Second Half Life (Retirement & Death) 03 (Mar 14 - Dec 26)

[winston]

Four Things People Hide In Retirement

By Robert Laura

Source: Forbes

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/four-thin ... 00212.html

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If You're So Rich, Why Do You Still Work? By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud

I have a few friends who have "silly" wealth – more wealth than they could ever need or spend.

These guys are at retirement age or older… But for some reason, they work harder than just about anyone else I know…

Why are they working so hard? Isn't the dream to "bank" enough money so you don't have to work?

I called a few of these friends over the years and asked why. The answers were interesting…

One wealthy friend started out with this story to explain it…

I had dinner with an extremely wealthy guy last week who's 71. He just retired to the desert in Palm Springs, supposedly to play some golf. I asked him how it was going…

"Retirement is horrible," he told me. He said, "I do NOT enjoy sitting in the desert doing nothing. I don't have a clue what I'm doing out here. I don't think I can do this. I don't need the money… But I think I'll have to go back to work."

My wealthy friend described the same feeling… "I love what I do," my friend told me. "I don't want to stop."

I asked my friends specifically what it is that keeps them working so hard…

One said, "Nothing in life beats the thrill of coming up with a big idea and making it a reality."

Another said, "I like mentoring younger people… passing on what I do and seeing them succeed at it."

A few more talked about the thrill of a great opportunity and the chance to increase their wealth. "I know there's no economic reason for me to work," one friend told me… "But that doesn't mean I don't like to get paid."

I then asked these friends if they had any advice to help people join them in the "big leagues"…

First, they explained, opportunity doesn't knock. You have to create it. And when opportunity is close by, you have to drop everything and pursue it. The more you make those sacrifices, the better your chances of finding financial success.

Second, if you know more than everyone in the room, nobody can take advantage of you… So read a lot. Do more homework than anyone else at the table.

Finally, one friend told me, "Work to the task, not to the reward." Don't wash a car for the $5 payment, for example… Wash a car because that's the task at hand – and do a fantastic job. Then you'll get noticed for your work and have a chance to move up in the world.

So why do these "silly-rich" guys still work? And how can you get there, too?

They work because they say it keeps them "alive"…

"If I stop working, I'll die," one of them told me. My friends believe that finding success is all about recognizing, creating, and seizing opportunities.

You make your own luck, they say, so create opportunities for yourself as best as you can.

If you do that enough times in life, you'll know you're giving yourself a legitimate shot at success… at having the kind of wealth that means you're working because you love to, like my friends, not just working because you have to.

Source: Daily Wealth

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These Are the Best Retirement Withdrawal Strategies

by Darrow Kirkpatrick

Your withdrawal strategy makes a huge difference in how much money you'll have in retirement.

Source: Money

http://time.com/money/4166109/best-reti ... ahoo_money

[winston]

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

by Marc Lichtenfeld

My dad has been retired for more than 10 years. Recently he asked my daughter what she wants to be when she grows up. My daughter didn't have an answer yet. My dad replied, "Yeah, I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up either."

I think he was serious.

Some people never know what they want to be when they grow up because they don't have many interests. For others, there aren't enough hours in the day to explore all of the things they want to do.

For many people, pursuing their passions, even in retirement or on a part-time basis, can lead to extra income.

Growing up, I went to a very talented dentist. He was the best I've ever been to. But he couldn't wait to put the drill down and get out on the baseball field where he was an umpire. He started off doing high school games and by the time he hung up his chest protector, he was a Division I college ump.

A buddy of mine, who is a financial advisor, was a good basketball player when he was younger (his father was a coach). He now referees high school games.

And you may have heard my story: A onetime boxing-obsessed teenager, I now ring announce some of the biggest championship fights on TV. I get flown around the country, get paid and sit in the best seats in the house.

Those are just a few examples of people who have pursued their passions outside of their careers and have gotten paid for it.

There are many people who do what they love and collect a little cash on the side. Whether they need it or not, it's a good way to generate some extra income in retirement.

Some retired folks I know augment their income in retirement by...
Playing music (play piano, sing, etc.) at parties
Teaching cooking
Driving friends and neighbors to the airport and back
Consulting
Officiating sports
Writing freelance.

In fact, one retired friend of mine, who didn't need the money, started writing as a freelancer. That turned into a couple of books, one of which was just picked up to be a major motion picture.

There's a saying: Do what you love and the money will follow. That can happen in retirement too.

What I've noticed is that most people who do get paid for doing something they love started out doing it for free or for barely any money. The first fight I ever announced, I was paid $100 - and I had to buy a new tuxedo for the event that cost me $400!

If you are passionate about what you're doing, there's a good chance that eventually some money will come in. It might not be big money like my friend who sold the film rights to his book made. But even if you just make a few hundred dollars per month, the extra income can be helpful and you'll be doing something you love.

So whether it's teaching knitting at an adult education class, coaching young business people or lending a hand at a nonprofit, follow your passions and look for opportunities to turn them into income.

You'll be doing something fulfilling, and a few extra bucks won't hurt.

And maybe it will help you figure out what you want to be when you grow up.

