Retirement Quotes for Retirement Planning

I received the following email from my friend Todd about retirement plannig and used some new retirement quotes to respond to his concerns:

Ernie,

There seems to be a rel shift going on in terms of retirement planning, according to the CIBC poll about Consumer Debt in Canada:

"Two years ago, 24 per cent of respondents aged 45-64 named retirement planning as their top financial priority, which fell to just 12 per cent among that age group in this year's survey."
This is interesting because people have always had debt. So I wonder if this apparent attitudinal shift to saving and managing day-to-day bills, instead of planning for retirement, indicates that people are getting concerned about the economy and don't see their current debts as sustainable as they did previously, or if retirement planning "was selected by only seven per cent of respondents overall, down from 11 per cent last year and 13 per cent in 2011" because this generation doesn't really plan to retire in the same way that previous generations could.
In fact, I wonder if the idea of retirement was only a short term social myth that was really only relevant to the middle and upper class of the last 60 years or so, and that the "experiment" of retirement has proven a falsehood for most of the masses. For my grandfather, and generations before him, there was never really a concept of "retirement". He simply worked until he couldn't physically work any more, or died.

Keeping in mind that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was only started in 1966 (the plan is younger than me and is only 47 years old), it still seems to be in its "experimental phase". A very interesting fact is that I am one of the first Canadians to pay into the plan my entire life but will also be the first recipient who will see some of these benefits start to be clawed back (I will not receive Old Age Security until 67, causing an even heavier reliance on CPP for several years).

Anyway, I would venture to guess that this drop in retirement contributions most likely reflects a straightforward shortage of household income. As a person's household income and purchasing power erodes, I have always assumed that the first thing one would naturally cut back on is the retirement investments because they are such a long term futuristic concept and having food on the table or gas in your car is an immediate functional need. I am always surprised that these great "thinkers" in the CIBC analyst pool (or any other financial think tank) release these numbers without juxtaposing them with mean and median income figures to show correlation income down, retirement savings down; income up, retirement savings up. They make it sound as though Canadians have somehow started to belief that saving for retirement is no longer an important value to them.

Todd

This was my reply:

Todd:

I believe that there are a number of factors at work here.
One of the factors that caused the shift in saving for retirement is the low interest rates for years that encouraged people to purchase cars, houses, and all sorts of other crap they don't need with easy credit. Now there is a restructuring happening to pay for this bad behavior, including raising the level for CPP and Old Age Security. There will be a lot more restructuring — such as many government worker pension plans and corporate pension plans will see the level of benefits paid out to retirees lowered dramatically.

It's a case of the whole nation being invovled in a fraud against itself and then being penalized for it — with everyone being in denial that they contributed to the problem.

There was a time when savers were rewarded with interest rates of 10 percent or higher on GIC's. In 1990, if you had $500,000 in the bank in GIC's, you could retire comfortably off the interest of $50,000 a year. There was a real incentive to save at that time. But for years now, savers have been penalized and the debtors were rewarded. This is really stupid and most people in society are in denial that this is stupid.
Now stupid governments (in response to the stupid people that elected them) are trying to solve the problem with what created the problem — low interest rates to stimulate the economy and get people into even more debt. How insane is this? Sooner or later the pain of paying off the debts has to be felt. The longer it is put off, the greater the pain will be.
Having said this, there will still be people who retire early — those not willing to buy into the silly consumerism and the insanity that characterizes most people in society.

Here is a blog that I just listed for the ebook edition of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free:

Retire by 40: Forget about Freedom 55. That’s for amateurs. It’s really possible to retire by 40. Joe Udo explores why it is possible to leave your day job much earlier than 65. This can be accomplished by aggressively saving and investing as soon as you start working. Many financial advisers will tell you to save 10 percent of your income for retirement. This is an OK model for some, but not for people who don’t love their jobs. For this reason you should be like Joe and his wife who have been saving and investing over 50 percent of their take-home income for many years now.

Here again are two reasons that I cite for most people having the debt levels that they have:

1. Instant gratification takes too long.

2. A necessity is any luxury that the neighbor happens to have.

In other words, elevating all your present "wants" to your "need list" is another way to trick yourself into being broke in retirement. This is what many people are doing. Spending $50 or $75 a month on a cell phone plan is not a need. It is an expensive luxury. Forrest B. has a land line and a cell phone. He needs a cell phone in addition to a land line almost as much as a giraffe needs strep throat. Forrest has made a lot of money over the years, and unless he wins a lottery or inherits some money, he will be broke in retirement. Who is to blame? Larry Wingett covers a lot of this in his book, You're Broke Because You Want to Be. As Larry Wingett says, "For anyone who gives me a bunch of excuses for why they weren't able to save, I will give you examples of people who had it a lot worse in a lower income, more living expenses, and other circumstances, and still managed to save a bundle."

I just heard this the other day: This applies to a lot of people I know, and the probems they have, including debt problems:

"I'm in love with the system that keeps me down."
— Words of a Song Heard on CKUA Radio

Regarding putting off retirement by working later, I always chuckle at studies showing that a large number of people have decided that they will work forever, instead of retiring at 60 or 65. Frankly, the majority of these people are delusional. As retirement expert Joseph F Coughlin stated, "Planning to keep working is NOT a retirement plan." This is the reality for a lot of people:

"I'm already worn out now — how do they expect us to work several years longer? My body hurts so much and I start working every day at five in the morning."
— Norbert Schmittbauer, a 50-year-old construction worker in Berlin, in response to Germany's proposal to have workers retire at 70 instead of 65

Plain and simple: Studies show that most people who had wanted or planned to work in their retirement years (60 and higher) aren't able to do so. There are about 5 important reasons why they aren't able to do so but I won't get into that.

I could go on and on about this but it would end up being a whole book.
Here are a few more great retirement quotes that I came across in articles and comments to articles, which place retirement planning in perspective.

