Don’t Make this One Mistake 10,000 Baby Boomers Make Every Day

There is one mistake 10,000 Baby Boomers make every year: they retire.

You start to get an idea how large the Baby Boomer population is when you process this statistic: every day 10,000 Baby Boomers hang it up and retire. But here’s how I view that statistic: every day 10,000 Boomers make a terrible mistake by retiring.

The Land of Retirement is often viewed as the Promised Land.

• It’s the land of laying on ocean beach while sipping lemonade and reading the latest Tom Clancy movie.
• It is the land of no worries as we watch every Seinfeld rerun in 48 hours.
• It is the land where our grandchildren visit and tell us how wise we are.

Hey. Pssst. Wake up. You’re dreaming.

Some Boomers will disagree. They retired and are having the time of their life. I’m happy for them. But many of us, including me, have a meager financial retirement plan and cannot sit next to a mud puddle and even sip water. My reality is forcing me to take a hard look at conventional retirement. What does it mean to retire?

How about you? Do you have the one million dollars experts say you need to retire?

In examining conventional retirement I’m guessing the Land of Retirement quickly becomes the Land of Disenchantment.

• Money is tight.
• Health issues surface.
• Loneliness sets in like an epidemic.
• Bitterness and disappointment tighten their dangerous grip.

When you struggle with these issues retirement becomes filled with anxiety and worry.

Did you ever look up the definition of “retirement?” The dictionary defines it using words such as withdraw, go away, and retreat. I even saw this line, “removal of something from service or use.” Excuse me? If this is what people mean when they talk of retirement; count me out. I’m not some aging racehorse set out to pasture until sent to the glue factory.

I’m heading into these later years not thinking of retirement. I’m not going to “withdraw, go away, and retreat.” Instead, I’m going to use this next stage of my life to feed my passions by working in those areas. Why would I take my accumulated experience, passion, and skills and plop my butt in front of a TV until I fall over?

When it comes to giving advice I’m wrong once in a while. But not this time. What I’m about to tell you is from my heart and it is the advice I would give my dearest friend: DON’T retire. At least don’t retire in the conventional sense. Find a way to channel your assets, passions, energies, and goodwill to make this world a better place.

Forget about the idea you deserve to call it quits and sit back while the younger people take over. You don’t find the idea of retirement in the Bible. And the concept of retirement wasn’t even a part of our own culture until within the last 100 years.

NOW is the time to rise up and make a difference.

I dare you; yes, double-dog dare you to start putting together a plan to REFIRE your life and make a difference in your world.

How long will it be until you transition out of your chosen career?

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