Can You Live On $1000 per Month? by Bill Roberts, The Baby Boomer
Retirement Planner
An Event That Changed My Life
A defining moment in my life came when I started to get social security. This
wonderful program deemed to "give" me $1037.00 each and every month.
Isn't that fantastic? A thousand dollars every month for a lifetime of work and
paying into the system.
I can't even maintain my car for a thousand dollars per month (car payment +
insurance + maintenance and tires + gasoline). It costs me a lot more than
that. How am I supposed to be able to retire?
The $15 Dollar Minimum Wage
Right now our country is involved in a debate about the minimum wage.
There are those who want to increase it to $15 per hour or $600 per week
because they say that you can't live on less. $600 per week is about
$30,000.00 per year. My $1037.00 per month is only $12,444.00 per year.
Obviously, I can't live on that. It isn't even as much as they give people that
don't work.
OK. Social Security wasn't meant to be a retirement income, but only a
supplement. Oh yeah? It wasn't until I qualified for social security that they
started "pushing" that argument. We always believed that we would be able to
retire someday. Surprise. Guess what? No you can't.
Work Until You Die
The new Retirement Plan for Baby Boomers is to work until you die, and the
sooner you die, the better, because we don't want to be saddled with the cost
of your health care. Isn't it great?
Like I said, this was a defining moment in my life. If I wanted to retire I would
need an income stream to replace my regular earnings. Not to supplement
my earnings, but to actually replace my annual income. I can't rely on social
security and I don't have a DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN like the generation before
me did. Maybe I have a 401(k) or an IRA, but guess what? Unless that plan
has over a MILLION DOLLARS in it, it will not produce enough income to
replace my annual income. Over 90% of us have $100,000.00 OR LESS in our
retirement plans. Not even 10% of what we need to retire.
I was faced with this dilemma. I was looking at working until I die as my
retirement plan.
A New Day, A New Way
If I actually wanted to be able to retire and travel, and enjoy myself, I needed
to do something drastic.
The same old ways weren't going to cut it.
After all, if you keep doing what you have been doing and expect different
results, then, guess what? YOU ARE INSANE.
Well fortunately, I'm not insane. I knew I had to do something different.
So I came up with a plan to accomplish my goal of retirement within 10
years. It is a combination of real estate investments and other streams of
income.
It has worked for me. So now I am sharing these strategies as part of my "new
self."
Meet Bill Roberts
Yes, I re-invented myself as Bill Roberts The Baby Boomer Retirement
Planner. Google me. You will find me. It has worked.
Now I am within two years of reaching my goal: the ability to retire without
having to eat dog food.
Of course I never expect to stop being a Real Estate Broker. After 39 years, it
is who I am. But I do expect to be able to work only when and where I want.
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