"The top retirement planning strategy today is not to retire."
— Joseph F Coughlin

"You say you want to work past retirement? How's your health?"
— Joseph F Coughlin

Result for many Americans When They Punch in Their Data into a Retirement Calculator:
"According to your latest data if you retire today, you can live reasonably well until 5 p.m. tomorrow."
— Dave Erhard

"If you own your house and have SS, you will have a comfortable retirement. You don't "need" much else. That 401k and IRA are pure discretionary money."
— locke

"Save 15% of your money starting at age 30 and you'll be fine !! Live below your means.........or don't blow all your money !!! No fancy cars, big houses. Save your Rubles. That's what I did and just retired at 57."
— Carumba

"Babyboomers spent themselves into oblivion and now they are trying to take healthcare and food from the poor. Christianity sure failed, big time."
— kellamd. Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

"Those who didn't save for retirement should not be able to steal from those who did."
— Happily Retired Guy

"Homes are NOT investment vehicles, you morons."
— "Marine20" , Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article about

"Treat your house as a home and not as an ATM — then you'll be fine."
— DeanG72, Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

"If you want the best retirement outcome possible, get rich. If that fails, consider getting married, staying married — and doing your best to die before your spouse does."
— Andrea Coombes, (This is serious — see article Half of Americans Will Die With No Money)

"While your financial assets are a good predictor of your retirement well-being, it’s worth noting that as many retirees say that they have “just enough” to live on with an annual income of $7,800 as they do with $130,000. So it’s not just how much you have, but how you want or expect to live."
— Dr. Joanne Earl, UNSW psychologist and careers expert

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food."
— Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

“I didn’t want to die at work. I decided to start spending the money I’ve saved and enjoy it, because who knows how long I’ll live.”
— Lynda Thompson, 65, retired from being an artist for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority who was diagnosed with cancer

To sum up, as Talbot Boggs stated, "Like life, retirement can be full of surprises. Take when you retire, for example."

One more: I can't forget the wisdom of Richard Parker:

“Retiring is easy. Staying retired — now that’s the trick!”

Actually, I wish I would have said that.

Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author
Helping Adventurous Souls Live Prosperous and Free
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 175,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

My Retirement Plan Is My Retirement Book

First, I like this article Smoking Is My Retirement Plan. Needless to say smoking is not part of my retirement plan.

And here is a short article about about a retirement study done in Australia that won't be a big surprise to either you or me. It is about how to retire happy with money or without much money.

The last part of the article states.

"While your financial assets are a good predictor of your retirement well-being, it's worth noting that as many retirees say that they have 'just enough' to live on with an annual income of $7,800 as they do with $130,000. So it's not just how much you have, but how you want or expect to live."

Of course, I have said the same in my two retirement books, only in different words.

Incidentally I was searching on Google for a great unsolicited review of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Quintessential Careers that I was aware of. I typed in my other best-selling book The Joy of Not Working by mistake.
I came across this review of The Joy of Not Working that I was not aware of.

Of course, my retirement plan entails selling 500,000 copies of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free which has now sold around 165,000 copies (over 300,000 copies as of August 15, 2016).

Here are some quotations about retirement to help your retirement plan and my retirement plan:

"Shun anything — shares, property, or the latest hot trend — with recent sharp appreciation. Bubbles burst. Wait until prices fall and then stabilize. Never buy in a market that is rising or falling fast. In the short term, stick to safe investments, even if you can only get 5 percent."
— Richard Koch

"The things that are most precious to the human soul are those that are beyond price — integrity, true friendship, health, achievement, reputation, true courage, great character, gratitude, greatness, emotional stability, common sense, self-esteem, creativity, wisdom, spiritual fulfillment, and peace of mind. These can’t be rented, bought, or sold — regardless of how much money you acquire."
— from Look Ma, Life's Easy

"Smoking is no retirement plan. Instead, it’s a death on the installment plan — with higher and higher payments. You’ll pay fiscally, mentally, socially — and physically. And most times the payments will go on for as long as you’re alive."
— Matthew J. Edlund, M.D

"If you want the best retirement outcome possible, get rich. If that fails, consider getting married, staying married — and doing your best to die before your spouse does."
— Andrea Coombes

"Re-retirement martinis tonight. Sad to be saying adios to such wonderful people, but happy to be thinking about my own stuff instead of other people's stuff. That, my friends is the definition of retirement."
— Sydney Lagier

"Today, every prosperous retired person who does not work in some retirement job has a grand scheme that does work."
— Dave Erhard

"You are the author of your own life, and you — and only you — can create the financial conditions for the ideal early retirement."
— Anon financial advisor

"If I would have known that retirement was going to be this great, I would have never have got myself a job after I graduated from school!"
— Unknown wise person

"Can I retire? The answer is obviously "no" if I am asking myself this question."
— Dave Erhard

"No one should rely on their home equity as a source of money for retirement. Home equity should be considered emergency money. I paid my home off 8 years prior to retirement and banked the mortgage payments for 8 years. Retirement plans must include worst case scenarios, a set amount you will need to retire. You should start living as though you retired a couple of years before you retire, to ensure that you can meet your monthly expenses. No one said retirement is going to be easy and no one should take for granted that it is going to be."
— "Popog", Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

Retirement Planning - Freedom 55 Is Just an Illusion

Retirement planning is a big issue nowadays, particularly with baby boomers. Of course my retirement plan has always been a little different from others and I don't even know how much do I need to retire. 

The following is an e-mail I received from a friend of mine and his concern that many Canadians will not have sufficient retirement income when they retire.

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd L
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 7:27 PM
Subject: [Retirement] Freedom 55 is an Illusion

Hey Ernie,

Just back from a trip to San Francisco.

I saw this article on Huffington Post. I would love to hear your feelings on this just because is exemplifies the tension that is growing between those who are trying fulfill a sense of purpose of life in retirement years, and the hard reality that at least half of Canadians are really not even close to fulfilling the "entrepreneur's" (or economist's) view of a fruitful retirement.

