How Am I Going To Retire?
A major financial company has been running an ad on TV recently that really made me mad! The ad shows a bunch of different people walking around with big orange numbers under their arms. The number is supposedely what that person will need to have in savings in order to retire and live a lifestyle like they’re accustomed to. At first, I wasn′t really sure why these ads made me mad.
Then I came up with the reason. I was feeling depressed and anxious, not exactly mad. Which is probably why they created the ad campaign in the first place. Research has shown that the best kind of advertising is that which makes you feel desperate and stressed. Negative advertising. Needless to say, it worked for me. But when they did give their solution, it didn′t really work for me.
This financial company wants you to become a client of theirs and they will advise you on how to save and invest so that you can reach your orange number. While I′m sure they are very good at what they do, I think this ad is more geared toward those in their twenties and thirties. What about those of us in our fifties? My savings are minimal, and I just don′t see the possibility for me to increase them to one million dollars plus in the next 15 years, even I had Warren Buffet as a financial advisor!
So what do we do? As far as I′m concerned, I′m working at creating a residual type of income that will flow into my bank account for the rest of my life. I think this is a good plan for most boomers, especially those that find themselves in a similar situation as I have. How do we go about doing that? Here are six ways that I can think of.
1. You can refinance your house with a reverse mortgage. If you have a bunch of equity in your primary residence, you can take out a loan and not have to make payments. You can then get a monthly payment, a lump sum, or just have it available to use if necessary.
2. How about a part-time job? If you don′t need a lot of extra money because you’ve got some savings, a pension, and/or social security, maybe a part-time job will be enough to make retirement work for you.
3. You can purchase a franchise. There are all kinds of businesses out there if you’re willing to put up the capital to get started. Some are very expensive, and some aren′t. Do some research, this might be a great option.
4. Start a traditional home business. Maybe there is something you’re good at and you can market that skill. It can be building something, making something, or even offering a service, such as bookkeeping. You can sell your product or service on Craig’s List or ebay.
5. You could start your own home-based internet business. Affiliate marketing is a hot topic right now, and you can make a some good residual income by setting up websites that promote other peoples products. All you have to do is send the customer to that merchant’s site, and you’ll earn a commission. Once you get the sites set up, they are self-sustaining and can generate income month after month.
6. You could start a network marketing business.I really like this idea because it offers two types of income - residual and leveraged. By residual income I mean income that comes in every month, whether you work or not. Most network marketing companies have consummable products that the customer buys every month. Leveraged income comes when you sign up a distributor underneath you. Then every time that person makes a sale, you get a piece of their pie.
These are just a few suggestions on how baby boomers can retire with a good income. I encourage you to do some research, and figure out what works for you.
