Retired Having Fun

Just a quick message to fellow retirees who are wishing their retirement years were the reality they had dreamed of while working.

My reflections after spending the last three months in the center of Europe:

I never thought it would happen. But I thank God that it did. When I look back on the ups and downs in my life I see that I had been in this same position earlier in life.

I had just graduated college. I got a great job working for the government. I was in a good level [GS-14] position. I had 10 years of service completed, and I could retire with 47% of my high 3 years salary at age 55. Suddenly I lost it all.
During the high earning years of my Government service my family and I had done a lot of traveling: Europe; South America; Aruba and the Caribbean Islands. Then after my sudden departure from the Government I sat and worried about what to do. My vision for the wonderful and stress free future was blurred.

Would I every have enough money to travel again? Would I be ale to retire and still have enough years left to enjoy life? My legs, it seemed, had been pulled out from me. I was about to give up.

Then, I think God intervened. Suddenly, my life began to turn around. I started a small business. Next a big company bought me out and picked me up, and I started to rise rapidly up the corporate ladder.

Within a few years, I was back on top, and earning more money than I had ever made with the Government. I had more than doubled my Federal salary. I was saving money, and building a wonderful retirement. My new company had a 401K plan that matched my savings dollar for dollar to the max Tax bracket at the time. I was back traveling, and having the things I wanted in life for me and my family.

Suddenly, I was downsized. I lost the great income I had been enjoying. I went through a very costly divorce. Everything I had earned and worked for was taken by the courts and attorneys. I said to myself. Well here is another valley in my up and down life. My life was looking like a roller coaster.

The big question I had to ask was why? Like all such questions, there really is no answer. Only God knows.

I spoke to friends and relatives.
I met a guy who told me there are thousands like me.
Then he relayed his story. He too had some ups and downs in life. He had made a lot of money over the years. Then, as soon as his company was taken over by a bigger fish, he was a target. He was over 55, making 156K a year, and he was close to retirement. The new company wanted to clean house of guys like him, so sure enough they found a way. Offer him a severance package, and make it so restrictive that he could not ever get it.
They were closing his office which was the only one in the state. He had to find another position at the same or higher pay within the company anywhere within 50 miles of his current office. No such position existed. The severance package also said that if they offered him another job [and it did not have to be in the same or similar position] if he did not take it then he would be released, and the lucrative terms of the original package would be withdrawn.
So they offered him a job handling the Year2000 or Y2K program. He was not familiar with it, and at first he refused. HR told him that if he refused, then he would be out without any severance. He pointed out that at the end of the Y2K project there would no longer be a need for this position. HR told him they would find something else, but could not promise. The offer also had some fine print saying that once he took the new position the original severance package was no longer valid.

I asked what happened. He took the Y2K project. The company told him he had done such a good job they were ending the project 4 months early because they were assured [thanks to his efforts] everything was going to work fine when the clock struck midnight 2000. So ended his career and his severance, and his big salary. He was yet another senior victim of corporate belt tightening.

Like many others, his wife left him; his kids lost interest because he was no longer giving them new cars; trips to Europe, and all the perks that spoiled rich kids enjoy. The man was helpless in the face of his loss. He wound up withdrawing into himself and drinking to forget. Recently, he died, and had only one true friend who stuck with him to the end. God at least gave him that much, and he died in the arms of his Savior- Jesus.

I feel bad that I could not help him out. But now I believe I have a service that will help people like my friend. People who have given so much in life, and feel betrayed and cheated in the "golden years" of life. I want these to really be the "golden years" for all those who have worked so hard to build, teach create, and give their lives to enrich this society. Those people deserve more than a $600.00 monthly Social Security Check, and maybe a little pension money.

Again, let me tell you that I was in the same position. I had it all; lost it all, and got some of it back again: post retirement.

Please join me on my You Tube site at

http://www.youtube.com/user/willbethar

I have prepared a short video that will show you how to put some extra bucks in your pocket, and to supplement your current retirement. You need to treat yourself. You worked hard all your life. Live life life to its fullest. Don't let yourself be fenced in because of your limited retirement income. Join me, and Travel, Reflect and Enjoy!