Canadians to Work in Retirement

You are also aware, I am sure, of the newest statistics that came out citing how many Canadians (53%) had "NO" emergency savings. This is not stating simply "low" savings for retirement, but NO savings.

Retirement Savings of Canadians

I fit into this last category, and I suspect our friend Jim does too in some ways. No retirement, no savings, and no assets (basically, to speak of).

Thus the pain felt by anyone (such as myself), per se, who will see their Old Age Security rolled out to age 67. Therefore, I am not quite sure what the "incentive" is, even within a full-on capitalist dog-eat-dog philosophy, to think that Canada creates a sufficient landing space for those who work their entire life (like me) and pay their Canada Pension and Taxes (like me) for 40 years (like me) and end up basically making less than the poverty line once they "reap" their eventual Canadian Pension Plan. It says, to me, that if a certain person couldn't score a private pension and savings plan, then we (as Canadians) are prepared to let all of those folks who fall into the "middle" ground national pension plan of $18,000 per year (which is fine if you live in an airstream trailer, but not cool if you try to rent a simple apartment). Forget having anything near "home care", at some eventual stage of Alzheimers,but what about basic electricity, garbage pick-up, or water/sewer.

Having said all of that, each situation is different, and guys like Jim and I live on cosmic rules that allow us to "get beyond" the basic needs in life, so ultimately I am not concerned about "us". But what of the other 52%?

This is not a question about finding your way within a system that has opportunity, but reflects views of those who are increasingly facing dwindling pensions/incomes and aren't able to generate "dynamic entrepreneurial energy", but at age 60 or s, just need a bit of a social safety net. Where will they all go in the ext 10 years?
This seems to me to be an important question that you could answer on your blog. Perhaps food for thought?
Todd

This was my response to Todd:

I already cover some of these retirement issues in my blog and on several of my websites such as 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement.

Yes, many Canadians are going to have it tough in retirement. Americans as a whole are going to have it much tougher, however.

Refer to my recent blog post Dying Early as a Retirement Plan:

Here are some retirement quotes as well as retirement sayings to place retirement planning in proper perspective.

"My retirement plan is to find a shopping cart with good snow tires."
— Patty Doy

"My Retirement Plan: Get a job that will last until I am dead."
— Anon, in response to a retirement article

"The Republican Party is a friend of Social Security the way Colonel Sanders was a friend of chickens."
— Charles T. Manatt

"My retirement plan has always been quite a bit different from what retirement experts say is the ideal retirement plan. I semi-retired when I was thirty-five and had a net worth of minus $30,000 (due to student loan debts). Many people will say that this is unreasonable, impossible, and stupid. I did the right thing, however. That is why I have been able to work at my leisure four or five hours a day outside corporate life and make a great living."
— Ernie Z.

"I'll assume that when I retire I can find a good spot under a bridge to park my shopping cart and get some shut-eye."
— darko714 (Alias for person commenting on USA TODAY article about Social Security)

"My wife and I have our retirement figured out ... we will head to the Reno area ... nice climate. On one corner my 70-year-old wife will be a hooker and across the street I will be selling hot dogs until the day I die. I can't think of anything else to do."
— dryheavesdaily, in response to MarketWatch article Four ways 60-year-olds can save their retirement

"My retirement plan is to get great pleasure from living solely to enrage those who are paying for my Social Security and company pension."
— Unknown wise retiree

"As long as I get air conditioning in my cardboard box, I'll be OK [in my retirement]."
— Barbara Whelehan, Bankrate.com Writer

"My Retirement Plan:
1) Work 70hr weeks for average pay.
2) Live beneath my means and save 15-20 percent of my income.
3) Diversify my holdings between cash, RRSPs and PM's
4) Watch cash get destroyed by inflation, and RRSP get destroyed by fraudulent markets and gold get destroyed by deflation when interest rates eventually stop getting manipulated by the government.
5) Retire in a cardboard box living on a diet of catfood and dumpster diving.
— Unknown Canadian in response to Globe and Mail retirement article

In addition to this blog post, I recently read an article about the biggest fear that North American women in their 50s have. It is not about their looks. Their greatest fear is that they will live in poverty in their old age.

Two last quotations about retirement to add to those above:

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food."
— Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

"Uh oh. Half of my neighbors will have to develop a taste for cat food and dandelions. Hey dandelions are great and highly nutricious (just dont eat the ones you've been spraying), as for cat food, I'd prefer to skip that dry stuff and just down the cat."
— Unknown person commenting on USA TODAY article Retirement planning: Assume you won't get Social Security)

One note about the study of Canadians nearing retirement mentioned in the Huntington Post blog. It was best covered (even better than in all the Canadian publications) in this other American publication:

Canadians Short on Retirement Savings

Fact is, I have several friends and acquaintances who are likely to live at the bare minimum of $18,000 a year. On the other hand, I have several friends and acquaintances who will be able to live very well in retirement, much better than me, given that their net worth is anywhere from $1.5 million to $3 million.

In short, there is no answer to the retirement dreams that people have been conned into. There is a serious restructuring going on to account for the excesses that North American baby boomers lived through and must now pay for in terms of a lowered standard of living.

Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 165,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Dying Early as a Retirement Plan

In the New York Times article at the link below, it says "Dying Early Is Not the Basis of a Retirement Plan."

I say, "Why not? Dying early as a retirement plan has worked for many people!"

This article about retirement is unbelievable and bizarre, however. Bizarre, given that is written by an academic. More on that later.

This part of the article is almost unbelievable, but likely true.

"Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day."

Hmm, a food budget of about $5 a day doesn't seem like a great way to retire happy, wild, and free.

Here is the link to the New York Times retirement article Our Ridiculous Approach to Retirement.

My thoughts about the article: This woman says, "My plan calls for a way out that would create guaranteed retirement accounts on top of Social Security. These accounts would be required, professionally managed, come with a guaranteed rate of return and pay out annuities."

In my opinion, this woman is delusional when she says "professionally managed" and "come with a guaranteed rate of return".

