This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Summary
Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and certainly one of the most respected sources for economic trends and impact, was quoted as saying, "We need to start teaching financial literacy in our schools." Such is the expected plight of future retirees that we must begin this educational process as early as possible.
At this point, you should be mentally prepared to start this journey. Up until now, I haven't dealt deeply with the retirement planning process, nor have I shared with you all the frightening statistics that show most people must compromise their postretirement lifestyle. The intent of the Introduction and Chapter 1 is to prepare you for the reality of what is to follow and to make sure as you approach this topic, you do so with the proper mindset.
Retirement is not a sprint; it is a distance race. To reach your retirement goals, you will need to have the perseverance to stick to the course and take one chapter at a time. If you do that, your chances of success will be greatly enhanced. Your need to succeed and the value you gain from that success must be greater than the emotional disappointment of failure, or you'll fail more often than you'll succeed. Remember Thomas Edison's words of wisdom: "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Before we're done, you need to experience that sensation.