Boomers Dealing with Wall Street Jitters

I've been reading a lot online about what is happening on Wall Street. I wish I had something positive to say about it, but I'm not actually sure that I do. It seems the $700 billion government lifeline to our failing financial institutions hasn't exactly stabilized Wall Street. In fact, it appears shakier than ever.

So, what is a close-to-retirement-maybe boomer to do? It'd be nice if there were some pat answer to that. The cure-all potion, the red-hot button that would just fix everything. But, there isn't. Even as it stands, the majority of 55+ Americans have less than $250,000 in assets. And with what just happened on Wall Street, that number probably just grew.

My mother initially retired at 65. She was really happy about it. She was tired of her job and wanted to spend her time drawing and enjoying her farm. What she found out is that she was comfortable with her income. So 2 years later, she went back to work. She didn't officially retire again for another 5 years. Finally, at 73 she stopped working. The good news, is that she was considered such a vital part of her organization, they called her a few months later and asked if she would please at least consult for them. She refused and we went to Indonesia for a month instead.

Watching my mother work until she was 73 certainly made me want to watch my money a lot more closely and start planning for my retirement. With, yes, the mixture of investments both in real estate and on the market. Because of my desire to save heavily now, I often find myself not wanting to spend too much money just to 'have fun'...

BUT, of course, what is the point if we aren't having fun?! I recently heard of a woman who died alone in her home. She had $3million in the bank.

I know that in my life there has always been food on the table, a roof over my head, a sunrise or a sunset to enjoy and, most importantly, there has always been my friends and family with laughter, love and good cheer.

I do know that my true needs in life are very few and I am blessed with abundance in those areas.

As you probably know we have a MoneyWise track at our conference in December. Our concept is to look not simply at balancing the check book, but at changing our perspectives on money.

http://www.festivalofthewise.com/conference/moneywise.html