Prosperity in Retirement Through The Joy of Not Working

On January 1, 1991 I started writing The Joy of Not Working and made an agreement with myself that I would have it completed in rough by July 31 of that year. It turned out that I completed it one day ahead of schedule, on July 30 — in other words, exactly 20 years ago today.

In The Joy of Not Working and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, I talked about how I don't like working too much in the months that don't have an "r" in them, the warmest months most suited for leisure time. At the time, I thought about how great it would be to be prosperous enough to work very little — or not at all — in these four months and still earn $10,000 a month for each of these months. It turns out that in the last 3 months (ones with no "r" in them) I have worked very little and have still earned over $10,000 in gross pretax income for each month largely due to sales of How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free.

To me this is true prosperity. I just want to make a point that there is great opportunity for anyone with a bit of motivation and determination to also attain this type of freedom and prosperity.

I just don't want to make it sound easy, however. It isn't easy and it's a good thing that it isn't easy. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it.

Perhaps you have noticed that the people are looking for the easy way out are the people who are broke, and even in debt big time. These are the people who go from one seminar to another seminar about how to make money but never ever achieve anything because they are not commited to anything. Others do spirtual meditations on prosperity and recite affirmations until they are blue in the face. Years later they are still broke wondering why the universe hasn't responded. Nothing has changed in their lives.

Most of these people will also end up with very little money in retirement, living at the poverty line, relying on winning a lottery as a retirement plan. If you want to have a happy retirement living a comfortable lifestyle, I would suggest that you get your act together and create something worthwhile for humanity regardless of how much struggle you have to put into it. Your retirement plan will then look more like my retirement plan. and you will find 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement.

It may sound a bit weird that I am giving this advice on a Saturday in a month that doesn't have an "r" in it. Fact is, 20 years ago I was actively working 4 or 5 hours a day every day of the week on The Joy of Not Working. The payoff didn't happen until later, some of it much later. (The book has earned me well over $650,000 and still brings me a passive income of about $10,000 a year.)

In short, this quotation applies:

"Much of tomorrow’s success
and prosperity will depend
upon what you do today.
The question is:
What seeds of success and
prosperity do you intend
to plant before the end of today?"
— from Life's Secret Handbook

Also see Letters about The Joy of Not Working

More New Retirement Planning News

Recent market volatility and increases in life expectancy have forced even many wealthy Americans to adjust their retirement planning and expectations for retirement. Americans are in retirement doubt, in other words.

A survey by AXA Equitable was done on financial decision-makers with household income of at least $75,000 or investable assets between $250,000 and $999,999. Many people are asking the question, "How much do I need to retire?"

About 42 percent of the survey participants said they plan to delay retirement, and the participants who said they would push back retirement expect to do so by average of six years. The average new planned retirement age has increased to 68, from 62.

The survey found that 27 percent of the participants plan to go back to work in a retirement job after "retiring." The number who already have returned to the work force has increased to 17 percent, up from 9 percent in February 2009.

The AXA survey also found that 85 percent of the participants worry about having inadequate sources of guaranteed retirement income and 84 percent worry about inflation and losing money on investments.

Canadians are also having their issues with their retirement planning. In another recent study by RBC about the realities of the new retirement and what age Canadians retire at, results show that many Canadians do not retire on a date of their own choosing.

Some 83 percent of baby boomers still not retired over 50 believe they will retire on the date that they choose. In fact, 41 percent of Canadian retirees reported that their retirement date was unplanned due to their employer making it for them or health issues.

The study also revealed that more and more Canadians are living in retirement with debt and have to come out of retirement because they need more income to sustain themselves.

Here are some thoughts about retirement and life in general to put both in proper perspective:

Like the truth, retirement can set you free.
Or, like work, retirement can imprison you.
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Viva la retirement, grab it by the horns and go for it.
— Cheryl Marland

"Even the most gifted individual, whether poet or physicist,
will not realize his full potential or make his fullest
contribution to his times unless his imagination has been
kindled by the aspirations and accomplishments of those
who have gone before him. Humanist scholars have therefore
a special responsibility in that the past is a natural domain.
They have the privilege and obligation of interpreting the
past to each new generation of men who necessarily must live
in one small corner for one little stretch of time."
— Commission of the Humanities

There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality, Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.
— Mahatma Gandhi

Check out 1001 Best Things Ever Said about Work

The New Retirement - Retire in Your 80's

First, I just got interviewed by Sam Bickford, a dancing studio consultant and speaker from Vancouver, who along with his wife Valerie run 3 dance studios with 3,600 students. Neither teaches anymore. To them the new retirement is semi-retirement. They manage their studios mainly from their home office by working only 4 or 5 hours a week. Sam also teaches other dance studio owners to work only a few hours a week and enjoy semi-retirement as the new retirement for anyone prosperous enough to do so.

