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

Tips for Retirement from Great Retirement Experts

I received the following e-mail the other day as a result of my international selling book, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free:

----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos Oliva
To: vip-books
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 10:35 AM
Subject: From Chile, El Mercurio Newspaper

Dear whoever,

I'm Carlos Oliva, business reporter from El Mercurio Newspaper at Chile. I'm preparing an article about "tips to aging people from great finance experts". So, I woud like to ask some questions to Mr. Zelinski, according to his last book (How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free); May I? I will appreciate your answer asap.
--
saludos

Carlos Oliva Vega
Economía y Negocios
El Mercurio

After I replied to Carlos, he sent me his questions, which follow in bold, along with my answers in normal type for the respective questions:

1-Why do you think that retirement life means a perpetual smile in seniors’ face?

Retirement life can bring a perpetual smile to your face. The three most important character traits that will help you do this are:

1. Attitude
2. Attitude
3. Attitude

2-How important could be create a new identity? Why?

It is particularly important to create a new identity for people such as workaholics whose identity is all tied to work. When a workaholic retires, he or has no identity. So a new identity has to be created through some new purpose in life that has nothing to do with work.

3- What do you mean when you said that seniors need to crate a new structures and routines with their leisure?

Retired people should create their own structure and routine simply because most human beings like some structure and routine in their lives. The workplace provides structure and routine while people are working in their careers. When they retire they must create their own structure and routine, which will provide some sense of order in their lives. For those unable to this on their own, they may have to get a retirement job. Check out my retirement plan for how I intend to place structure in my retirement life.

4-How important is taking a joy course of personal growth?

If you don't include personal growth in your life, you stop growing as a human being. This passage from my new book applies:

"Be a Learner first,
a Master second,
and a Student always."
— from Life's Secret Handbook by Ernie Zelinski

5 -How important could be money for seniors?

No doubt money is important for retirement. Money and retirement go hand in hand. How much money a retiree needs for a happy retirement is another matter, however. Some people in North America, for instance, can be happy with a retirement income of $20,000 a year whereas some people require $100,000 or more. The important thing here is studies have shown that the most satisfying leisure activities don't cost a lot of money. So money is not as important as some people claim it is.

6- Do you think this [retirement] is an age to find happiness? How?

Retirement can be a time when you are happy. Ultimately, you are as happy as you want to be. Here is a passage from another book of mine that gives the prescription for happiness:

Prescription for Life-Long Happiness:
Purpose enough for satisfaction;
Sanity enough to know when to play and rest;
Wealth enough for basic needs;
Affection enough to like many and love a few;
Self-respect enough to love yourself;
Charity enough to give to others in need;
Courage enough to face difficulties;
Creativity enough to solve problems;Humor enough to laugh at will;
Hope enough to expect an interesting tomorrow;
Gratitude enough to appreciate what you have;
Health enough to enjoy life for all its worth.
— from The Lazy Person's Guide to Happiness

Note: See teacher retirement quotes on The Retirement Quotes Cafe:

Carlos later sent me this email:

----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos Oliva
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 12:59 PM
Subject: Re: From Chile, El Mercurio Newspaper


Hi Ernie. First of all, thanks for your answers. Second, I would like if you can explain us a little more this question:

-Retired people should create their own routine. Ok, but, How retirement can create this routine whitout job? Furthermore, May you give us a couple of tips?

cheers,
Carlos Oliva
El Mercurio Newspaper

This was my response to Carlos

Hi Carlos:

Regarding creating a routine in retirement, here is my routine:

I get up late in the morning, sometimes around noon. After I eat a bit of fruit, and shave, the first priority is doing some intensive exercise for at least one hour, preferably two hours. I either go for a bicycle ride or go running. Then after I take a shower, I go to a favorite coffee bar for two to three hours where I play (and sometimes work) on my laptop and talk to friends. Then I go home for an hour or two to eat a bit and mediate. Then I go to another coffee bar for two to three hours where again I play and work on my laptop and talk to friends. About 10 PM, I will buy some food at a grocery store, before goinig home. By the way, I very seldom watch T.V., because watching a lot of television is detrimental to a happy retirement. I can go for four months without turning the T.V. on even once. In fact, one of the topics in my book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is: "You don’t have to watch one minute of TV when you retire — and perhaps you shouldn’t"

Anyway, I hope that helps.

