For many people, especially in 2012, retirement planning is their top new year resolution.  If you have heard yourself saying things like “This is the year that I get serious and create a retirement plan.”  Or, “It’s time to stop kidding around, we need to create a retirement plan, create a budget, and find the savings we need for retirement.”

Then I have some good news, achieving your 2012 retirement planning resolution, is now free and easy.

Free Early Retirement Planning Software 2012 enables anyone and everyone, to easily plan, manage, achieve and maintain, their retirement goal for free.  This amazing new retirement software package offers something no other financial planner can, the ability to retire when you want.

When do you want to retire?  With Free Early Retirement Planning Software 2012, you simply choose when you want to retire, and in less than half an hour, you can create an individual retirement plan that calculates how much you need to save each month, and how much you can safely spend in retirement to achieve your goal.

And, you get simple budgeting tools, that put you on track to achieve your goal.

If you are planning to retire in 2012, or you are already retired, Free Early Retirement creates a 30 year retirement plan that adjusts for inflation, and includes budgeting tools to insure you maintain a safe retirement.

One more pleasant surprise awaits retirement planning resolution procrastinators in 2012, the discovery that you need much less savings to successfully retire, than traditional retirement planners would have you believe.

Try the Free Early Retirement Calculator to find out how much savings you really need to retire.

To learn more and download visit: Free Early Retirement

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Take it from a former banker, the European debt crisis, is in reality a global banking crisis.

The mainstream media, owned by the same 1% who own the banks,  have done a great job of whipping up hysteria and fear regarding the European debt crisis, but a purposefully poor job of explaining the truth about the European debt crisis.  Here is the truth.

Since the Euro was created, American and European banks lent billions of dollars and Euros to European countries, as well as billions of dollars to Europeans to finance a housing bubble.  The global credit crisis of 2007, and the global economic collapse of 2008, caused a global recession.

Indebted European countries saw their tax revenues plummet and could no longer finance their debts.  When Greece tried to re-negotiate it’s debt, the banks fearing other nations would follow Greece refused, and instead demanded that the Greek government impose austerity on it’s people.  The decision to raise the retirement age caused Greek workers to riot and the Greek government to stall the bankers.

The banks retaliated by having their ratings agencies downgrade Greek bonds, driving up interest rates in Greece, making it impossible for Greece to borrow money without agreeing to further austerity measure.

The banks then put a financial gun to the rest of Europe’s head, and threatened to shoot the Euro, if other European countries did not bail them out by bailing out Greece.  At the same time, in coordination with their hedge fund partners, the banks created a win-win situation by simultaneously shorting European debt.

If the Europeans paid up fully on their debts, the banks got their money back, and if the European countries could not pay back their debts, their hedge funds (run by former investment bankers and where investment bankers put their bonus money) got rich

Having mastered their profitable scheme on Greece, the banks and hedge funds went after the other PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain), picking them off one by one.

This is what has been taking place for the past two years.

Although this win-win strategy has overall been profitable for the elite banks, it is not without risk, and the consequences of failure can be dire.  The MF Global collapse caused by the European debt crisis is the prime example.  One dumb move by one hedge fund can bring down the entire system.

When Greece decided to hold a referendum on their bail-out deal, and Italy began negotiating with China to buy their bonds, the bankers were forced to stage a coup and place their men, former investment bankers as their country’s new prime ministers.  The risks have become too large for the bankers and they have now decided upon a new strategy.  The Euro Bond.

The bankers’ new plan is the creation of a European Bond, which will take away the ability of European nations to issue their own debt, enable the rollover of existing PIIGS debt into the new bond, make all Europeans responsible for each others debts,  So that, financially strong Germany for instance, would become responsible for financially weak Greek debt.

If the Europeans do not agree to the Euro Bond, the banks will crash the Euro itself, that is why you see stories such as “Euro Has 10 Days!”  The U.K. has backed out of the deal, because London is the operating base for the bankers’ global operations, and the banks would be bound by European Union financial regulation.

Most of what you read  and watch in the mainstream financial media is either uninformed garbage, banker generated propaganda, or misinformation designed to benefit speculating hedge funds.  The truth about the European debt crisis, is that it is a global banking crisis, and the banks are trying to engineer another bailout to insure they get paid back in full.

Also Read:
MF Global European Debt
Occupy Retirement Planning
How to Save $1 Million

Free Retirement Tools
Free Retirement Calculators
Free Retirement Software
Free Retirement Planning Guide

I am pleased to announce the release of our new Free Early Retirement Software.  Now, you simply choose when you want to retire, and Free Early Retirement Software gives you the, plan and tools to make it happen.

