http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/05/21/what-you-can-learn-from-baby-boomer-blunders/
What YOU Can Learn from Baby-Boomer Blunders
Neal Frankle, a Certified Financial Planner, and the author of Wealth Pilgrim, a blog about his financial journey.
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# Don’t assume your home is going to fund your retirement.
# Try like hell to pay off your mortgage by the time you’re 55.
# Don’t send your kids to schools you can’t afford.
# Think about saving as any other expense.
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I’d add some other “lessons”.
- Don’t assume that you’ll be working after fifty. Or, don’t assume, unless your work for the Gooferment, that your pay will keep going up. One thing I have learned form my turkeys is that (a) there is a good possibility of a year out of work, living off your savings, dipping into your retirement money, and settling for a lot less.
- Don’t assume that your “blue chip company” will even exist in the next year. Look at Lehman Brothers for a quick demise. Look at GM for a slow death. You are the master of your own fate. If the Titanic is going down, even if you’re not one it, it can take you with it. Look at the city of Detroit. Look at all the suppliers and correspondents of Lehman Brothers. Heck, my CPA took a batch with Lehman Brother’s bonds; a supposedly safe investment.
- Don’t assume that your “gold watch” company will take care of you. Your “benefits” are very expensive. I’d suggest that, if possible, you have your own health insurance. Again, from my turkeys, loss of the benefits are a financial disaster. It can break a marriage. It can break your spirits.
You have to have a strategy, with the tactics to match.
I alwasy fall back to what I think is the “success” meme in today’s climate:
Success for your generation is: (1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt; (2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — they can’t take it away from you; (3) a NON-OFFSHORABLE white collar job in order to save big bux; (4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber; (5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open; (6) a free time hobby that generates income; and (7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.
FWIW
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Reinke Faces Life 