Life Lessons

Remember Retirement? Remember the rotary phone, life before remote controls, micro-wave ovens or Viagra ? Are we about to say "remember retirement"? Last year a resident of an upscale Independent Living community I managed requested a private and somewhat urgent meeting with me. It was important for him to explain in person why he and his wife were giving their 30 day notice to move out. He said "we worked hard, were successful and invested well, but never expected to live this long or for our investments to crash. We are running out of money and can't afford to live here anymore". "I may have to find a part-time job". That was the first of many conversations like this one and prompted me to take a look into several factors likely to affect retirement as we know it today. Only 11 percent of Baby Boomers are planning to stop working entirely when they reach retirement age. About 9 percent of Baby Boomers we be affluent (defined as having a