Five-Figure Retirement

There are some criminals who just seem to keep getting caught. As soon as they are paroled, they commit another crime and in no time, they’re back in the slammer. What’s up with these people? To be sure, some are just very bad at what they do. Oh sure, they want to be successful overachiever criminals but they just keep messing up and getting caught. They smile for the surveillance camera, carelessly sign their real name on a ransom note or forget to gas up the getaway car ahead of time.

But I suspect that others have a wholly different issue. They’re just people who can’t survive on the outside. They need the structure, direction and limitations that prison life can provide for them.

Once they are released from prison suddenly they have to get a job, find a place to live, buy clothes, prepare meals, buy furniture, secure transportation and take care of a thousand other life details. They have to find a new circle of friends. They have to decide what to do with their time.

Now that they’re finally on the outside, they are forced to take charge of their own lives. And not everyone can do that.

Inside the “big house”, all of those problems go away. Cons certainly don’t have to worry about where to live. And as for picking out furniture, interior accents or home accessories, I’m sure the Bureau of Corrections has their own contingent of interior decorators to take care of that.

Inside, everything is provided — food, shelter, clothing and all daily activities. In fact, if it weren’t for the stifling confinement and having to constantly fear for one’s life, prison life would be just like living 24/7 in a luxury hotel… or on a cruise ship.

And so it is with some retirees. They are corporate America’s repeat offenders. According to Ernie Zelinski in his book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free; approximately one third of retirees eventually return to work because of boredom. Others don’t return to work, but spend most of the day sitting in front of the TV — bored. Still others ultimately succumb to the endless boredom and end up being clinically depressed.

These retirees are like the criminal repeat offender. In past years, while they were working, they felt incarcerated. They felt like they had no freedom. They didn’t necessarily enjoy work, but work satisfied many of their needs over and above financial ones. Work provided them with a social life and a purpose and, most importantly, it gave them something to do — every day. Even if they didn’t like doing it, it was still better than doing nothing. Now that they are retired, there’s no one to give them assignments — no one to run their lives. They are bored.

Now that they’re finally on the outside, they are forced to take charge of their own lives. And not everyone can do that.

One of the keys to a successful retirement life is the ability to remain happy — not 100 percent of the time of course — but to be a happy person in general. And the best way to control your happiness is to control your focus. Yes, that’s right… think happy thoughts. Okay, I said it. And I know how it sounds. It sounds so… so sappy, so new-agey… so Pollyannaish. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether we’ve amassed the nest egg that we need to live out our years or only that “paltry” five figures, retirement still affords us great benefit. One of the most under-appreciated and overlooked is freedom – the freedom (dum, da, daa, daa, daa, daaaa) to express who we are. The freedom (dum, da, daa, daa, daa, daaaa) to dress and wear our hair as we please.

When you take the time to appreciate it, the fact that we are out from under the control of a company, corporation or string of bosses is, in a word… refreshing.

Please watch as I babble on about this in my car…

Went on a “Date Night” with my wife. Watch the video to see how it went… (Not the actual date night… the morning after)…

That was so much fun, we’re gonna do it again next month. Anyone got a coupon for Hooters they’re not using?

My wife Nancy and I are on vacation in Hawaii (Oct 6, 2010 – Oct 24, 2010).

Not such an unusual story – but the fact is that we also run a business selling guinea pig cages when we’re back home in Detroit. So, when we travel, we not only have to foot the bill for the vacation; but we also loose money from our business when we’re not running it – a two-pronged financial problem.

Our solution was two-fold. a) we came to Hawaii on frequent flyer miles to keep the cost down and b) we are still running our business “on the road”.

We built 30 extra “vacation stock” cages before leaving home. Then we arranged with our UPS guy to ship them out whenever we received an order.

The beauty of an online business is that you can run it from anywhere that has Internet access and room to set down a netbook or laptop – maybe a condo balcony in Kona, Hawaii for instance…

By now, if you are of boomer or of retirement age (or both), I’m sure many of you are aware of the many disadvantages of taking your kids on vacation.

They make a lot of noise. They pack a lot of stuff that has to be carried around. They complain. They are an additional expense. They make a lot of noise. They argue. They don’t necessarily want to do what you want to do. They make a lot of noise. They get bored. They make a lot of noise…

But there can also be a disavantage to not taking your kids on vacation. F’rinstance – we left ours at home – back in Michigan – and our son got in a car accident today. Don’t worry – he’s okay… (so no need to clutch your chest on our behalf). But the car’s in bad shape.

We had planned to drive Waimea Canyon here on Kauai today – but, we had to stay within cell phone range in order to monitor the situation as it unfolded back home with the kid, the police, the insurance company, the towing company… yada, yada, yada…

So – we just hung out in town and enjoyed Hawaii – enjoyed Kapaa, Kauai. We can do that… After all… it’s Hawaii…

Interesting fact: When I think of Hawaii, I immediately think of beautiful, sandy, expansive beaches. But that seems to be the exception – not the rule. Many beaches in Hawaii are thin little strips of sand or worse – jagged, lava rock shorelines – especially, it seems on Kauai.

And while they may not be the greatest beaches for sunning yourself – the beaches and shorelines of Kauai make for some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery you have ever seen…

Want lay out in the sun? Go to Maui. Want dramatic and beautiful scenery? Kauai is your place – especially in the South and along the NaPali coast.

We set out to explore the north shore of Kauai yesterday including the reknowned town of Honalei – which you may have heard of from the Peter Paul and Mary song from years ago – Puff the Magic Dragon.

In fact, if you go to the town of Honalei, you can see Puff. Just as in the song, Puff is a mighty sleeping dragon that lives by the sea.

In actuality this sleeping dragon is made of stone and is formed by a long, curving, U-shaped jagged mountain ridge that folds back on itself. If you follow the massive ridge from the shoreline, up into the mountains and back down to the sea you can make out the figure of the dragon as it curls around the valley formed by its sleeping form.

Most of Kauai is inaccessible by road – and when I say most – I mean most – as in 90% most.

So, if don’t want to miss some of the cool stuff (like, f”rinstance, that picturesque waterfall in the movie Jurassic Park) you have to free yourself from the confinement of those roads and take to the air.

So Nancy and I “hopped a chopper” and flew the friendly skies with Blue-Hawaiian Helicopters. Ya, I know – “Blue-Hawaiian” – sounds more like a cocktail than an aviation company. No matter, I would highly recommend. (We flew them 10 years ago on the Big Island and they were good then).