Nov 28, 2009

Retirment Planning - Those Who Don't Respect Money Don't Have Any!

Following is my e-mail to Christina Blizzard of Sun Media who wrote this article

Retirement plans go boom


    Hello Christina:

    In your article, you make this statement:


      "Even when low income seniors are boosted to around $16,000-$18,000 with Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Security, it is still not enough to survive, Eng said."

    This comment by Susan Eng is simply not true!

    I know people who are living on even a lower income right here in Edmonton, and not only are they surviving, they are living well, and happy, I might add.

    For instance, my friend Jim took early Canadian Pension Plan of only $435 a month at 60 years old. This is his total regular income and he has no assets to speak of except for an Airstream trailer and a older car. His income is supplemented by a few hours a week work that he gets from a mutual friend who manages a medical clinic. Jim lives pretty well and is one of the happiest people I know. He does admit that he wishes that he had a bit of money saved for emergencies, however.

    Another friend George is 65+ and collects about $1,450 in Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security. This is his total income. George lives in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in a Seniors project. Get this: George saves $450 to $500 a month from that $1450. And George saves this amount every month. George says that he knows that he will have a good deal of money in the bank when he dies.

    Refer to first two of the last three paragraphs from an article in last Friday's Wall Street Journal in which I was quoted for the reason that most people don't have enough for retirement in the first place.


    Just in case you are too lazy to read the Wall Street Journal article, this is what reporter Brent Arends wrote in those two paragraphs.

      The problem with people nowadays is that a 'necessity' is any luxury your neighbor happens to have," jokes Ernie Zelinski, a frugal living guru and author of The Joy of Not Working and How To Retire Happy Wild and Free." He adds, "We can all live on less than you think."

      You might not want to go as far as Mr. Zelinski –"I don't own a cellphone, I drive a '95 Camry, and for two years I lived without a sofa," he says–but the principles he espouses aren't crazy. "You're financially independent if you have $15,000 coming in and $14,900 going out," he says.


    There is also another reason that people don't have enough money for retirement.

    It was J. P. Getty who said,     "Those who don't respect money don't have any."

    So long for now.
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