As I am starting to see people around me proudly announce that they are “Retired”, I can’t help but to question their statement. While traveling with some of these retired folks I noticed that they always opt for the cheapest thing on the menu, the cheapest room fares and never indulge in spa treatments. If their retirement is ‘freedom’ to them, it is a ‘noose’ to me. In this post we’ll explore the old retirement myth and compare it to the new mini retirement era.
The old retirement myth goes like this: A working class person(working for someone else)-teacher, computer programmer, nurse, contractor, doctor, etc. works for 30+ years and retires with a sizable nest egg in the form of a pension, 401k and/or savings. Pensions are hardly even in existence now unless you work for the government. At the ripe old age between 50 – 65 the retiree has enough money to make ends meet for the rest of their lives which could be from a year to 30 years. Making ends meet is living at almost poverty level; shopping at Ross, taking cheap vacations which leave you exhausted, discontinuing club memberships, clipping coupons, driving long distances instead of flying, etc. It is basically shrinking back from life and causing more work. A horrible existence to say the least. But these people are proud to say they’re retired nonetheless. Although they can’t ‘afford’ nice things, they’re retired. OMG- it is infuriating to be with people like this who live in very nice homes, but won’t spend an extra dime to get a better product.
I remember spending a vacation in Spain with some said retirees. We had arranged airport transportation through the property management office of the flat we rented. The transportation was very pleasant, safe, clean and efficient. It cost $40 pp for a 1 hr. drive. I was happy to do this and we arrived safely to our destination. Peace of mind is everything! Travel tip: Arrange transportation through an agent or property management team to have recourse if something goes wrong. After a lovely week long vacation the group found a local guy with a Ford Expedition to take us back to the airport for $20 less. I didn’t want to do it, but I was out-voted. I told them that the liability is not worth the chance of something going wrong. They didn’t care, the ‘retirees’ wanted to save the $20. In my mind that is insane, especially in a foreign country. What if the car broke down or banditos had their way with us? There was no recourse. Not worth it. This is the mindset of the working class retirees.
As these retirees arrogantly announce that they are retirees I just laugh. Really? I can see their point, sort of. They’re subconsciously angry and are ‘Stick’in it to the Man’. They had to work every day for 30 + years, driving 1-2 hours back and forth to their jobs. They traded their time for money. They had 2 weeks of vacation per year. They received medical benefits and maybe a pension or 401k. They went to 4-6 years of college in order to be able to do this. They were told this is what they were supposed to do. They did the grind and were supposed to be happy. And many of them are happy. They’ve gotten used to the pain. They don’t want or require more than bare bones living. The proud retirees rather eat at Fuddruckers than a beautiful 5 star restaurant or go on a Rick Steve’s tour than an Ambercrombie ‘n Fitch tour. They would rather go for a hike than play on beautiful golf courses all over the world. Their options are extremely limited in their mind.
What do these retirees do all day anyway? There are great things they do such as help out with grandchildren, play cards, take art classes, volunteer. Those are all wonderful things and are very fulfilling. However, I see some of these very bright individuals not take advantage of the tools of the internet to create a better life for themselves. They could create products or build a company that could give them financial freedom.
The new mini retirement world is now available. I fully believe that in order to be fulfilled personally and spiritually human’s must ad value to themselves and to others. Look at everything around you right now-physically. Your computer, your iphone, your desk, your car, your clothes, your backpack—everything was invented by someone. Those people who invented these things are the people our proud retirees worked for. Go ahead and get angry with me, you know it’s true. So to remedy this build something, invent something, take a risk! Or join a company and become an affiliate. It’s all good and will open doors for you(literally).
The internet is now available to anyone. You can create a business and have millions of customers. You can retire in style.
You can find out about how to build a business by going to:
https://kacstar.clickfunnels.com/kristi-carteruj3srgbm.
It can take time, even years to become profitable, but the effort is worth it. I’ll be talking about mindset in my next post. Mindset is important because it can make or break a really nice lifestyle. By learning how to set up and run a business online you will be able to sell a single product to millions of people. Mini retirements mean traveling to exotic locations while your marketing links are working for you. Holding webinars for your audience while you are a way is another way to stay involved and current. The trading time for money (hourly wage earners) is now a thing of the past except for the service industries. Once profitable you can dine at 5 star restaurants, stay at beautiful resorts on the beach, take a private charter anywhere, drive a luxurious car, do spa treatments, pamper yourself. You don’t have to live like a rat scraping up coupons and trying to save pennies!
The world is your oyster once you know and use the power of the Internet!