The Economic Realities of Retirement

There is no doubt about it... It's getting more difficult to afford a comfortable retirement. With inflation at a record high, the volatility of the Stock Market and the uncertain economic future, with unfunded liabilities in the $Trillions, getting a good night's sleep isn't easy.

Even if you are still working, the high costs of living are eating away at what you have earned or saved. The situation calls for some creative thinking. How can we make our money go further or how can we generate additional income?

One of the the unfortunate realities is that persons at or near retirement age find it difficult to continue on the job or find employment. Age discrimination is rampant. What makes this even more unfortunate is that these are often people with knowledge, skills, experience and work ethic that would be valuable to any company or government agency. This may change over time because there is another crisis on the horizon. The low birthrate in many countries will mean that there will not be enough young people to support the retirees and the rest of the economy. This situation is already threatening the Chinese economy because of the one child policy of the past.*

In the meantime, we must pull our pants up and perhaps start thinking entrepreneurally.

*The birth rate must be at least 2.1 children per couple to keep the culture from disappearing over time. (more about this later)