Wednesday, May 18, 2011

New Retirement-Freedom.com Website Launch is Getting Closer

The Story Behind Our Website Development ---

I have been working with one of the very best web-designers.  He and his partner are artists and perfectionists when it comes to cyber stuff.  You will enjoy the beauty of the site.  I hope the content is helpful to all of my friends and followers.  Here is the first installment of the story of why we have chosen to become part of the cyber-world as we prepare for "retirement".  My younger friends will benefit by developing a brand and Internet Presence and thereby preparing to "retire" at a much younger age, if they so choose.  


OUR STORY ---- Part #1 

I started working at age 10 as a paperboy in Libertyville, Illinois. At age 13 I worked as a caddy at Knollwood Country Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. I was supposed to be 14 but I lied so I could earn better money than my paper route which made $15 per month. If I carried two golf bags twice a day it took 10 hours and made $20, in one day. I thought I was rich. Along the way I got two college degrees and now make much more than $20 per hour.

At age 26, my last year of college, I worked as a night clerk at a hotel. I got home from work at 7:15AM, slept for three hours, and went to school full time taking 18 credit hours per semester. Five years previously, my wife and I were married and within a few years were supporting our small family on student jobs.  

We look back at those years with pure nostalgia.  We were paying $80 per month on groceries and $45 for health insurance.  We chased mice out of our one-bedroom, crumbling Victorian house apartment.   We put cardboard in a window pane as the land-lord took months getting around to fixing things.   I got blown across the room when I was re-lighting the antique heater for the umpteenth time.  I had no eye-browse or lashes for weeks.             

One of my mentors said the love of work is success. I have enjoyed my working life but am ready for significant change. In a year I will be at 50 years of employment: 34 years with the same corporation as an educator and administrator.  As I approach retirement, changes in our country concern me about health care and social security. The “feds” have already changed my prescribed “full” retirement time to age 66. But if I wait until I am 70 before starting to draw Social Security, I will get so much more on a monthly basis.  

Now don’t get me wrong---we have prepared for retirement as though Social Security would be bankrupt. If we get any of the money we “invested” in S.S. back, it will be extra funds rather than absolutely essential. We are not wealthy but we have been careful and prudent over the years with investments and savings.

When I read about the worries of my fellow Baby-Boomers, I empathize deeply. Right now I tell people that I will retire at age 60, and start my 2nd career. But at the same time, we want to be free to travel and spend time with children and grandchildren. We dream of serving our community and church. Corporate employment just won’t work for us any longer.  Being our own boss is absolutely essential.

We know what works for us and have boiled it down to a set of principles that can help anyone in any circumstance do likewise. We intend to share the principles via a new website we will launch soon.  Many hours of research and testing are going into our preparations. This is all done outside of my 40+ hour per week current employment commitments. We are enjoying building our dream for the future. We look forward to sharing our experience.