Ernie Z.

Debt in Retirement

One of my bank accounts has only about $200 in it — but it alone makes me almost $15 trillion richer than the U.S. Federal Government.

See the U.S. Debt Clock which shows that minimally the US Government debt is $15 trillion:

It appears that the new retirement for a lot of today's retirees is to have a lot of debt.

Accumulating debt, in fact, is a way for people how not to retire rich.

Here are some retirement quotes and quotes about debt management that should help you put debt in proper perspective so that you don't accumulate too much yourself.

A creditor is worse than a slave-owner; for the master owns only your person, but a creditor owns your dignity, and can command it.
— Victor Hugo

Clearly, true prosperity is living easily and happily whether you have lots of money or not. I have had the fortune of being on both sides of the fence. I have been broke, over $30,000 in debt, and have had to borrow money to pay the rent. At one time I even had the sobering experience of sleeping in my car for two cold winter nights when the temperature was -21º F. Extremely cold, of course, but this is still far from the bottom.
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

You can't put your VISA bill on your American express card.
— P. J. O'Rourke

Who pays his debts, gets rich.
— French proverb

Never run into debt, not if you can find anything else to run into.
— Josh Billings

If you'd lose a troublesome visitor, lend him money.
— Benjamin Franklin

The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced. If the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt, people must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 BC

He who borrows gets sorrows.
- Turkish proverb

And here are some last words of famous people to add humor to this post:

LAST WORDS OF SOME FAMOUS PEOPLE

"Draw the curtain, the farce is over."
— Last words of François Rabelias

"If this is dying, then I don't think much of it."
— Last words of Lytton Strachey

"I have spent a lot of time searching through the Bible for loopholes."
— Last words of W. C. Fields

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
— Last words of John Sedgwick (immediately prior to being killed by enemy fire at the battle of Spotsylvania in the American Civil War, May 1864)

"Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. My advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it."
— Last words of W. Somerset Maugham

The Joy of Not Working Celebrates Retirement

On Friday evening 17 of my great friends and I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my self-publishing The Joy of Not Working, a book that celebrates retirement.

No, I did not have any 1982 Latour wine flown in from the U.S as I had joked about in a previous post. We, nevertheless, had a great time dining on great Italian food and going through about 7 liters of house wine at Rigolettos restaurant here in Edmonton.

I paid for everything. The whole affair, including a 20 percent tip, cost me a bit less than $1,000 whereas just one bottle of 1982 Latour would have cost $1,700 or more. One of the reasons that I pay for celebrations such as this is that studies show that people get a lot more satisfaction from spending money on experiences than on material things.

I brought along the various editions of The Joy of Not Working to the celebration, including the original edition in which was a dedication to around 20 people who were my volunteer editors back in 1991. Two of the volunteer editors, Jim Egler and Ross Bradford, were able to attend. Jim was not only one of my volunteer editors, he also took the photo of me that appeared on the back cover of the original edition and appears with this FB post. Jim only shot 4 frames that afternoon 20 years ago. All 4 photos were great, amazing given that Jim is not a professional photographer. I wanted to go with another of the 4 photos, but others preferred the one that appears here on this post and on the original edtion of the book.

Incidentally, the photo was taken on the patio of the original Rigoletto's restaurant in Rice Howard Way. That was a real glass of white wine and I was reading a great book about innovation called If it Ain't Broke ... Break It! by Robert J. Kriegel.

Today, I told my uncle about the celebration and how much it cost me. He immediately asked me, "So, how are you going to make the celebration pay for itself?" I told him that I was prosperous enough to pay for these things just for the experience but it, in fact, may pay for itself many times over.

As it turns out I was looking for someone to put together a spiritual book with me. I have this great book idea that should fly big time. Because I have two other important projects on the go, I would like someone to do most of the work and I will share the publishing profits with whoever does the work. The book is not all that hard to do but does require well-intentioned, sustained effort for about three months. I have several friends and acquaintance who I considered as a co-author but eventually concluded that they were not suited because they are not industrious and adventurous enough.