Free Early Retirement Software enables you  to easily plan, manage, achieve, and maintain, a safe and secure early retirement.

Features:

• 30 Year Retirement Spending Plan (Retire Now)
• 5+ Individual Retirement Plans (Retire Later)
• Create Current and Retirement Budgets
• Track Your Expenses

There are two versions of Free Early Retirement Software, Retire Now for people who want to retire now, within a year, or who are already retired.  And, Retire Later, for people who want to retire more than a year from now

With Free Early Retirement Software, you know how much you need to save each month, how much you can safely spend in retirement, and when you will retire.

Free Early Retirement Software takes the guessing out of retirement planning.

To Learn More and Download: Free Early Retirement Software

The layoffs continue at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), with a fresh 7500 positions to be axed this year, as the USPS struggles to remain solvent.   The latest layoffs at the USPS come with a small early retirement incentive package, of $20,000 to be paid over two years, for Postal Service employees aged 50 and older or who have 25 years of service.

The Post Office’s early retirement incentive is very small, too small to make much of a difference in retirement income, and not enough to convince someone to retire.  To put it into perspective, a $20,000 early retirement incentive, would give you an additional $67 in retirement income.

However, if you are a USPS employee who would like to retire anyway, why not find out if you can retire and take their $20,000?  Our website has a free voluntary early retirement incentive calculator, that allows you to calculate how much you can safely spend in retirement, after adding in your early retirement incentive offer.

If you are not eligible to receive the USPS early retirement offer, but would like to find out if you can retire today, try our free early retirement calculator instead.

The latest round of layoffs mainly affect upper management, so a larger number of USPS employees who try our calculators, should discover that they can retire today.  Our website also contains information on how to retire early for younger postal service employees who survive the layoffs.

If you have any questions regarding the calculators, or how you can retire early, leave a comment below.  Good luck.

Also Read:
How to Retire With Less Than $1 Million
Planning to Retire in 2011
Why You Should Not Retire in Debt

Right now, somewhere in Washington D.C., a plan to rob Social Security is being devised, that would have seniors fight each other over Social Security.

Thanks to R.J. Eskrow over at the Huffington Post, word is leaking out from the Obama Budget Deficit Commission to rob your retirement, that “the Deficit Commission is finalizing a deal that would increase Social Security benefits slightly for low-income recipients while cutting them for everyone else.”

He goes on to write, “The new proposal would pit middle-class seniors against the elderly poor, forcing them to compete for a stripped-down pool of dollars.”

The wealthy elite backers behind the Budget Deficit Commission, and their paid-for-politicians, believe that they can employ one of their favorite “Divide and Conquer” tactics against the American middle class – Class Warfare.  This time, it’s seniors vs. seniors, in an inter-generational class warfare death match.

Sorry, the Budget Deficit Commission will say, “but we have to cut middle class social security benefits to prevent poor seniors from starving.”

In the deal, poor seniors will get pennies in benefits, the middle class will lose dollars in benefits, and the government will get out of paying the American people the trillions of dollars in benefits it owes them.

You payed into Social Security, money was deducted from your pay check every month, and put into the Social Security trust fund.  The government owes you these benefits.  They are breaking their deal with you, engaging in taxation without representation, in reality robbing you in a wealth transfer scheme to benefit the wealthy elite.

Why do the wealthy elite care about Social Security?  There are several reasons, but the biggest reason is taxes.  The wealthy elite want you to lose your retirement benefits, so they can keep their Bush tax cuts, which will expire at the end of this year.

Another reason is that the United States can not continue to rack up more debt, even though one of the leading reasons why the government has a debt crisis are the bush tax cuts for the rich, without endangering the value of  dollar backed assets.  Everything from the U.S.  Treasury Bonds they hold, stock share value in the companies they own, American real estate, everything that is priced in dollars will lose value.

The solution to keeping their tax cuts, and balancing the budget, is to have middle class and poor Americans give up their retirements.  Seniors should be aware of this tactic, and also should be aware of another tactic used by the wealthy elite, generational warfare.

Younger workers will be forced to give up their retirements, so that older worker can keep their current benefits,  elderly Americans will resort to eating their young to survive.  Is this the America we want for ourselves and our children?  Everyone  robbing everyone else?  Forcing your children to work as wage slaves until they die so that you can have a few extra years for yourself?

It’s a lie.  You don’t have to give up Social Security, and neither do your children, the program is fine.  Don’t get distracted and begin fighting with each other.  Look at today’s headlines to see  the other types of divide and conquer tactics in action.

