Long ago, you bought into the dream that AARP sold aggressively for decades along with affordable insurance plans. Simply stated, the dream you bought into was about you and your future.
You put in your time at work. You maybe changed jobs once or twice. Mainly, you put in your time. Why? You bought into the dream. That’s why.
It was a comforting dream to embrace. You saw yourself in the future with gray hair and wisdom. You saw yourself playing golf all day in this dream. You dreamed of drinking ice tea on the front porch with your significant other as the two of you smile at the schoolchildren who walk by.
Your smiles in this dream came from one simple reality: You don’t have to go to work. Those days are behind you. No more grumpy boss. No more annoying coworkers. No more commute. No more business attire. No more computers or cell phones.
You dreamed of transitioning from the world of work into the world of retirement. Ah, what a lovely dream it was!
Hey, wake up! No time to dream like this.
The Great Recession changed almost everything in our lives. Nowadays, the concept of retirement seems somehow absurd. How can you retire? You need to keep working to keep generating revenue to support yourself and your significant other!
If you’ve been lucky enough to keep your home, the concept of wealth from selling your home at an inflated price also seems somehow absurd now. How can you possibly sell your home when it is worth less than what you currently owe on it?
So you think you can retire. Or, so you thought. Past tense. You’re beginning to accept ever so slowly that retirement is not in the cards for you.
Fantasizing about playing golf all day or sitting on the front porch drinking ice tea seems somehow absurd right now.
Growing older does not necessarily usher in relaxing days on the fairway. Not after the Great Recession.
Old concepts about carefree leisure years that follow decades of work have been pushed into absurdity and irrelevance. Instinctively, you know you need a new set of concepts to carry you forward while you keep working to keep generating revenue to support yourself and your significant other.
The concept of retirement seems more and more irrelevant each day. So many other outmoded ways of thinking no longer apply in contemporary life: Our planet is not the center of the universe. Nor is it flat. Or hollow. Changing the Constitution to make alcohol illegal did not create a safer or healthier society. Owning a house will not guarantee you wealth in the near future. You get the idea here.
Refocusing your life is what’s needed now. You know that.
All of us in the United States are living during a time of powerful paradigm shifts brought on by massive economic, cultural, and political changes. These commentaries on this website are here to help you find ways to survive in these challenging times in which we live by developing a viable personal brand.
Share you comments and suggestions with me. I look forward to hearing from you today!
Woody Goulart in Las Vegas 