Once Upon a Retirement: Will Your Story Be a Happily-Ever-After?

Once upon a retirement, there was this couple who lived, loved and raised a family in the postcard-perfect town of De' Loosian, USA. The company where the father began his working life was the same one which held a lavish retirement party for him. Mother, of course, was a stay at home mom. Father made so much money that Mother's brow never creased. She lunched a lot. The children were absolute angels. As the kids married their soul mates and began their own bliss-filled lives, Mother and Father looked forward to their golden years.

The company pension and the investment portfolio accumulated over their stress-free lives was almost an embarrassment. It caused them ever so much concern on their first world cruise. Not ones to rub their good fortune in their friends' faces, it was decided they should spend some time in a warmer climate. Maybe depleting some savings would ease the envy of the friends who only managed one trip in the past year. Trouble was, that pesky interest just kept growing. TeeHee...Even with their wealth, the delightful folks from De' Loosian somehow managed to live happily-ever-after-to-the-here-after.

So it was somewhere back in the sixties. Now...for the rest of the story. In the 21st century. Fantasy or science-fiction? There's nobody living in De' Loosian anymore. Times have changed. It wasn't supposed to be this way. We were led to believe each generation would have it better than the last. Of course, the ones who made that claim had ties in De' Loosian.

Retirees now are living a different reality show. The investment portfolio may not have had a chance. Many of life's turning points can affect our path to healthy retirement savings. Divorce can wipe out a good chunk. Helping to finance our children's college education, with the escalating tuition costs, divert from our plan. Medical emergencies may take a toll. As we are living longer, we may be taking care of aging parents just as we are entering retirement!

To cope with the financial worries, employees are putting off retirement as long as possible. Before they leave they may have already lined up a second career with an employer who values the more mature worker. Some are turning to starting home based businesses. Turning hobbies into extra cash. Doing consulting work. Tutoring. Photography. Whatever talent you have can and should be turned into a way to supplement your retirement income. Much better adding to savings than depleting the funds.

Thankfully, we have technology not available in the glory days. The computer has opened up a variety of internet-based businesses. You only have to do a little research online to find something you could try your hand at. There's wonderfully supportive sites for retirees. Your search engine will be your new best friend.

No. We can't go home again. To De' Loosian. It doesn't exist. But, we are a resilient bunch. We have to be. For 21st century retirement and starring in our own reality show...

(c) Karen Cook

To learn more about exciting jobs for retirees that was profiled by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, please drop by http://virtualagent007.blogspot.com
and view the video clips. Karen Cook works in a library where she researches jobs for retirees and looks forward to her own retirement.