Race, religion, ethnicity, are all tactical conflicts being used to drive wedges amongst the American people, while the wealthy elite rob everyone, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.  Don’t allow yourself to get suckered into senior class warfare.

Visit the Early Retirement Website, to learn how to retire early and try our free retirement calculators.

I don’t know exactly when it started, or even where it started, but I can see dead trees.   Wherever I go, I see the rain forests, jungles, redwoods that once existed.   Where people see cows grazing on beautiful rolling green covered hills – I see dead trees.

Long after the forests and those who remember them have died, after the traces of their existence have disappeared, after all the wild has been squeezed out of the wilderness, I can see the forests that once were there.   I can look at a city with it’s hills covered in concrete, and I can see the trees that once lined the hills, and where the creeks once ran.   When I see someone’s backyard redwood deck – I see a dead tree.

Sugar cane fields in Hawaii, sugar cane fields in Brazil, sugar cane fields in Costa Rica – dead trees.   A ski-resort in Tahoe – dead trees.   It’s a curse.   Something I can’t shake.   Wherever I go I see dead trees.   I hate chain-saws.   I can’t believe their is a program on t.v. that celebrates men who kill trees.   I don’t understand what is so brave and macho about killing something that can’t move.

I know that people think that people who sit in trees to save them from getting chopped down, and after reading this article you may think I belong in a tree with them, are out to lunch crazy.    But have you ever stood under a tree that was born before Christ, that sheltered the first American explorers of the West, that survived thousands of fires and droughts, that existed when your ancestors still lived in caves – I have.

Also Read:

10 Green Ways to Save $1 Million and the Planet

This earth day green calculator demonstrates the positive financial benefit living a green lifestyle has on your financial future.   See how lowering your consumption enables you to save more for retirement and need less savings to retire.   Going green allows you to retire early.

Enter an expense into the Green Calculator, and the number of years until you plan to retire, and the calculator will calculate how much extra savings you will have and how much less you need for retirement.   Examples are getting rid of your car, expensive coffee habit, worthless gym membership, mini-storage unit, any expense that you can live without or replace with a less expensive alternative.

While you are trying the Green Calculator on the Green Retirement Planning website, be sure to try the free retirement calculator to find out how much less savings you need to retire.   The free retirement calculator will show you how much savings you need using Green Retirement vs. Wall Street Retirement.

Celebrate this Earth Day by trying Green Retirement and learning how you can retire early.   Retirement is the single best action you can take to reduce climate change.   Better than driving hybrid cars, recycling, or changing light bulbs.   When you retire your commute comes to an end, heating and cooling two locations for your comfort is no longer required, and your overall consumption of natural and financial resources dramatically declines.

This Earth Day – Do the World a Favor and Retire!   Try the Green Calculator

Not This Christmas – I’m Going Green!

After 44 continuous years of celebrating Christmas with a tree, this year I have decided not to have a Christmas tree, I’m celebrating a Green Christmas.   Last year I was shocked by the number of discarded Christmas trees, that littered the sidewalks of my San Francisco neighborhood, for months after Christmas had ended.

In my growing Green consciousness, I realized that Christmas had become un-sustainable, and was in reality a leading cause of global warming.   The hyper-consumption that occurs around Christmas, forget the moral implications (What would Jesus say?), is extremely damaging to the environment.

From Christmas trees, to wrapping paper, holiday lights, mall shopping, packaging, multiple gifts, Christmas cards, and on and on, all cause global warming.    So this year, I am not participating, I will not help destroy the planet in the name of Santa Claus. I will be celebrating a Green Christmas.   No tree, lights, decorations, x-mas cards, everyone gets one gift.

What about you? Are you already celebrating a Green Christmas?   Have you greened your Christmas?   Are you starting to realize how environmentally damaging Christmas has become?  How do you convince kids to celebrate a Green Christmas?

Also Read:
10 Green Ways to Save $1 Million and the Planet
Get Out of Debt by Going Green

Thanksgiving on Alcatraz 2008

A Green Thanksgiving.   No turkey, stuffing, gravy, or cranberry sauce. Instead, at 6:00 a.m in the cold damp November air of San Francisco, we board a crowded ferry bound for Alcatraz Island.   On this day, as on every Thanksgiving day, the island belongs once again to Native Americans.

Old warriors, of the 19 month re-occupation of Alcatraz Island, veterans of Wounded Knee, and thousands of other Native Americans young and old gather to remember.

Forming a large circle under the island’s light house, tears can be seen flowing down the shivering painted cheeks of squaws waiting to dance, it is a powerful ceremony. Broken treaties, genocides, struggles, are recited.   And then the drums, followed by warriors and squaws in ceremonial costume, enter the circle and begin to dance.

