, reluctantly-looking to get back to work.

As many financial planners put it, it's a brand new reality for an entire generation of Baby Boomers.

And it's no wonder, a startling 59 percent of workers age 55 or older have less than $100,000 in savings and investments, excluding the value of their home, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Another 18 percent have between $100,000 and $249,999, and only 23 percent have $250,000 or more.

Many people who were looking to retire in the near future are now expecting to work until they are 70, 80, or 90.

RetirementJobs.com reported the inquiries into its online resume writing service doubled in the past week, with visitors saying they need to return to the workforce due to the economy.


Note: These Retirement Quotes Come from The 237 Best Things Ever Said about Retirement

The New Retirement for Baby Boomers - Going Bust and Not Being Able to Retire

It never ceases to amaze me how most people are fools with their money. A recent report confirms my suspicions that baby boomers are just as irresponsible with their money and act on their short-term interests. Very short, term interest. Just like most young people today, instant gratification takes too long.

Homeowners' behavior during the recent housing boom in the U.S. left American soon-to-be retirees in worse shape approaching retirement, because a house accounts for half of the property and financial wealth of the typical household approaching retirement age, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Alicia Munnell, the center's director, looked into how the housing bubble affected retirement security in a recent report with Mauricio Soto, a research economist at the center.

Here are some key findings of the report, released this month:

• Many households reacted to the gain in housing prices by taking money out and increasing their debt. The center estimates that households extracted about $1.2 trillion of their home equity during the boom from 2001-06.

• Total debt rose to 120 percent of disposable personal income in 2007 from about 80 percent in the early 1990s, according to government data.

• With most of their family responsibilities out of the way, households headed by homeowners older than 50 were more likely to take out home equity. All told, homeowners 50 to 62 years old took out about $380 billion from their primary residences and posted expenses of $149 billion, based on government data from the Federal Reserve System and the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

• Homeowners with children were more likely to tap into their home equity, possibly to pay education and other expenses.

• Homeowners said they spent 10.5 percent of what they took out from their primary homes on expenses, including personal spending and repayment of credit-card debt; 23.5 percent to pay off past debts; 32.2 percent for home improvement; and 33.8 percent for investment in the stock market, real estate or business.

• For a typical homeowner nearing retirement (ages 50 to 62 in 2004), the gains in housing equity were nearly offset by additional spending. Their household net worth fell by an estimated $6,900, or 14 percent.

The report found that people increased mortgage debt by $1.2 trillion during the housing boom and increased consumption by $410 billion.

As I have said before, so much for houses as investments for retirement. Again, houses are consumer products and not investments. If you are buying a house on the hope that it will go up, you are speculating. If you are speculating, you should be prepared for the price to go down instead of up. Don't blame anyone else when your house price goes down. You caused this situation to happen by believing what the shady real estate agents and mortgage lenders have told you.

If you want to be financially well-prepared for retirement, invest in yourself by spending as much money as you can on books, seminars, and motivational tapes on how to run your own business or how to make money on the Internet. Fact is, your most valuable asset is actually your ability to earn an income.

Your enhanced earning power that comes from your superior skills and knowledge should be part of overall retirement plan. Although the banks and other financial institutions don't count intangibles such as creativity, innovative character, risk-taking ability, and specialized knowledge in tallying your net worth, you should. These items are much more important to a retirement portfolio than a house.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Retirement is a double-edged sword. You either make it work for you - or it will cut your happiness in half. The more you know about the secrets to a successful retirement, the happier you will be once you retire.

That's why you need The World's Best Retirement Book by Vipbooks Author Ernie J. Zelinski.



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