What the heck does "professionally managed" mean? Managed by greedy bankers or dubious financial advisors? Sure, most Americans (me too) would have a lot of trust in these people!

Worse yet, would be to have a new retirement plan, just like the U.S. Social Security System, managed by politicians and government workers.

And "come with a guaranteed rate of return". Plain and simple, there is no such thing as a "guaranteed rate of return" when we factor in inflation and so many other uncertain factors prevalent in the world economic order. Even George W. Bush admitted that the U.S. Social Security system cannot provide a guaranteed rate of return simply because there is no trust fund set aside for Social Security. The funds for Social Security were raided by the U.S. Government many years ago to pay for general expenditures. (See these Social Security Quotes.)

Now this woman (an academic, at that) is talking about another government program that would "create guaranteed retirement accounts".

Get real! Now I know why this prominent French writer and philosopher so many years ago stated:

"I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly."
— Michel de Montaigne

Here are some new retirement quotes and retirement sayings to place your retirement planning in proper perspective so you don't have to adopt dying early as your retirement plan:

"Let's spend all our money to buy cool stuff. Later we can sell it all on eBay to pay for our retirement."
— from Glasbergen cartoon

"What a wonderful title: The Joy of Not Working. Ernie Zelinski's basic message, no matter your career stage, is get a well-balanced life and quit relying on your job to define who you are. It's hard to quibble with Zelinski's live-life-to-the-fullest message. Those who have drafted a resignation letter in their heads a thousand times may be motivated to finally quit an unfilling job."
— Michelle Archer, USA TODAY

“Get this book [How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free] if you look forward to a retirement with 'zing!' ”
— Nancy Paradis, St. Petersburg Times, Florida

"I'm regularly asked what my [retirement] plan is, and I deliberately don't have much of a plan. I've had lots of plans in my life and it might be nice to have a period that is less planned."
— Malcolm Hamilton, Canada's Expert on Pensions and Retirement Planning

"People may live as much retired from the world as they like, but sooner or later they find themselves debtor or creditor to some one. More money won’t bring you more happiness — It works the other way around."
— from the book Career Success WITHOUT a Real Job

"Everyone needs a reason to put their shoes on in the morning [when they retire]. If you put on the slippers, you'll end up dragging your feet all day."
— Norma Fagan, Dir. of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of Monroe County

"Whatever the challenge of a new age, in the end what really counts is not the years in our lives but the life in our years. It is not about longevity, but the depth of life. Long ago I learned that age does not wither the mind if people remain positive. No one is too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. It is a mind game. As Churchill suggested, "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind."
— Singapore Retiree Jennie Chau

"Yes, I am thoroughly enjoying retirement! The best part is observing my neighbors drive off to work in the morning knowing that that their day will be filled with jerks, brainless and endless meetings, jerks, vendor lunches where you hold your breath just waiting for the sales pitch until you regurgitate your pasta, more jerks and the eventual company reorganization of the section that was just reorganized last month!
— Bill Kalmar

Here is a little item in the Globe and Mail about how I invest my money: Early Retiree Prefers Peace of Mind Investing His Retirement Money. Note how mean and vicious the comments and replies to comments can become.

Retirement: Not Working Provides Untold Wealth, Health, and Happiness



Here is the latest e-mail that I received about my retirement books from a couple in the U.S who took early retirement. They certainly are not short of fun things to do in retirement.

From the thousands of letters and e-mails that I have received from readers of both retirement books, this one has to be one of my favorites. It will definitely go into a book called 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement: Advice from Readers of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and The Joy of Not Working.

Dear Ernie:

I am writing to you because my wife said I must. You see, we both read your books (The Joy of Not Working, and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free). In fact, we put much of your wisdom into practice. We both retired early.

While we walked the dog one morning, Karen said that with all the new things we have done since retiring that you might like to hear about some of them. Here they are, in no particular order.

In the first year or so of our freedom:

• I filed a provisional patent, taking the invention to prototype, and began marketing it.
• She started a part time job.
• I started a blog, and built a website.
• She learned belly dancing.
• We hiked, bird watched, and photographed eagles, owls, and wildlife too numerous to list, even an albino fawn with her mother.
• I fly fished Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
• She joined a book-reading club.
• We travelled with our dog Jedi throughout the southern USA.
• She learned to use power tools.
• I began leather working, and developed two new designs.
• She began gardening, putting in both vegetables and herbs.
• We stay up later, sleep in, and take regular naps.
• I study and play the classical guitar.
• She started word puzzles to keep her mind sharp.
• I started a small business delivering health and wellness classes to the public through hospitals, senior living, and community centers.
• We dropped fifteen pounds (each) of weight attributed to job-related stress eating.
• We spent a winter in the Florida panhandle.
• She does yoga.
• We made new friends in several states.
• I resumed fly tying because of much more time on the water.
• We attended classes and seminars, including the Creative Retirement [Exploration Weekend] Workshop (CREW) at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. By the way, they cite your work at the workshop and recommend your book (How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free) .
• I wrote one novel, and ten short stories, which I will submit for publishing after final editing.
• We attended plays.
• She hosted parties, and re-decorated the house.
• I tried and let go of part time work. You see, I am simply too busy.

There are probably many more things but I cannot recall them at present.

Karen and I are thrilled at having time each day for nature walks, bicycle riding, bird watching, and cruising in our classic sports car (we are from Detroit, after all). The time together has strengthened our marriage, too.

We worried about money initially, but now find we do just fine, even spending less than we did while working. In fact, we noticed work requires a significant outlay, even part-time! I believe working consumes more money than most people understand. Not working, on the other hand, provides untold wealth, health, and happiness.

Thank you for writing the books you did. They have helped us along our path. Best wishes for health and happiness,

Jack and Karen C.

I like the mention by Jack about how working in retirement did not work for him. From the letter, you should be inspired to generate your own list of 100 things to do when you retire.