Three days before the celebration, however, I got a LinkedIn connection request from Sandy, a spiritual friend of mine who I had not heard from in two years or so and now lives in Calgary. So on a whim, I decided to invite Sandy to the celebration. Much to my surprise, Sandy decided to make a trip to Edmonton and join in the fun. I ran the spiritual book idea by Sandy and she loved it. Because Sandy has written 3 books and had them published, I know that she is dedicated and can complete projects. When I asked Sandy how long it would take her to complete my book idea, she replied, "Give me a deadline and I will have it done by then." This response alone convinced me that Sandy will do a great job and complete the project in excellence.

Anyway, when I told my uncle this, he responded with: "Even though you can easily pay for the celebration with the income you make, I knew you were going to have an answer about how the cost of the celebration will take care of itself many times over in the future."

Weird that my uncle would ask me the question in the first place and then give me the answer that he did. He claims he is not spiritual. Moreover, he doesn't believe in prosperity karma achieved by spending money in positive ways to create more prosperity in one's life — at least I don't think he does.

Here are some quotations about retirement and money to help you to semi-retire in style as I have done so that you don't need a full-time retirement job:

It's never crowded along the path that will take you to destinations worth arriving at.
— Life's Secret Handbook by E.Z.

You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you.
— Rajesh Setty

Money will be your friend — like all friends — only if you treat it with great respect. Treat it with disrespect and you will always have financial difficulties. Haven't you noticed? People who don't respect money don't have any.
— from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success

"No organization — government or otherwise — can take great care of you. Organizations aren't capable of this — only you are!"
— from Life's Secret Handbook

Celebrating The Joy of Not Working with 1982 Latour

SHOULD I SPEND $10,000 ON SOME 1982 LATOUR WINE FOR A CELEBRATION OF THE JOY OF NOT WORKING .

Note: I first blogged about 1982 Latour and how it is part of my retirement plan, a way to retire happy and enjoy the finer things in life.

The middle of September will be 20 years since I self-published my international bestseller The Joy of Not Working. This retirement book still sells 5,000 copies a year (now over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages). It has earned me about $650,000 profit over the years and presently earns me about $10,000 a year.

So I am having a celebration about the success of this book with about 20 of my close friends. I am paying for a great meal along with some fine wine at a favorite restaurant.

The Question is: Should I have three or four bottles of 1982 Latour flown in from the U.S.?

I first learned about 1982 Latour from Kevin O'leary of Dragon's Den who stated that two or three hedge fund managers and he would go through three or four bottles of 1982 Latour in one meal at Grille 23 in Boston. (Legend has it that you don't get a hangover from 1982 Latour, but I don't believe that - alcohol is alcohol).

See the article by Kevin O'Leary at Madness of Hedge Fund Managers.

Anyway, I was curious about 1982 Latour. So I checked it out on the Internet. It does not come cheap, starting at about $1,599 a bottle. Some bottles sell for $25,000 or more.

Clearly, I want my guests to experience the best at my celebrations.

So again, should I purchase three or four bottles of 1982 Latour?

I have to keep in mind, however, that various blind studies have shown that people can't actually tell the difference between expensive wines and inexpensive wines.

In fact, one of these studies, published in The Journal of Wine Economics, found that we prefer to drink cheap wine as long as we don't know that it is cheap.

By using brain wave detectors, the researchers for this study found out that people will actually feel better after drinking wine if they are told that the wine is expensive even if isn't.

So the trick is to drink cheap wine while fooling oneself that it isn't. (Easier said than done.)

Of course, for my celebration, the alternative is to purchase three or four empty 1982 Latour bottles and have them filled with inexpensive good wine.

My guests will get great pleasure in drinking this apparently expensive wine.

Of course, I myself will know it is cheap wine so I won't experienceas much pleasure. No problem. I will order one bottle of the real thing and ensure that I drink out of that bottle while the majority of my guests drink the cheap stuff.

Again, there is no off-switch on my genius machine.

One last thought: If my guests find out later about the wine they were drinking, I can always quote Oscar Wilde:

"The secret to life is to find great pleasure in being terribly, terribly deceived."

What do you think? Any other suggestions.

Another Note: The Joy of Not Working and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free still keep me a little busy but not enough to be a full time retirement job.