Retirement Blog

Today, on the newsstand, one of the leading personal finance and retirement publications, had as the headline for their latest issue - “Retire Rich!” I’ve seen similar headlines, on other personal finance magazines, over the last several months. So, now let’s address the issue of Greed and Retirement. Because your greed, along with fear and ignorance, may prevent you from retiring. The magazine promised to make getting rich easy, but I can make you rich right now, and it won’t cost you a thing. Let’s make you rich before we talk about greed. Ready?

Repeat after me - “I’m Rich!” Congratulations you’re rich! Amazed by how quick and easy that was? Let me explain. It doesn’t matter if you have ten dollars, or ten million dollars, you’re rich! There is no number that defines rich. Rich is an abstract word. It means different things to different people. Give a mailman a million dollars and he’ll think he’s rich. Give a CEO a million dollars and he’ll thank you for the tip. Okay, now that you’re rich, let’s get to the good stuff - greed!

Greed and Retirement

Greed, contrary to popular opinion, is not good. Greed can kill your retirement. If you think you need to be rich to retire, you may have a hard time retiring, as you’ll never be as rich as you think you need to be. If you want to retire rich, you will probably be disappointed, as the ability of your investments to meet your expectations are most likely unrealistic. You will go chasing risky investments, and last year’s winners, in an attempt to maximize your returns. Greed is the wise investor’s worst enemy.

Losing Control

Can you be blamed for believing that you need to be rich to retire? The word rich is constantly drummed into your heads, in an effort to sell magazines and books, and in an attempt to take control of your retirement. Visit the personal finance section of your local bookstore. Count the number of titles with the word “Rich” in them. Quite high. They are appealing to your greed. The retirement industry wants your savings, and in return you receive a promise, of achieving a mythical state of financial well-being - “Rich”. Their advertisements tout humongous returns on investments. “Past performance is no guarantee of future results”, says the fine print, but maybe it’s not too late? Greed. Give them your savings. Your desire to be rich may cause you to take un-wise risks with your savings.

Don’t be Rich - be Smart

You don’t need to be “rich”, whatever that means, to retire well. You only need enough money, to pay for the lifestyle you choose, to live in retirement. And that is why the iPlan Retirement method, as opposed to the retirement industry get rich quick schemes, is the wisest way to plan your retirement. You are in control, not the images on a magazine, or the foggy ideas in a book. You determine what lifestyle you wish to have in retirement, the more consumption the more savings required, the less consumption the less savings you will need. Conservation will allow you to retire earlier and with less savings. You just need to overcome, your greed, and your ideas about getting “Rich.” In any case, I already made you rich, at the beginning of this post. Enjoy being rich. Now retire.

Learn more about Green Retirement Planning - And find out how you can save your retirement and the planet!