The Business of Writing Retirement Books

Here is the closing paragraph from an article that appeared in the Oakland Tribune:

The closing chapter of How To Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie J. Zelinski (VIP Books, 2010, $16.95) is "Don't Leave This World with Songs Unsung That You Would Like to Sing." The author doesn't stop at new and different experiences but also encourages gratitude for our here and now gifts. He sums it nicely when he points out, "The more gratitude you express for the things you already have, the less you will need or want."

And here is an excerpt from an article in last weeks National Post:

"Boomer retirement won’t be happy, wild and free: For those who insist on clinging to the delusion that retirement will be a time of unsurpassed freedom and fulfillment, he [Jim Bacon, who now edits a newsletter entitled The Generational Advisor and author of Boomergeddon] suggests buying instead any of the “happy” retirement titles that abound in bookstores, including one by Canada’s own Ernie Zelinski: How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free . . . In the introduction to Boomergeddon, Johnson warns aging baby boomers that his is a “different type of retirement book.” He suggests that for the “vast majority” of America’s 78 million baby boomers, “retirement will be a bitter pill.”

These excerpts may help you attain your retirement number so that you can retire happy, wild, and free:

Here are some quotes about business in case you intend to operate a business in retirement so that you can make your retirement number work out properly:

Business has only two basic functions — marketing and innovation.
— Peter Drucker

Don't go to business school.
— Paul Hawkin to aspiring entrepreneurs

Business without profit is not business any more than a pickle is a candy.
— Charles F. Abbott

To be a success in business, be daring, be first, be different.
— Marchant

My first six years in the business were hopeless. There are a lot of times when you sit and you say "Why am I doing this? I'll never make it. It's just not going to happen. I should go out and get a real job, and try to survive.
- George Lucas

Age Is Not a Problem If You Forget How Old You Are

Here are some quotes about age and getting older that come from the websites Sensational Quotes:

#1 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Few people know how to be old.
- La Rochefoucauld

#2 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Why do people write books that say it's better to be older than to be younger? It's not better. Even if you have all your marbles, you're constantly reaching for the name of the person you met the day before yersterday . . . . If you work, you're surrounded by young people who are plugged into the marketplace, the demographic, the zeitgeist; they want your job and someday they're going to get it.
- Nora Ephron

#3 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

The idea is to die young, as late as possible.
- Ashley Montagu

#4 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

It is not how old you are, but how you are old.
- Marie Dressler

#5 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Wish not so much to live long, as to live well.
- Ben Franklin

#6 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

The trick is growing up without growing old.
- Casey Stengel

#7 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

I'm old enough to know my limitations and young enough to exceed them.
- Marv Levy (Unretiring at 80 to manage the Buffalo Bills)

#8 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.
- Unknown wise person

#9 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Age only matters when one is aging. Now that I have arrived at a great age, I might just as well be twenty.
- Pablo Picasso

#10 of Top-Ten Quotes about Age and Aging

Laughter is pleasant, but the exertion [at my age] is too much for me.
- Thomas Love Peacock

More Quotes about Age, Aging, and Getting Older as Well as Retirement Quotes

Fear not death; for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.
- Benjamin Franklin

Some people think the proper age for a man to start thinking of marriage is when he's old enough to realize he shouldn't.
— Anon

Retirement is the beginning of life - not the end.
- from the international bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The New Retirement Ain't Going to Be Better than the Old Retirement

There has been a lot of talk about "the new retirement" that the baby boomers were going to experience. It appears, however, that the new retirement ain't going to be any better than the old retirement. In fact, it could be a lot worse.

The question that arises is How Much do I need to retire?

Here are some recent tidbits of news reports to show what the new retirement will be like as it relates to retirement income and how it is spent.

From Retirement USA:

The gap between what retirement savings Americans need for retirement and the amount they have actually saved is a staggering $6.6 trillion, Retirement USA, a coalition of orkers’ groups, said in a study published Wednesday.

“The retirement income deficit is the gap between the pensions and retirement savings that American households have today and what they should have today to be on track to maintain their living standard in retirement,” said Karen Friedman, executive vice president and policy director of the Pension Rights Center, in a conference call with reporters.

From Allstate Financial Retirement Reality Check Survey:

The first-ever Cost of Leisure Index revealed that surveyed Boomers anticipate spending approximately $10,900 a year on having fun during retirement. When Baby Boomers are ready to retire, more than half of the survey respondents (55 percent) cited travel most frequently as their top- rated retirement pursuit. On average, Baby Boomers said they would take four trips per year, and spend about $7,700 on travel annually. Estimates from various associations and trade groups representing these top-rated activities were identified to determine how they compare with the survey results.

"While Baby Boomers know what they want to do in retirement, and in most cases have a realistic estimate as to the cost, the Retirement Reality Check survey found that there is a fundamental disconnect between what middle-income Americans expect out of retirement and what they'll get if they don't get help," said Wilson. "Baby Boomers have terrific enthusiasm and vision when it comes to making their retirement the best it can be, and part of that vision should be a program to accelerate their savings, make a commitment to their future, and realize the rewards of their work."

In short, there is a problem. Knowing how much something costs does not mean it is affordable. Survey respondents said they would need $40,900 per year in retirement, to cover the cost of their top-rated activities and basic living expenses. To have that, the average Boomer will need to have more than $1.2 million at the beginning of a 20-year retirement, factoring in a return on savings and inflation.

The problem is that surveyed Baby Boomers, on average, have less than $120,000 in assets - not even a tenth of the amount they say they will need when they retire in the next 10 to 20 years. And Social Security isn't going to help much.

Here are some quotes about retirement to put the new retirement in perspective:

The new retirement reality may be a messy proposition.
— Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

We have a manufactured vision of what [the new] retirement is, and that doesn't necessarily correlate with reality. Unless you have a well-thought-out scenario, you're going to be in for a shock at retirement.
— Paul Allen