You can see the video I shot this Thanksgiving morning on Youtube.   Thanksgiving Alcatraz 2008

Green Indians
All Americans, native or not, can learn from this continent’s original inhabitants.   In general, Native American lived sustainable lives, conserving their natural resources.   They worshiped the earth.   For this reason, Native Americans thrived on this land for 15,000 years, while it only took the white man 500 years to exploit and consume the continent.

If current Americans wish to remain on this land for another 15,000 years, we will have to bring back the trees, animals, rivers, fish, grasslands, swamps, deltas, lakes, creeks, and butterflies.   We will have to learn to live in harmony, not attempt to be the masters, of our planet.

Also Read:
10 Green Ways to Save $1 Million and the Planet
Turn Black Friday Green
How to Retire Early

By helping clients switch  from a consumption lifestyle, to a green lifestyle, life coaches can help their clients achieve their retirement goals.

Clients of life coaches, and everyone else, have been severely impacted by declines in the housing and stock markets.   Retirement accounts in the United States have already lost $2 trillion dollars this year, housing values have plunged 30%, and economists predict the situation will only get much worse.

Up until now, life coaches have had very few options, when it  came to helping their clients plan retirements.   Life coaches are not allowed, unless they hold appropriate licenses, to sell or offer investment advice.   For the most part, Life coaches have been denied the opportunity, to help their clients with one of life’s most important transitions.   Banks, mutual funds, 401k administrators, certified financial planners, money managers, discount brokerages, were where clients went for retirement planning advice.

Not anymore.   Green Retirement Planning is the first retirement product, that truly enables Life Coaches to offer their clients, a simple and affordable method of achieving financial freedom.   A retirement product that benefits the individual, society, and the planet.   Because Green Retirement is a lifestyle product, and not an investment product, Life Coaches do not need  special licenses, education, or certifications, in order to offer their clients Green Retirement Planning.

Life Coaches are already equipped with the necessary training, to help their clients make the lifestyle changes, needed to take advantage of the Green Retirement Planning method.   Here’s how Green Retirement works:

How much a person consumes in retirement, determines how much savings they will need for retirement, and when they can retire.   The life coach helps their client create a retirement budget, and make the necessary lifestyle changes, that will enable them to achieve their retirement goals.   The greener a person becomes, and the less they consume,   the less savings they need for retirement.   Green Retirement calculates the positive retirement benefit of conserving financial resources.

Let me give you an example:

Your client rents a storage unit costing $150 per month.   If they held a garage sale, and ended that monthly expense, they would need $45,000 less dollars to retire.   If your client lives a car free life in retirement she can retire with $180,000 less retirement savings.   If she rents a $350 per month less expensive condo in retirement,   retire with $100,000 less retirement savings, $100,000 is the amount of savings needed to pay for the $350 more expensive condo unit.   Taken all together, your client after these lifestyle changes, can retire with $225,000 less dollars.   How many years earlier will your client be able to retire? Green Retirement can calculate that figure as well.

Life Coaches are trained experts at helping their clients make lifestyle changes and transitions.   It is only natural, no pun intended, that Life Coaches would wish to offer their clients Green Retirement Planning.   Compare Green v.s. traditional.   If your client earns $80,000 per year, traditional retirement planning calculates, that she will need $1,600,000 to retire.   Using Green Retirement, if her retirement budget is $2750 per month, she only needs$825,000 to retire.

That is a $775,000 difference in required retirement savings, between Green Retirement and traditional retirement, imagine how many years earlier your client can retire not having to save an additional $775,000 for retirement.

This is great news in our current economic situation, and will bring hope to your client, that they can still achieve their retirement dreams.   You may find that some of your clients are in a position to retire right now, even though they may believe that they will have to delay their retirements, and continue to work for many more years.

Life coach clients receive more than Early Retirement Planning, they also get Early Retirement Software, the tool that helps them achieve their retirement goals.   Green Retirement Software helps your clients track their expenses, create a current and retirement budget, household financial portfolio-at-glance, and more.  Green Retirement Software is designed for people planning their retirement, and for retirees, helping them to create and stay on budget.

How much does Green Retirement Planning and Software cost life coaches? Nothing. No books to buy, dvds, memberships, workshops, certifications, nothing.   The cost of  Early Retirement Planning and Software is $49.  Traditional retirement planners charge $1,500 per plan.

If you are a life coach, and would like to offer your clients Green Retirement, please visit the Green Retirement Website.  Learn more about Green Retirement, and use the contact form on the site, to contact our office.

Also Read:
10 Green Ways to Save $1 Million
Get Out of Debt by Going Green
How to Retire Early