BABY BOOMER RETIREMENT FEARS

Big life and big fears? Or the other way around?

Baby boomer retirement fears come in all sizes, like our houses, which we fear.

A doctor might say fear that won’t go away is a medical condition. You could get a pill for that.

Instead, try and choke your fear down and carry on. What’s the worst that could happen?

From a search on baby boomer fears, the biggest of the big is the future, as in retirement.

All the research says you need X-amount of money each month to keep the same lifestyle you currently enjoy.

The dollar value changes with inflation, economic disasters, and really bad choices.

Some things you can change, some you can’t.

What we know for sure is none of us are going back to this:

The bag of money you’ve got now would stretch a long way in 1970.

We know this because we drank that milk and licked that stamp and ate those eggs. To others the costs are just numbers on a screen.

It’s hard to imagine our parents worrying about their future in 1970. They had it made…and they had us.

Does anyone remember hearing their parents talk about money? Mine talked about my money.

My minimum wage job in 1970 paid $.75 an hour bolting boat trailers together in a Coos Bay marina. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine trusting a fifteen year old putting a trailer together for an expensive boat.

But, who knew?

I saved money for school, for upgrading my hand me downs, and because saving money instead of spending it right away was the house rule.

In 2016 people talk about their stress levels, anxiety levels, and their retirement fears.

What could happen if you don’t get a handle on it?

From papahealth.com:

If the fear won’t go away, and you have to live afraid, don’t let it kill you.

Before you give up, give in, and drop, is the fear you’re feeling the result of not living up to your own expectations? Not living up to others’ expectations?

If the friends and family surrounding you don’t keep you pumped up, and you feel too weak to pump yourself up, maybe it’s time for a re-set.

Today we know too much about everyone we thought we knew.

You’re a democrat and all your friends are republicans? You’re a republican and all of your friends are democrats?

You don’t need new friends, just a new attitude.

Start with facebook where everyone is either fabulous, in dire condition, or eating something that looks better than what you’re cooking.

And it makes you feel what?

I saw this on a friend’s wall:

That could be my dog if it was a long haired minnie weenie.

Chances are your facebook friends aren’t pretending their lives are awesome, they’re just sharing the stuff they do.

One of my facebook friends said she and her husband follow the Rolling Stones when they go out on tour. They’ll probably be at the show in Indio.

She said they spend a week a year on the Daytona 500 infield.

I was living vicariously through her until I said I listen to a Stones eight track on the drive to the corner store for beer. Not funny, but not unfriended either. We just can’t get no satisfaction. I still like her idea of fun.

A favorite saying goes like this: If you think you can’t do something, or you think you can, you’re right either way.

Fear or no fear, the hours pass, the weeks turn into years, so why not try and find the good side.

Who doesn’t fear for America and the next president, especially after having this guy on board the last eight years?

If you’re never stared down a beer, this how you do it. If your spouse is with you, like Mrs. Obama shown here, they need to chug a shortie while you’re hamming it up.

One thing we’re not fearing this year is a global economic meltdown like George Bush had his last year.

Thank Obama for not setting his rich friends up with the biggest payday in history.

Thank you, Mr. President.

What are the chances of them sharing a toast today? Cinco de Mayo says it’s a pretty good bet.

All we need for our fear is trust that the people and institutions we depend on won’t turn their back on us if we’re in need, that we matter enough for them to notice.

It’s easy to feel invisible.

Invincible takes more work. Why not follow the Leader of the Free World as he fades from the big stage.

Mark your days. Put your stamp on them.

Baby boomer retirement fears want to eat you up. If that happens, it’s your job to make them choke and spit you back out.

What are your baby boomer retirement fears?

I’ll see you in comments.