Some retirement quotes and retirement sayings to help you with your list of fun  things to do in retirement:

"Art is one of the few careers without a mandatory retirement age." — Julia Cameron

"My retirement plan is to join the folks with the torches and pitchforks rioting and storming the Bastille." - Jim Jim (ordaj), commenter on a Retirement Article

"You Say You Want to Work Past ‘Retirement’? How's Your Health?" — Joseph F Coughlin

"Like life, retirement can be full of surprises. Take when you retire, for example." — Talbot Boggs

"The top retirement planning strategy today is not to retire." — Joseph F Coughlin

"Result for many Americans When They Punch in Their Data into a Retirement Calculator: "According to your latest data if you retire today, you can live reasonably well until 5 p.m. tomorrow." — Dave Erhard

"Planning to never retire is not a true retirement plan. It, in fact, is a sign of delusion — and of denial about one's inability to save enough for one's retirement." — Dave Erhard

"Elevating your wants to your need list is another way to trick yourself into being broke in retirement." — from "Zen I Got Rich" by E.Z.

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food." — Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

"The greatest stock market you can invest in is yourself. Finding this truth is better than finding a gold mine." — Byron Katie

Check out this article Dying to Retire: Early Retirement Can Be a Killer in which one of my retirement books is mentioned.

Write That Book Badly — But at Least Do It!

For those looking for retirement quotes, go to The Retirement Quotes Cafe and Funny Retirement Quotes on The Joy of Being Retired website.

In my internationally best-selling How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free I advocate that retirees write a book (not necessarily a retirement book). There is no better way for anyone to leave a legacy than to write a book and have it published as a print book (not an ebook).

And this comes from my latest book:

"Writing a book is an incredible, satisfying experience.
It is a way to connect with the world.
It tells the world who you are.
It makes you an authority on what you write about.
It’s a swell way to eventually make money from your own creative efforts and feel much better for it.
A good book excites readers to self-discovery and making a difference in this world while you yourself make a difference.
You should write at least one."
— from Life's Secret Handbook (Reminders for Adventurous Souls Who Want to Make a Big Difference in This World)

Do you have to hire a professional editor and make it perfect? Near as I can tell, no.

If you have a great book with great content, it won't matter all that much, if at all.

One of my mottos is: “Write That Book Badly — But at Least Do It!”

In my pursuit of success in the publishing industry, I have always remembered this great advice by a self-published author Robert Ringer who has sold millions of his books including Restoring the American Dream, Winning Through Intimidation, and Looking Out for Number 1:

“It’s better to do a sub-par job working on the right project than a great job working on the wrong project.
— Robert J. Ringer

One of my “right projects” was my second self-published book The Joy of Not Working which was released in 1991. Instead of getting it perfect — or even remotely close to perfect — I kept to my schedule and followed my motto “Do It Badly — But at Least Do It!”

At the time that I first published The Joy of Not Working, I used a desktop publishing program that had no spell check. I did not hire any professional editor and just used some of my friends to help me edit the book. Three years later. I purchased an update of the desktop publishing program that had a spell check. When I ran the spell check on the book, I found out it had 150 spelling errors. Did it affect sales? I don’t think so. It had sold 30,000 copies in its first three years — and that was in Canada with one-tenth of the population of the U.S. Incidentally, I received only one complaint about the book. It was from some school teacher. She complained about the spelling errors and how good she was at spotting these spelling errors. But she only spotted about ten of the 150.

Here is the key to having a bestselling self-published book: Create a book that has great content, something that really stands out and is so far ahead of your competition that it owns the category (something like How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free). If you can accomplish this, readers willl overlook spelling errors (like the one I just made). The best promotion for a book is still word-of-mouth advertising from readers who love your book and tell others about it.

Recently, I purchased a copy of Brendon Burchard’s The Millionaire Messenger. Burchard had the book published within 10 weeks after he started writing it (not that's committment). The Millionaire Messenger was released in March 2011 and has now sold over 50,000 copies. I spotted a number of spelling and formatting errors in the book. Did I mind? Not at all — simply because it has great content.
Here are a few quotations about perfection to put perfection in proper perspective:

“And in fact, I think the more we start to worship perfection the more soul leaks out of art.”
— Kathy Mattea

“Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.”
— Gustave Flaubert

“Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it.’
— Salvador Dali

“Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life’s ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.’
— W. Somerset Maugham

“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well."
— William Shakespeare

Incidentally, if there are any typos here, enjoy them.

Here are some retirement quotes since this is a retirement sayings and retirement quotes blog.

"WEIRD AND DELUSIONAL: A quarter of middle-class Americans are now so pessimistic about their savings that they are planning to delay retirement until they are at least 80 years old. This is delusional because this is two years longer than the average American is even
expected to live."
— Dave Erhard

"I'm not just retiring from the company, I'm also retiring from my stress, my commute, my alarm clock, and my iron."
— Hartman Jule

"I never stopped doing anything [when I retired], I stopped getting paid for it."
— Bill Chavanne

"Retirement is the beginning of life, not the end."
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

"The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary."
— Fred Wilson

Being Alone in Retirement Is Better Than Being in Bad Company

If you are looking for the very best retirement quotes, then go to the Retirement Quotes Cafe:

I received the following e-mail today about The Joy of Not Working:

Mr. Zelinski:

I just finished reading your book, The Joy of Not Working. I'm definitely going to search for your book about retiring [How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free].

One chapter [in The Joy of Not Working] that really resonated with me was Chapter 10, It Is Better To Be Alone Than in Bad Company.

All my adult life I've not minded in the least being alone. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends. But at the end of the day, I love coming home where it's just me & the cat & my eleven bajillion books a comfy place to read them.

I've always been sorry for people who confuse being alone with being lonely. A couple of years ago I had a temp job where I worked the front desk for an office. My location was slightly separated from the rest of the work force. Consequently, I was often all by myself. About once a month, someone would stroll by & comment on how 'lonely' I must be. I would smile & assure them that I was NOT lonely, in fact I found my situation to be enjoyable. They would first look confused and then they would walk away making some comment that indicated they didn't believe a word I'd said. I don't think they ever knew how sorry I felt for them & their misperceptions.

