Taking Control Of Your Retirement — Words — They Mean Things

Posted @ 10:19 pm - Filed under Purposeful Planning, Retirement, Retirement Income, 401(k)'s & IRA's, Economy, Physics of Economics, Goals, BawldGuy Axiom

I feel so much for those who’ve been watchin’ the retirement plans they have at work slide downward as if they’re on Teflon. Millions of Americans have worked honestly and hard building up their 401(k)/IRA’s. Seeing years, often many years of disciplined effort, shrink significantly in real time is a body blow to the spirit. I know, I’ve been there. I empathize with you.

So many of us, usually when we’ve been kicked in the groin financially, have vowed passionately if not also with righteous indignation, to take control of our own futures. By future, we meant our retirement. That word means so many different things to us, but one factor is shared by us all — the older we get the more valuable the stability and reliability of our retirement becomes.

BawldGuy Axiom: Words mean things. For example: The physics of economics will not be mocked.

What do the words ‘Take control of my retirement’ mean to you? Think about it honestly.

401(k)’s have been dealt tremendous pain in the last few months. Let’s quantify what those words mean, exactly.

If a taxpayer had $1.5 Million in their 401(k), and in the latest downturn has lost $300,000 — his retirement income (at 7%) has lost nearly $2,000 a month forever. They’ll never have that money. If they live 20 years after retiring, that’s well over $400,000 they never had to spend. Family visits not undertaken. Vacations not enjoyed. Cruises never booked. And on, and on.

For average folk out there, even if they’re 50 they don’t yet have $100,000 in their company’s plan. Yet to them, the recent slide in their plan’s value seems catastrophic. In reality, it didn’t change anything except in their own mind. Let’s take a page out of the book of silver linings, OK?

Stop kiddin’ yourself that you’ve taken control of your future. If you’ve not invested in real estate, yet your retirement plan has been sliding into the black abyss of mutual fund hell, you’ve only taken control of your newly extended working life. Did your plan include workin’ ’till you were 75? Don’t answer. It’s a rhetorical question. Grandpa worked ’till he was over 80, but then he considered getting paid for what he did nothing short of folly. Unless that describes you, today can be a watershed turning point in a massively positive way.

Take control of your future with strength of purpose. Stop throwing your money away in 401(k)’s. With the exception of an employer matching you dollar for dollar, it makes no sense, considering the alternatives available.

Received a call today that warmed my heart. Client did take most of his cash out of his company’s plan. Paid the taxes and the penalty. In his own words, he’s up $10,000 net so far. That’s taking control. Even if all he accomplished had been to avoid a loss, it would’ve been a win.

Though real estate is surely one of the alternatives, and in fact was one of his, it isn’t the only one by any stretch — nor was it the only option taken by him. He took control of his own future — his retirement — by slowing down the talking and increasing the walking.

Don’t allow recent events to defeat your spirit.

Rather, allow them to renew your resolve to grab your future by the throat! Take control of your retirement — become more involved. For most, in my experience, the extent of their involvement is the occasional perusal of their periodic 401(k) statement.

How’s that workin’ out for ya so far? Exactly. I’ve been there. I’ve lost too. I’ve felt the pain of a defeated spirit. Then someone who cared, asked me if I was gonna take charge of my future, or pout. That was in another life, but I’ll never forget the power of putting those words into action. At some point in our lives, we’re all given the opportunity to Walk our Talk.

Take control. Make recent events the inspiration for pivoting away from so much Talk, and towards much more Walk.

Towards that end, let’s get together. Scratch out a quick note to me, and we’ll figure out what makes sense for your newly turbo charged future. Let’s give these black clouds some silver linings — with the aid of your own Purposeful Plan. Have a good one.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Purposeful Planning, Retirement, Retirement Income, 401(k)'s & IRA's, Economy, Physics of Economics, Goals, BawldGuy Axiom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.