Do you follow your passions in retirement (or preretirement)? Do you do any interesting work? Let us and your fellow readers know by telling us in the comment section below. What you're doing might spark an idea for someone else.

Source: The Oxford Club

[winston]

5 Factors for Retirees to Consider for Their Investments

By Kate Stalter

Source: US News

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-factors ... 07395.html

[winston]

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Source: Mind Bending Videos

http://www.mindbendingvideos.com/the-ti ... he-dead-2/

[winston]

Consciousness Enters A Parallel Universe At Death, according to Quantum Physics

Source: Reality Creation Secrets

http://www.mindpowernews.com/QuantumReincarnation.html

[winston]

Deathbed Visions: Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson Discusses His Research

By Tara MacIsaac

Source: Epoch Times

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1953612 ... campaign=2

[winston]

A Few Steps to Make Your Life Better as You Age

By Steve McDonald

Here are a few other steps to take to ensure your home is less hazardous as you get older:

- Moving furniture that obstructs walkways

- Installing handles instead of doorknobs

- Raising electrical outlets above floor level

- Installing brighter outdoor lighting

- Setting up automatic lights in frequently traveled areas at night

- Removing rugs that tend to slip

Of course, there are lots of options to consider, and none are prohibitively expensive to fix.

Think also about transportation. All or most of us will someday have to stop driving. Think now about how you will get to and from the store, doctor’s offices, pharmacies and all the other places we need a car for.

Make sure your plan to stay at home includes transportation options other than driving.

Source: The Oxford Club


http://wealthyretirement.com/videos/ste ... ?src=email

[winston]

The Most Useless Question in Retirement Planning

By Charles Sizemore

What’s your number?

No, I’m not planning to ask you out on a date. Nothing personal, but my wife has a South American temper and is definitely the jealous type.

Rather, I’m referring to the single most common question I see in retirement planning: “What’s your retirement number?” Said another way: what size nest egg do you need to quit working?

It sounds like a reasonable and straightforward question.

The problem is, it’s completely useless.

Like so many things in the financial planning business, the question takes something complex and full of nuance, and effectively dumbs it down to the point where it doesn’t mean anything. And that’s because it misses the bitter truth about retirement: you never know how much you’re going to need.

Think about it. Who wants to spend their golden years slowly depleting their nest egg hoping they don’t outlive it? No one wants to live out their best years that way!

Some say that to retire successfully you should multiply your final salary by a factor of 10. So if in your late 60s you expect to be earning $150,000, you’d need $1.5 million to retire.

But does that actually work? Using the standard “4% Rule,” which means you withdraw no more than 4% of your portfolio value per year, that would give you an annual income of $60,000. That might be just fine.

Or it might not.

What if you need more than $60,000 to pay your bills? What if the stock market has a major setback early in your retirement and your $1.5 million gets chopped down to $750,000 or less?

You might roll your eyes now, but that’s exactly what happened to millions of people that retired or were planning to retire during the last two bear markets.

The bigger, more fundamental problem with the “number” approach is this: it makes no consideration of market valuations or expected returns.

Let’s say stocks are cheap and priced to deliver returns of 10% per year or more. Taking out 4% per year in retirement would be perfectly prudent and reasonable.

But today, using common valuation metrics like the cyclically-adjusted price/earnings ratio (“CAPE”), stocks are priced to deliver returns of less than 1% per year. That means that even a 4% withdrawal rate risks depleting your nest egg early in retirement.

This is no way to plan for your golden years. It’s income that pays your bills, not a big ol’ fat nest egg full of assets. Focusing on an asset number rather than an income stream is like putting the cart before the horse.

If this were a raging bull market, this would matter a lot less. In that scenario you could reliably sell off assets along the way to meet your income needs. But in today’s market, that’s a risky proposition.

I’m not willing to leave my retirement to the whims of chance. Are you?

This is what I recommend you do…

Step #1: Grab a piece of paper. Write down a yearly income number you think you can live on in retirement. Try to be honest and reasonable and let your current monthly expenses be your guide.

Now, once you have that number… add 20% to it. You know as well as I do that expenses always seem to find a way of turning out to be more than you expected.

Step #2: OK, now that you have your “real” income number, start subtracting any “guaranteed” income sources. This includes things like Social Security or any pensions you have.

So, let’s say you need $100,000 to live every year (after adding in your 20% cushion). And let’s assume you expect to get $40,000 per year from Social Security, and another $20,000 from a private pension.

That just leaves you with $40,000 to come up with every year to meet your $100,000 goal. And that’s Step #3.

Of course, with bond yields scraping along near all-time lows, securing a safe $40,000 (or whatever the figure is for you) may seem easier said than done. But it’s really not difficult if you know where to look.

Some people prefer annuities. I’m really not their biggest fan as a savings vehicle, but as an income vehicle it’s an entirely different story. With an immediate annuity, you give a block of cash to an insurance company, and they in turn promise you a guaranteed monthly income for the rest of your life. Or, if you’re the “do it yourself” type, you can try a rental property or two.

But whatever’s left in your portfolio, have fun.

Take a little risk, or try an active trading strategy. With your basic income needs met, you can use any trading profits for little luxuries like travel or as gifts to your kids and grandkids.

Source: Dent Research