I may be passing your book along to a recently retired friend. She seems to be at loose ends now that she doesn't have a boss telling her how to use her time. On the other hand, I may direct her to her closest book store to get your book on retirement  [How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free]. It couldn't hurt.

Vanessa W, Rio Rancho, NM

Here are a few quotations about loneliness and being alone to place solitude and loneliness in proper perspective:

When from our better selves we have too long Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop, Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, How gracious, how benign, is Solitude.
— from The Prelude by William Wordsworth

A man who finds no satisfaction in himself, seeks for it in vain elsewhere.
 — Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

City Life: Millions of people being lonesome together.
 — Henry David Thoreau

When all is said and done, monotony may after all be the best condition for creation.
 — Margaret Sackville

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.
— Edward Gibbon

Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing yourself is Enlightenment.
— Lao Tzu

Corruption of Inspiration Quotations - Albert Einstein Did Not Say This:

If you are looking for great retirement quotations, then go to The Retirement Quotes Cafe website.

This blog is about a non-retirement quote that appears on many websites:

"The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been."
— Albert Einstein

Problem is, Albert Einstein never did say this. This is a variation (and a not-so-clever mangled corruption) of a great quotation that unfortunately appears on many quotation websites.

Fact is, someone (no doubt a devious woman) has taken the first two sentences of a great quotation, placed "woman" in these sentences and attributed it to Albert Einstein.

This is where the passage comes from:

"If you follow the crowd, you will likely get no further than the crowd. If you walk alone, you're likely to end up in places no one has ever been before. Being an achiever is not without its difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. The unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they'll simply say it was obvious to everyone all along. You have two choices in life. You can dissolve into the main stream, or you can choose to become an achiever and be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no else but you can be.
— Alan Ashley-Pitt

and which at times was changed to:

“The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.”
― Alan Ashley-Pitt

You can read this article in Guardian about how quotes "get misattributed or mangled all the time, especially inspirational quotations:"

Inspirational Quotes Misattributed or Mangled All the Time

Another quotation that apparently is not attributed properly is this one:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!"

It has been attributed to Goethe all over the internet (including embarrassingly on one of my websites) and in books such as Joe Vitale's The Attractor Factor.

According to researchers, Goethe never did say this. Check out this article about Goethe's quote:

Goethe Did Not Say This

If you would like to read the many viewpoints about quotations, visit the home page of Sensational Quotes for Smart People.

Inspiration for How to Retire Happy

I received this e-mail today from a business reporter in Chile who had interviewed me previously about my books:

----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos Oliva
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 10:42 AM
Subject: From Chile-El Mercurio Newspaper

Dear Enie,

I'm Carlos Oliva, business reporter from El Mercurio Newspaper at Chile. Do you remember me?

I'm preparing an article about best seller for retirement people. So, I woud like to ask you some questions as a best seller author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free ; I will appreciate your help.

Below are the questions Carlos asked me along with my responses:

1-What's the big diferrences between this and your others books?

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is written especially for retired people whereas my other books such as The Joy of Not Working and 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting were written for the general population.

2-What inspired you to write this book?

The inspiration for my writing How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free was that the vast majority of retirement books focus on money and the financial aspects of retirement.

What sets How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free apart from all the other retirement books is its holistic approach to the fears, hopes, and dreams that people have about retirement. This international bestseller goes way beyond the numbers that is often the main focus of retirement planning in most retirement books.

There are many ingredients of a happy retirement and several retirement planning tools that help retirees plan for their retirement in new and more meaningful ways. One of the most powerful tools is The Get-a-Life Tree that you won't find in any other retirement books.

In Chapter 1, I give eight good reasons why the large majority of retirees, whether they live in Canada, the U.S., or other Western nations, can live on far less than 80 percent of their pre-retirement income. Indeed, government statistics indicate that retirees live comfortably on 45 percent to 62 percent of their pre-retirement income.

When I started writing How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free I wanted to write the best retirement book in the world. I believe that I have succeeded. Conduct a search for "retirement" or "retire" on www.Amazon.com and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free appears in the number 1 position. Better still, search for "retirement book" in Google and the Amazon page for How to Retire Happy appears in the number 1 spot — out of over 29 million webpages!

What's more How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free has already sold over 150,000 copies. By the way, my goal is to sell 500,000 copies.

3-May foreign retirement people (think about Latinamerica) learn the ideas you have shown?

Yes, How to Retire Happy Wild, and Free is written for people in all countries and not just for North Americans. The book has been published in 8 foreign languages since it was released including Spanish. See the attached images of some of the foreign editions.

I have also attached the PowerPoint Slide that indicates the benefits that any company can attain by giving away copies of The World's Best Retirement Book.

Many thanks for your interest in the book and so long for now.

Ernie J. Zelinski
Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 150,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Here are some more funny retirement quotes and some serious quotations about retirement to put retirement in proper persective:

"My retirement plan is to get great pleasure from living solely to enrage those who are paying for my Social Security and company pension. "
— Unknown wise retiree

"As long as I get air conditioning in my cardboard box, I'll be OK [in my retirement]."
— Barbara Whelehan, Bankrate.com Write

"My Retirement Plan: Get a retirement job that will last until I am dead."
— Unknown wise person, in response to an article on retirement

"Money might not buy happiness, but one thing you can get with cash is the ability to choose - prime rib over hamburger, say, or the date of your retirement."
— Writer at Winnipeg Free Press

New Retirement Quotes

This is my website that features retirement quotes, some of which will appear in my new ebook The 777 Best Things Ever Said about Retirement:

The Retirement Quotes Cafe

Here are some new retirement quotes just for this blog post:

"My retirement plan is to join the folks with the torches and pitchforks rioting and storming the Bastille."
— Jim Jim (ordaj), commenter on a Retirement Article

