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Anyway, the book is great navel-fuzz material. The
authors don't focus on how to fund retirement, but rather on values
and ideals. How do your goals and dreams fit in with your overall
financial situation? In the first two chapters, you take inventory
of your personal situation, assessing the need for balance between
work, family, fitness, hobbies and home, and determining how you
wish to spend your time. It's an opportunity to explore, with quizzes
and questions that help boomers figure out their desires, along
with a practical timeline for them to fill out.
The rest of the book is a compendium of 150 ways to
spend your time and envision the possibilities. It's a listing of
potential adventures.
Some require no money, but an investment of time: Volunteer at
the senior center and make a difference in someone's life. Explore
your spirituality at temple, in church, at a sacred shrine. Take
a hike on the Appalachian Trail. Go to court and witness our system
of justice firsthand. Help the elderly stay in their homes by delivering
meals or taking them to doctors' appointments. Each idea comes with
cost estimates, if applicable, and a list of Web sites where you
can get more information.
Other ideas can be quite costly: Take flying lessons. Buy a farm
or winery. See the Great Wall of China. Buy a second home. (Disclosure:
Bankrate is mentioned on Page 60 as a resource for the idea of buying
a second home.) Go to Moscow, Rome, Vienna, Athens. Color photos
accompany tantalizing text.
Did these authors have an ulterior motive in writing this book?
Well, it is written by two guys who are deeply entrenched in the
financial industry. Costs are a significant component of the book.
And there is a recurring theme in the book: "You get what you
plan for."
I think it serves as a preview of how sweet freedom might be tomorrow
if you make it a priority to plan for it today. Or to loosely paraphrase
Socrates, an unplanned retirement is hardly one at all.
If
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