Can you afford to retire?

The answer to can you afford to retire depends on who you ask.

This recent article, from the Memphis Daily News, is the view of many financial planners and certainly gives little hope or encouragement to retiring baby boomers.

I will briefly attempt to summarize the highlights of the report...

First the writer, a financial planner, and I am sure is well-meaning, says you must have saved enough money to generate 80% of your working income to retire ...or that was the old way of thinking.

Secondly, the writer suggests that because of recent poor investment performance that may jump all the way up to 120% of your working income!

Thirdly, the 120% figure is also due to inflation being a non-factor in the last decade or so.

Fourth, the writer contends that since you are not working you will be spending instead.

Why such financial retirement advice is flawed...IMHO

I disagree on all points listed above...not taken into account are the following:

• Most folks would rather retire than work
• The fact that the longer you wait to retire the older you will become...duh
• The older you are the less time you will have to enjoy retirement
• If the desire to retire is strong enough you will find a way to spend less

Furthermore if you have accumulated enough cash to generate 100% of your working income... Why on earth are you still working?

My own experiences with financial planners

I have nothing against financial planners, I remember in the salad days of commercial real estate my financial planner became one of my best friends. I talked to him last week, he is still working and I have been retired since 1994.

I can also remember that many of the "investments" I purchased from him were based upon how much taxes I could save/shelter... Hindsight being 20/20...I would've been better off to pay the taxes and reduce my tax return from a tome, weighing a pound, and saved the $1000 plus per year I paid a CPA to prepare my taxes. Add another $3,000 when I got audited.

When we met for lunch in nice restaurants, wearing about $3000 worth of clothing between us, you have the mindset that you're always going to live like this...

It never entered my mind that I would never have another suit custom-made, but be wearing swim trunks and T-shirts all day in retirement My desire to retire became strong... I have not missed that old high life one bit... And you won't either when you retire...if you really want to retire.

Can you afford to retire?...ask yourself first

Remember that you are the one retiring not your financial planner... No one but you is familiar with your retirement dreams.

Always ask yourself the question, would you rather retire now with X $$, or wait 20 years and retire with 3X$$?

The choice is yours, but I would be careful who I ask the question can you afford to retire?

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