Why Retirement is Getting Tougher

Glad that I pulled myself up by the boot straps ten years ago . I was separated from my third husband ( now happily single ) , $67,000.00 + in cc debt , not saving money in my employers retirement plan , no checking and savings acct ; a real financial train wreck to say the least . I decicded that it was time to enforce a major action plan . At that time there was no shortage of extra hours to work to make extra money . Not true in the workplace today of what jobs that remain .I took advantage of those extra hours to pay down and off my cc debt .

As I paid off my debt the freed up funds went toward building my retirement and saving my money . If you were saving money in your retirement account most financial advisors suggested that you invest those savings in the stock market . Before the tech bubble burst that wasn’t a bad idea . I missed out on the market gains of that time . Most of the money in my retirement account is money that I saved , managed and protected from the market downturn that started in the fall of 2007 . A lesson to be learned is that no one is going to watch , manage and protect your money as well as you will if you learn and know how . In addition to building a 6 figure savings cushion I will enjoy the benefits of lifetime healthcare , a pension , and ssi benefits in less than 2 years . Now retired and having no debt other than a $644.37 mortgage and living within my means helps to weather survival in this economy .

Jan Toussaint of NE 5:43PM April 18, 2009