"Elevating your wants to your need list is another way to trick yourself into being
broke in retirement."
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (The World's Best Retirement Book)

"The least we can do is make a suicide pill so those of us with nothing left to live on [in retirement] can take the dignified way out."
- Jennifer Adams (jedadams)

"You Say You Want to Work Past ‘Retirement’? How's Your Health?"
— Joseph F Coughlin

"Like life, retirement can be full of surprises. Take when you retire, for example."
— Talbot Boggs

"The top retirement planning strategy today is not to retire. "
— Joseph F Coughlin

"Result for many Americans When TheyPunch in Their Data into a Retirement Calculator:
" 'According to your latest data if you retire today, you can live reasonably well until 5 p.m. tomorrow.' "
— Dave Erhard

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food."
— Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

"The greatest stock market you can invest in is yourself. Finding this truth is better than finding a gold mine."
— Byron Katie

"Planning to never retire is not a true retirement plan. It, in fact, is a sign of delusion — and of denial about one's inability to save enough for one's retirement."
— Dave Erhard

"I semi-retired when I was a kid and became very good at it. That's why I now get paid the big bucks for getting up late in the morning and then experiencing true freedom for the rest of the day. I am still a kid, by the way, because my first priority is to go for a intense, but pleasurable bike ride before work ever enters my mind."
— from The Joy of Not Working

"I'm already worn out now — how do they expect us to work several years longer? My body hurts so much and I start working every day at five in the morning."
— Norbert Schmittbauer, a 50-year-old construction worker in Berlin, in response to
Germany's proposal to have workers retire at 70 instead of 65

Here are three more of my websites with quotes about retirement:

Sensational Retirement Quotes for Smart People
Funny Retirement Quotes
Retirement Quotes on Squidoo

Being a Wall Street Protestor Is Not Good for Your Retirement Plan

Joining the Wall Street protestors will not be good for your retirement plan. I know for certain that it would not do anything for my retirement plan if I joined them. Here's why:

Most of the these protesters are people with too much time on their hands. They are "opposition looking for something to oppose." I certainly wouldn't want to hang out with them. I prefer to hang out with great friends.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a big fan of corporations. I know that a lot of them operate without any integrity, decency, and excellence and some of their executives should be in jail for the things that they do.

That is why I have not had a corporate job for over 30 years. My point is that there is still a lot of opportunity in North America - recession or no recession. Opportunity cannot be capitalized on by joining negative protesters who are operating out of a mentality of being "opposition looking for something to oppose."

As an individual, I am quite successful and prosperous in my life and have gained a lot of freedom, more than 95 percent of the population, even though I don't have a corporate job or government job. I even know how to make money while you sleep. I know that I would not have attained this success, prosperity, and freedom, however, if I operated out of the negative beliefs and behaviors that these protesters operate out of. Results don't lie, in other words.

These inspirational quotes about life (which also make great retirement quotes) apply:

"If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches."
— Rainer Maria Rilke".

"No one, even God, can mess up your life — that's your job!"
— from Life's Secret Handbook

Also, keep in mind that all the great tributes to Steve Jobs recently. Steve Jobs was a big part of corporate America. Without corporate America investing in Apple, the Mac, Iphones and the iPad would never have been possible. No doubt a lot of these hypocritical protestors are using iphones, ipads, etc. If they had any integrity, they would not be using anything that was created by corporations. Of course the majority of these people themselves do not have the integrity that they believe corporate executives should have.

Last point: You would never find highly spiritual, and successful people such as Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hanson, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer, or Louise L. Hay at these protests because they know how detrimental these negative protestors would be to their well-being.

These inspirational quotations apply:

"Keep company with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."
— Epictetus

"Invite more mentors into your life. Hang out with accomplished individuals — the
passionate, the innovative, the risk-takers, the well-intentioned, the doers, and the truly prosperous — who create value for the Universe and get rewarded handsomely
for it. Allow their spirit to strike a bright light within you, to make your own difference in this world, so that your legacy inspires those adventurous souls who live here after you to do the same."
— from Life's Secret Handbook by Ernie Zelinski

Reader Says Everyone Should Read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Here is one of the latest e-mails that I received about The World's Best Retirement Book:

----- Original Message ----
From: Wendy J.
To: vipbooks
Sent: Wed, March 23, 2011 11:33:07 AM
Subject: Interested in "The Joy of Being Retired"

Hi!

First let me say, I LOVE your book How to Retire Wild, Happy, & Free! Even though I'm only 25, I think that everyone should read it, no matter what age you are. I'm telling all of my family about it!

I wanted to inquire about the cost of your new book The Joy of Being Retired, that I found on your website.

I do marketing for my husband's financial business, and I was planning on giving away the How to Retire Wild book (I just bought 5 on Amazon), but now I'd like to compare the 2 and see which one would be best for me to give out (especially if it's cheaper).

I'd first like to read one before I buy them as promotional pieces. Can you tell me your rates and how I could buy one?

Thanks!

Wendy Jordan

p.s. I'll be writing an Amazon review for you here soon! ;)

This was my response:

Hi Wendy:

Thanks for your comment about How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and for having purchased 5 copies.

Regarding The Joy of Being Retired, the book has not been published yet and won't be for some time because I am working on another project.

You mentioned doing a review for How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com.

It would be great if you can post a 5-star review as soon as possible since the last review is rather negative.

If you do this, I will send you one of my other books as a thank-you gift.

It's not necessary to write a lengthy, formal review — a paragraph or two with 5-stars would be fine.

Here's a direct link to the Amazon page for How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

Also, if possible, can you place the review on How to Retire Happy Page on BarnesandNoble.com.

If you place this review, I will send you an autographed copy of my latest book: Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations. (See PDF with attached sample material.) This is not strictly a retirement book but it is a great book for retirees who want to continue working, but not in a corporation.

Alternatively, I can send you a copy of The Joy of Not Working.

Once you place the review, send me your address so that I can send you one of my other books.

