Early Retirement Blog

If retirement means – to no longer work. Then let’s retire Christmas. It no longer works. These last few days, I have been stepping over countless Christmas trees, strewn along the streets and sidewalks of San Francisco. Where only a month ago, they were adored and adorned, they now lie in the gutter. Nothing symbolizes, our culture of consumption more, than the Christmas holiday season.

And nothing represents worse, our reckless attitude to the environment, than the millions of Christmas trees that currently litter our streets. Whole forests are chopped down annually, to celebrate the birth of a profit, 2000 years ago. When Jesus Christ was born more than 2000 years ago, the planet was not in crisis, and global warming did not exist.

What would Jesus say? If he where to return to this earth, and witness what is being done to the planet, in his name? I wouldn’t even like to guess what Jesus’ reaction would be, to the fact that children in Asia are working in slave-like conditions, to produce toys for children in America – to honor his birth.

So, this coming year let’s retire Christmas. If that is too drastic a change, consider dramatically reducing your Christmas consumption, do it for your retirement if not for the planet. If you can reduce your Christmas consumption by $50o, you reduce the amount you need to save for retirement, by $12,500. And for earth’s sake, next Christmas please don’t treat a living tree, as a disposable consumer purchase. There are alternatives.

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