Showing posts with label retirement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retirement. Show all posts

Friday, April 6, 2012

Why I shall NEVER retire! A Declaration of Independence

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
I am at the age (64 on 02/16/11) when I am asked one 
particular question over and over again: "When do you plan 
to retire?" My resolute answer delivered con brio surprises 
my questioners: "I shall NEVER retire!"
Because they ALWAYS want to know why… I have 
decided to write this, a latter-day Declaration of 
Independence, to provide a ready means of response 
for myself and all the other people worldwide who 
are thrilled by what they do and the life  they have 
fashioned and have absolutely no desire to change 
things, no matter what.
J’y suis, J’y reste.
It was le Marechal McMahon at the siege of Sebastopol 
in 1855 who memorably barked out this trenchant phrase 
which loosely translates into "I am here and here I shall 
remain!"  It’s the way those of us feel who are adamant 
about either retaining our present position or engaging 
in other constructive work instead of retiring.
You see, we know a secret that the vast horde of the 
retired either does not know or came to understand too 
late: work invigorates, energizes, and exercises facilities 
which otherwise quickly enervate and deteriorate. In other 
words, productive, meaningful work is essential to staying 
young, alive, and alert. So, let’s review all the reasons why 
retirement as generally practised and understood is  one 
of the worst things you can ever do to yourself.
1) Retirement rots the brain.
If you have work you like,  one reason  you fancy it 
is because you have meaningful questions to answer, 
challenges to face, and labor to do. Work, as Sigmund 
Freud well understood, is crucial to the well-lived life. 
Take  away work which engages your full attention, 
experience, and expertise, and you have removed a 
critical factor of your well-being.  Formless leisure can 
never replace the knowledge that you are engaged in 
something worth doing.
2) Retirement leads to physical deterioration.
Take a good,close look at the next person aged 65 
or older who passes your way. The ones engaged in 
significant,  constructive labor (the only kind of work 
any of us should ever do) have an aura radiating energy 
and purpose. They are "with it". Lights! Camera! Action!
The presentation of our laborless peers is very, very 
different. Having nothing better to do than contemplate 
physical infirmities and eternity, they are often peevish, 
selfish, with vistas narrowing, hope evaporating. In such 
circumstances, it is easy to see why physical problems 
and limitations abound.
3) Retirement slashes  your income and lifestyle.
As every study grimly shows, the average person 
hasn’t put away nearly enough money to sustain at 
retirement their current lifestyle, much less do the extra 
things (world cruise, anyone?) you desire.  Do you want to 
make do with less? I certainly don’t. Why face the 
conclusion of life scrimping, having to count every 
penny and cut back… and back… and back? It’s demeaning 
and demoralizing. What’s more it’s completely unnecessary… 
if you keep satisfying labor in your life.
4) Retirement renders a lifetime of experience and 
expertise superfluous , useless.
The day you leave your present employ, you are at 
the top of your professional game. You know the 
most, can do the most, can create the most, and 
solve the most. You are a person of knowledge, 
wisdom, and insight. Wow!
Walk out that door… cut the ties with what you 
have done before and your skill level and all you 
can do with it starts to deteriorate at once… each 
day diminishing  your knowledge and skills. You are 
now walking away from everything you have 
aimed at and achieved for so many years. Does this 
make any sense at all?
5) Retirement reduces respect, deference, and 
awe.
Are you good at what you do? Have you worked a 
lifetime to perfect your skills,  to be and do better 
than others in your field? Are you a master of 
your craft, with the respect, deference and even 
awe that that generates? Will you like doing with 
less and less of this, as the relevancy of what 
you know and can do inevitably diminishes; as 
you move farther and farther away from the peak 
of your skills?
When was the last time you watched a retired 
person at any event in your field? They were no 
doubt greeted politely, even enthusiastically. But 
the conversation quickly moved on to today’s 
questions, today’s challenges… and as it did so 
the retired person, no matter how supreme he 
had been before,  became inevitably de trop. 
Remember when this happened to former 
star Norma Desmond when she returned to 
Paramount Studios in "Sunset Boulevard"? It was, 
in the truest sense of the word… pathetic. Is this what 
you really want, to be forgotten… but not gone?
6) Retirement reduces your ability to help others.
The best careers are always about the good you 
do to others. Retire and that important ability declines day 
by day, painfully, inevitably.
Have people benefited from what you know and 
can do? Has the need for this knowledge and skill 
abated in any way? Or is it as robust as ever? If 
the latter, then why (except for purely selfish reasons) 
would you ever want to stop helping? Stop improving? 
Stop transforming and enlightening? It makes utterly 
no sense…  no sense at all.
How a wily German prince , long dead, is 
influencing your life.
Prince Otto von Bismarck was probably the most 
important statesman of the 19th century, conniving 
as he did at the  unification of Germany.  But perhaps 
his even more important (and invidious) legacy is the 
fact that he determined the age of retirement for much 
of the world. This determination is having a very 
definite and pronounced influence on… you!
Prince Bismarck, first Chancellor of the Imperial Reich, 
wanted to dish the fast-growing German Socialists, alarming 
people with a very different national vision than his own. 
Old-age pensions provided him with the means of seeming 
benevolent to folks whose votes he wanted, without costing much.
German statisticians (then as now superb at their craft) made 
it clear to him that most people would never live to 65 and that that, 
therefore, was a most admirable date to pledge pensions.  And so 
a sacred cow was born, with Prince Bismarck’s raucous 
laugh reverberating through the years, keeping millions enthralled 
to one of the most cynical of men and his very cynical policy: promise 
what you will never have to give.
Today, you are young at  65… act like it!
Today’s 65 year olds are completely different from those 
of over a century ago. For one thing, we are alive. For another, 
we are healthier, more fit, more active…. and thus in no particular 
practical need of retirement or the trickle that is Social Security.
It’s time, therefore, to take a new view of retirement; to see 
it for what it is, not the solution to but the enemy of our well 
being. Join me: say no to retirement. It’ll be the very best 
decision you have ever made and will put you in the company 
of sovereigns and pontiffs, none of whom ever retire either!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Pension Tips For The Self-Employed