Sam loved an affirmation (which is part of my retirement plan) and that I created for my international best-selling book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (over 250,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages).

In fact, I had forgotten about this affirmation for the new retirement.

Here it is just for you:

Affirmation for the Connoisseur of Life

"I am now a Connoisseur of Life. I am too prosperous to
work long and hard hours. I have earned my prosperity
and deserve the right to enjoy a creative and satisfying
lifestyle. I am too spiritually evolved to have an identity
based on my work, possessions, and net worth.
Instead, my identity is based on more profound things,
including my creativity, my generosity, my spontaneity,
my sense of humor, my peace of mind, my passion for
new experiences, my happiness, and my spirituality."
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor

Second, a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows that MOST AMERICANS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD RETIREMENT UNTIL THEIR 70’s or 80's.

Ths study by EBRI called The Impact of Deferring Retirement Age on Retirement Income Adequacy indicates that many American’s hopes of a retirement have been dashed and they will need to keep working into 70’s and sometimes even 80’s.

The report is even worse for low-income American workers. Unfortunately, it suggests that those who earned on average over the course of their careers less than $11,700 per year, would need to defer their retirement plans till age 84 before 90 percent of those households would have a 50 percent chance of having enough in their retirement accounts to afford retirement.

Americans who earned between $31,200 and $72,500 during their careers will need to work to age 72 to have a 50 percent chance at retirement whereas those who earned more than $72,500 in their careers can stop working at 65 – in order to have a 50/50 chance of having enough money to fund their retirement.

In short, the EBRI study indicates that the new retirement for Americans is that not working is no longer an option for most and working past age 65 is becoming a fact of life. In other words they will have to wait for some time to experience 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement.

5 Important Principles about Money (Quotations) That Will Help You Retire Rich and Enjoy the New Retirement at the Age of 55

"People who don't respect money don't have any."
— J. Paul Getty

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

"People who are fools with money are foolish in many other ways too."
— Dave Erhard

"If you want to be truly prosperous, forget about keeping up with the Joneses.
Their prosperity is a facade.
They are broke — and in debt big time!"
— from the book Zen I Got Rich by Yours Truly

"Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship."
— Benjamin Franklin

"Money is easy to handle;
There are two secrets:
The first is spend less than you make.
If this doesn't work for you, then the second one is definitely for you:
Make more than you spend.
That's all there is to handling money."
— from Life's Secret Handbook

A Retirement Job That Can Give You a Great Retirement Income

The complainers of this world keep talking how hard it is to make it financially in this world and the lack of opportunity today to create a great retirement income.

These are the same people, including at least 25 percent of baby boomers in the U.S. and Canada, who are going to be broke in their retirement, living at the poverty line from Government handouts.

That is a total of 22 million baby boomers by the way. Generation X and Generation Y won't fare any better.

Yet there is incredible opportunity in this world regardless of the economy.

If you are looking for a retirement job that can pay off big time, I invite you to read this blog post about a guy who can't move any of his body from the neck down who is making a great living.

A Great Retirement Job: How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World

Fact is, I think that most people have a lot of control of when and where they retire.

All they have to do is take 100 percent responsibility for their lives — 98 percent or 99 percent is far too little!

Taking 100 responsibility means not counting on the government or anyone else for your retirement income.

The key is to save 30 to 50 percent of your income when you make a good income instead of spending it on crap like most people do.

I didn't start saving for my retirement until I was in my early forties and I will be okay in retirement. The reason is that I saved 40 to 50 percent of my pretax income.

Here are the two major reasons a lot of British, Canadian, and American retirees don't have enough money for retirement:

1. Instant gratification takes too long.
   



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

Here are some money quotes to help you with your retirement plans:

Like the truth, retirement can set you free. Or, like work, retirement can imprison you.
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Planning not to retire is simply not a viable retirement strategy.
— Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

If we wait until retirement to enjoy ourselves, there may not be enough of ourselves to enjoy it.
— Mike Hammar

Money is easy to handle;
There are two secrets:
The first is spend less than you make.
If this doesn't work for you, then the second one is definitely for you:
Make more than you spend.
That's all there is to handling money.
— from Life's Secret Handbook

I retired early for health reasons — my company was sick of me and I was sick of them.
— Unknown wise person

Being 54, I seriously doubt I'll ever be able to fully retire. It would probably kill me anyway sitting around the house watching the grass grow. Am not saying that I plan on working 40 hours per week until I drop, however, I would rather work 25 hours per week starting at 60 and working til 65, then 20 hours until 70 and 15 per week after that. That way I can enjoy retirement earlier and longer. Besides, the government will figure out a way to wipe out my retirement accounts long before
they put me in the ground .... either that or some quack doctor.
— "Catbluize" (pen name for a person commenting on an article about "Don’t let fear ruin your retirement Retirees’ financial worries hinder them from taking action"

I’m retired. You on the other hand have to go to work.
— Unknown wise person

The money’s no better in retirement but the hours are!
— Unknown wise person

As an aside, here is an e-mail that I received from Vera, a reader of The Joy of Not Working. Vera, by the way, is a professor at a University in the USA.

