Life is a journey. We either control that journey or it happens to us with no control. For life to go the way we want, first we need to know where we’re going & what we need and want to accomplish while we’re here & before it’s over. After all we came in with nothing and will go out the same way. Everything between is a game to play exactly as we wish.
I just completed an assignment with a corporate executive who owns a successful company on the East coast. At 64 years of age, he knew it was time for the next chapter in his life but didn’t know what that was. He has savings, a retirement plan, a nice home where he owes less than 50% of its value. He knew it was time for the next chapter of his life but didn’t know what that was but did know he couldn’t come up with it thinking on his own. This is a wise man. . .
We talked about what he wanted, his family, what kind of skills he has and would be willing to develop. We looked at work, career, spirituality, and play. A primary benefit of his corporate life began to emerge which he saw no value in at all, the amount and depth of influential relationships he had developed in his career.
Like most of us he did everything right and still lost over 42% of his retirement saving in the latest economic downturn. He correctly concluded he would not be able to retire without supplementing his retirement income and for sure not until his company was sold or he was bought out, neither of which is on the horizon.
What did our senior marauder do - He took a class on social networking on LinkedIn. Knowing very little about computers or internet technology he was intrigued and anxiously willing to learn. He studied, took more classes, met with his peers to determine their need for this new opportunity and guess what? He now has a website under development has trained more that 30 company executives who pay him as much as $250/hour to learn
He is convinced he can supplement his income quite nicely and he is thrilled to be learning on the cutting edge in his area.
So, I have a suggestion - How about a responsible plan that gets reviewed often and followed rigorously until following it becomes a habit. Be ready to take full advantage of the upcoming recovery by learning about money. What have we learned