Incidentally, The Facebook Page for How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is at this link and you can "Like" it if you would like.

If you want to hookup on Facebook, see Ernie Zelinski on Facebook

Many thanks and so long for now,

Ernie J. Zelinski
Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Creativity Consultant
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

My Retirement Websites Not Affected by Google Algorithm Change

The latest Google Algorithm Change has sparked a lot of interest and coverage by Internet Marketers and popular website-related media.

This was the comment that I posted on the blog post Google Search Engine Algorithm Changes:

I agree that scraped content is stolen content and that it is good thing that Google is trying to rectify the problem.

It is about time. People who steal content (and I have had a lot of retirement content stolen by people with really low integrity from my retirement websites and retirement blogs) are saying to the world that they lack integrity, class, and execellence and at the same time have absolute no creativity or motivation to create something that truly benefits humanity. Quite pathetic, wouldn't you say? It is because of people like this that the world doesn't work in better harmony as it should.

I have not had any problems with my retirement websites due to the latest Algorithim change by Google because I have great retirement content on my retirement websites. In fact, for one of the most important search terms (retirement quotes) that has helped me sell over 125,000 copies of my book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, I have the #1 spot on Google, but I also have the #8 spot on the first page, and 3 of the spots on the second page. In other words, I have 5 of the top 20 spots on Google.

For another important search term (retirement poems) I have the #1 spot and the #2 spot. And remember, I can't duplicate the #1 website to get the #2 spot with another website. The #2 spot by the way is a Squidoo page (Retirement Poems) which was not affected by the Algorithm change.

I have a lot of other important spots on Google for important retirement search terms such as retirement jobs, my retirement plan, and retirement sentiments. How do I get these top spots on Google. As Seth Godin says, "Being average is for losers. Being better than 98 percent of the competition used to be fine. In the world of Google, though, it's useless. If you are not going to get to #1, you might as well quit right now."

Ernie J. Zelinski,
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Note: See How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Facebook:

Advertising on My Retirement Websites

I get quite a few inquiries about advertising on my many retirement quotes websites. This one started with an inquiry about the Money Cafe:

----- Original Message -----
From: chris l.
To: vipbooks
Sent: Mon, February 28, 2011 5:22:32 AM
Subject: Advertising on The Money Cafe

Hi

I was hoping to get some information from you regarding advertising on your site. I am namely interested in posting a guest article, and/or text links, but I am open to anything really. Would this be possible?

I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your time :-)

Kind Regards,
Chris

This was my reply:

On 1 March 2011 00:45, Ernie Zelinski wrote:

Chris:

Regarding posting a guest article, I just agreed to this with some woman and I am sorry I did.

The article she submitted is so lame, so generic, that I will be embarrased to have it on my website. Guess this is why my books have sold over 650,000 copies worldwide - because I create great content. Results don't lie, in other words.

I have come to the conclusion that I have enough great content from my 15 or so books that is much, much better than 95 percent of what people are going to be able to create.

Regarding placing a text-based ad, I normally don't accept text-based ads on the homepage of my websites.

I do accept ads on other websites of mine, however. ( See some of my other websites below my signature).

For example, in October I accepted a payment of net $193.90US (after deductions by PayPal) from Total Marketing for a one-year link to Retirement Jobs on the Real Success Website

See the paragraph as indicated below with the link in "hearing aids":

Incidentally, speaking of AARP, the organization claims to have found the secret to getting hearing aids into all the ears of the millions of baby boomers who need them, as market penetration rates continue to be lower than one would expect given the need. Of course, better hearing should help baby boomers keep their jobs longer or find a second career in retirement.

A week later I accepted another payment of $227.88US net (after deductions by PayPal) for a text-based ad on the Retirement Quotes Webpage on The Joy of Not Working website.

See the retirement quote at the top of the webpage as indicated below with the link in "hearing aids":

One of the best hearing aids a [retired] man can have is an attentive wife.
— Groucho Marx

Incidentally, what I liked about Total Marketing is that they were professional and they paid promptly, unlike most of the companies or individuals who contact me about wanting to purchase text-based ads.

If you would like to consider purchasing a text-based ad on any of my webpages similar to those purchased by Total Marketing, please let me know.

Many thanks and so long for now,

Ernie J. Zelinski
Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Creativity Consultant
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

This is the response that I received from Chris:

----- Original Message -----
From: chris
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 4:25 AM
Subject: Re: Advertising on The Money Cafe

Hi Ernie

Thanks for your detailed response, I totally understand what you are saying. There are some substandard people out there - this is a dodgy industry.

Rest assured though, I am a man of my word. I was hoping to work with you on possible placing a homepage link on your Retirement Quotes Cafe site. Are you open to this idea?

The most I could offer you would be $30 a month payment, which would be paid monthly via paypal subscription. We are looking to place the link indefinitely so we have no plans to remove the link whatsoever after any length of time.

If you aren't familiar with paypal subscription, it's a great way to ensure we pay and that payment is sent to you without fail.

I hope you can work with me on this and I look forward to hearing from you again.

Kind Regards,
Chris

This was my response to Chris:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ernie Zelinski
To: chris
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 7:39 PM
Subject: Re: Advertising on The Retirement Quotes Cafe

Hello Chris:

Your original inquiry was about The Money Cafe.

At this time I don't want to place any ads on the homepage of the The Retirement Quotes Cafe website.

If you would like to place the text-based ad on either the homepage of The Money Cafe (www.the-money-cafe.com) or my other retirement quotes, retirement letters, or retirement poems webpages including the folowing, I will consider:

Retirement Quotes on The Joy of Not Working
Funny Retirement Quotes on The Joy of Being Retired
Retirement Letters on Squidoo
Retirment Poems on Squidoo
Retirement Quotes on How to Retire Happy Website

I do have a PayPal account through which other people pay me.

I require that the full amount be deposited in my account without any service charges going to PayPal.

Many thanks and so long for now,

To your prosperity and mine:

Ernie J. Zelinski
Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Creativity Consultant
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)