Dear Ernie,

Just a note to tell you that you are a real inspiration.

Instead of teaching summer school, from 9am to 3 pm lab every day, plus evening grading, but extra pay, I have opted for a rest. I must personally thank you for it.

I have rested, I go to the swimming pool, I enjoy the food I cook, I sleep in late, I watch TV shows I like. I decided not to spend any money whatsoever on stupid things, and so far I am OK.

Thanks again for all the wisdom you impart on us.

Vera:

Let Gary McPherson Inspire Your Retirement Planning

Gary McPherson

A recent survey by the AARP Public Policy Institute indicates that over half of American workers (55 percent) in their 60s have less than $100,000 in their retirement accounts. One in four Americans age 50 or older said they had exhausted all of their retirement savings during the recession, while 67% at least reduced their retirement savings account balances during the previous three years.

Are you one of these American or Canadian retirees who don't have enough money to retire on? Do you think that Social Security Is a Secure Way of Getting Great Pleasure from Being Terribly Deceived? Then get off your butt and do something about it. Create a retirement plan that works for you even if it just takes creating one of many possible retirement jobs. Whether it's like my retirement plan or one that is completely different, you have to take 100 percent responsibility.

If you feel that you don't have the ability or the resources to create more retirement income, let me tell you about Gary McPherson (see photo above), who passed away a little over a year ago. I had the pleasure of meeting Gary through my friend Mark Anielski, who asked me to make a presentation at a University of Alberta "Social Responsibility in Business" class that Mark and Gary designed and taught.

Gary spent over half of his life in the hospital breathing with the aid of a respirator before he learned to frog breathe (something the doctors had said was impossible). In spite of being severely handicapped, (a quadriplegic since he was nine), Gary accomplished 10 to 100 times as much in his life as most people would be able to do in five lifetimes without the limitations that Gary had.

As my friend Graham Hicks wrote about Gary in the Edmonton Sun shortly after Gary passed away:

"A quadriplegic since he was nine — one of the last full-blown cases of polio paralysis in Canada — Gary did more in his 63 years on this Earth than most of us would do in several lifetimes."

"Who and what was this Gary McPherson, that on his death he is so lauded?

"The Order of Canada, the Alberta Order of Excellence, Honorary Doctor of Law, social activist, political strategist, political candidate, superb organizer, administrator, health nut, sports addict, a great dad and a loving husband."

This I can tell you: Gary McPherson never considered using an excuse such as
not having the ability or not having the time when he wanted to write his book "With Every Breath I Take." Gary just wrote the book — in spite of being a quadriplegic — and left the excuses to people with 10 times the abilities and resources that Gary had. (See my Redroom Blog Post Write a Best-Selling Book — Just Cut Out All Your Excuses!

Here are a few more things about Gary:

• Gary didn't allow his well-being to be contingent on anything external to himself — not the weather, not the economy, and definitely not the government.




• Gary would never indulge in silly conspiracy theories or in thinking about devious ways to get governments or other entities to take care of him.




• Gary was a truly a free man and was not imprisoned by the absurd idea that someone had taken away his freedom. (Don't get me going on the lunatics in this world such as the Freemen who lament about their not having the freedom they deserve. If anyone has taken their freedom away, it is they who have imprisoned themselves with their preposterous thinking.)




• Gary didn't dwell on illness or disease. He lived his life as if he was in perfect health.




• Gary didn't have time for self-sabotaging stuff like complaining and criticizing the successful people of the world. Instead Gary chose to become successful himself.




• Gary came from excellence, integrity and honor — not from a sense of entitlement. He would never have thought of Winning the Lottery as a Retirement Plan.

Interestingly, the online articles in the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun that paid great tribute to Gary are no longer available. Gary may be gone and the articles may be gone but Gary's Spirit lives on with many people — including me. His Spirit will continue to inspire me to create great retirement books such as How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and The Joy of Not Working and to operate out of high intention instead of mediocrity that is the norm in North American society today.

Here are the links to two articles about Gary McPherson that are still available online.

Gary McPherson: A stubborn hero who saw ability, not disability

Remembering Gary McPherson