I want to retire happily and put my feet up and relax for the remaining part of my life. Every human being thinks this way about the later half of life. They start this process way back when they are in their early thirties.
Thirties is the time when people are thinking of growth and settling down as well. A great job, money in the bank, investments, spouse under the wing, couple of kids, own home, loans, car or some vehicle, great insurance plans, travel plans, good education for kids and lastly retirement plans. They all follow a pattern.
The one thing that young couples or parents think about retirement is the future returns of whatever they are going to invest now. They actually work towards a sound plan for savings for the future. Investing into mutual funds, retirement funds, long term savings plans, children’s trust funds, multiple properties, stocks and shares, debentures, equity funds and what not! The focus is clear- to make the future as secure as possible. In olden times it was all about fixed deposits, gold and some such but now there are newer instruments for putting the funds away.
Working hard day and night and fighting for a better share in their work spaces, these young people strive to achieve their life goals.
As they age into the early forties the anxiety increases as inflation grows at a phenomenal pace. Equations changes and discomfort grows. Working hard has its toll. The relationships are very fragile and weak. Their parents are now at the old age and elderly care is costly. They had never accounted for expenses which suddenly spring up from nowhere. A knee replacement operation or even buying a good device for hearing costs a bomb. School was never so expensive and classes like ballet or music, holiday camps for children, foreign tours through their institutions are unheard of pathways for money drain.
As they near fifties, multiple illnesses have struck the couple like ovarian cancers or arthritis. Emergency funds are needed for sudden loss of pay. Though working for true blue organizations, they had expected a steady rise in salaries and career growth, it hasn’t come about. There is stagnation at work and no one is willing to employ a fifties engineer or economist. The only risk a person can take if they happen to loose their job is to become a consultant, but there are already too many of them around.
There is a terrible funds squeeze since both the partners never accounted for the sudden demise or funds dry up. Uncertainties are too many. No one ever thought of insurance for stuffs which happen to dog that person.
The biggest drawback are the funds needed to bail out their own kids from the trouble they have caused in their lives. Maybe it’s maxing out of their cards or loans which they couldn’t pay or maybe a court case or drug rap. Some dubious deals which they themselves might have got into could be the destruct button.
The moment the institutions come to know that you have money salted away, they come like vultures with schemes which look so enticing that you finally succumb to it. They all sell dreams of doubling your money or giving you such returns that you have no choice but to put your head on the chopping block. These schemes only help the institutions to milk you and you are at relieving end.
Now that you are about to retire your funds are mostly used up in some bonds or stuff which cannot be touched for a few decades. Even though you are eligible for superannuation benefits you seem to have drawn them earlier in life for emergencies. Now when the check comes of that, you are shocked and you have no clue how you could have withdrawn so much. Even your insurance premium seems to have grown and made enough dent in your airtight budgets. You have also been short changed by your employer in calculating the terminal benefits. You fight it out with the human resource department but they are hard of hearing. They throw the rule book at you and quote stuff you weren’t even aware it existing anywhere in their black book. You feel completely drained out at the play of fate.
You had been issued certain shares by the company but it seems that they are just some piece of paper with too many terms attached to it. You can’t liquidate them just like that. The market is also not doing well so you hope the weather changes soon.
To sum it up, your retirement seems like a distant dream. You have to look out for topping your monthly income with some lectures, panel discussions, consultancy or taking up some part time job.
Do you see yourself putting up your legs and relaxing anywhere? Where are those planned retirement journeys you had planned so well? Are you seeing your money cannot buy you even the simplest meals at your favorite restaurants. You struggle every single day trying to balance out your books. You wonder where you went wrong and if you could rectify those defects in the system. But destiny denies you even these simplest form of joys.
Your kids are no longer living with you. They have set up their own homes and find you very much a disturbances in their lives. They are at the same stage of their life where you had decided to plan for a better retirement.
You realize it is the same chicken and egg syndrome. Nothing changes. No one can get to the planned happiness or decent lifestyle. So where would you find the eternal happiness or the fruit of peaceful life anywhere?
The only way out is to understand the truth about life and why you are here! That’s where the spiritual teacher comes into your life. You have to find these tough answers and he is the only one who has them. So get enrolled in his retirement training program to understand the aspect of eternal happiness. So come to me, my dears and get to know your true self and understand your reasons for birth.
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