“Hello, I’m from the government. I’m here to
help you.” Ordinarily, these words have a
chilling effect on the self-employed, knowing
as we do just how ironic they can be.
However, every once in a while they are
true and advantageous. This is the case with the
tax-deferred pension options the U.S. government
makes available to the self-employed, people
like you and me.
1) Do YOU have a pension plan? It’s crazy
not to!
The sad fact is, a MAJORITY of the self-
employed don’t have a pension plan. Survey
after survey documents the fact that millions
of people — each of whom wants to get old
(it beats the alternative) — are NOT using their
business and the pension guidelines to arrange
for a comfortable retirement. This is madness.
Don’t wait another minute to do the necessary.
Call your accountant today and listen carefully
as he presents your pension options. Make sure
you take notes and question him liberally until
you really understand what you can do.
2) Be clear on how much you can invest in your
tax-deferred pension account.
Your accountant should give you a precise figure
to invest. Keep it close at hand. Knowing this figure,
and doing what’s necessary to achieve it are both
crucial to your long-term comfort and security.
3) Know the next pension deposit deadline.
Ideally, you should deposit the full pension
amount at the time you file your federal taxes.
If not, your accountant should give you the
date (generally six months after you’ve paid
your taxes) that you can still pay into your
pension plan. This date is VERY important
4) Once you know the figure you can deposit
into your pension plan, make achieving it your
#1 goal.
Say you are authorized to deposit $5,000 into your
tax-deferred plan. Say you have until September
1 to do so.
First, you want to deposit this amount in your
pension plan just as early as possible. Today
if possible. Why? Because you want to put
time to work for you. All things being equal, it’s
better to make your pension payment on April
15 rather than September 15. It gives the funds
just that much longer to grow. This makes a
great difference over time.
5) Treat your pension payments like a bill,
your #1 bill.
Most people pay into their pension accounts after
they’ve paid all their other bills, when there may or
may not be anything left. This is a mistake.
If you are unable to pay-off your pension balance
at tax filing time and must make (say) monthly
payments, then ensure you make these payments
the very first thing each month, before you’ve
depleted your available cash.
6) Cash windfall? Think pension!
Made a big sale? Had a bit of luck? Got some
extra cash? Think PENSION!
Remember, deposit into your tax-deferred
pension account as SOON as you can, and if
a bit of extra cash comes your way pay off what
you “owe” your pension account.
7) Pay your pension fund in advance whenever
possible.
Had a good year? Made some extra money?
Already paid the maximum into your pension
account? Then deposit some more! The future
is, by definition, murky and uncertain. That’s
why if you can deposit more, you should. Take
any extra funds you can spare and make an
early deposit into your pension fund. When a
rainy day comes, you’ll be glad you did!
8) Look but don’t touch!
When that rainy day comes and you need extra
cash, you may think longingly about the funds
in your tax-deferred pension account. DON’T!
You must regard your pension funds as
sacrosanct, not to be touched until commanded
to do so by the federal regulations governing
access and withdrawal. If you withdraw them now,
you will ordinarily pay a hefty penalty. What’s
more you lose the benefits of time… and jeopardize
the comfort and security of your golden years.
Find another way to get the funds you need.
Don’t dip into this till.
Conclusion
We all hope to get old, but to get old without
security and comfort is to be in a most unenviable
situation. Use your business — and the tax-deferred
pension options provided by government –, to
ensure your old age is as ample as you deserve
and desire.

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