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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Retire today? Yes, today! This
is no theory. I did it, three times. So can you. The first time I just
walked into my boss and told him I was leaving. The decision took just
seconds to make. That quick.
Yes, I was frustrated. Working on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley,
investment banking. But didn’t feel right. Three years searching,
praying, not knowing. I stayed three months to wrap up projects. A
sudden, unexpected telegram did it. The next day, I “retired.”
Here are the eight lessons learned, passed on hoping they might help you to retire ... today!
Lesson No 1. No, you don’t need a million bucks
Stop listening to Wall Street’s conspiracy of brokers, financial
advisers, fund companies, using online retirement calculators. Scare
tactics warning you’ll need a million bucks to retire! “In You’re Fifty,
Now What?” Charles Schwab
warns you’d need $230,000 for every $10,000 income. A $1,150,000
portfolio for $50,000 annual income. So only millionaires can retire?
Don’t listen. A decade ago a multimillionaire investor just back from
one of Warren Buffett’s annual Omaha barbecues told me many of his
buddies lived on $30,000. Today, with inflation, maybe $50,000 a year.
Read Ralph Warner’s “Get A Life: You Don’t Need A Million To Retire
Well”: “Instead of focusing almost exclusively on our finances, we
should be thinking about the things that truly make a difference …
health, spiritual life, relationships with family and friends, and
having a plate full of interesting things to do.” No folks, money is not
your problem.
Lesson No 2. Plan to retire, and retire, and retire, and ….
Which reminds me, $30,000 was all I had the second time I retired. But
it was enough. Besides, retiring’s not a death sentence, it’s a
“new-life” sentence! You can always come out of retirement. That’s your
safety net.
Retirees tell me they’re busier than ever. New job. Volunteering.
Travel. Golf. Grandkids. Hobbies into businesses. I know a gentleman who
retired from the military. Then from government. Then again from a
corporation with yet another pension. And he had plans after that. It’s
never “over.” That’s the new American way of retiring. New starts. Doing
what you love.
Lesson No 3. When it’s time to go … you will know
The moment will come when you know, deep in your soul. It’ll be crystal
clear, after weeks, even years of thinking about it. A sudden turning
point! You’re a teacher. Nurse. Programmer. Lawyer. Doing stuff you can
do well until you die. But you’re not happy, not fulfilled.
You want to write a book. Teach. Travel the world. Peace Corps.
Be a pastry cook. Run a flower shop. Something tugs at you. Cries to
break free. Can’t be denied. Still you hold back. You’ll know when to
go. Suddenly. When you least expect it. Today? Christmas? You’ll know.
Lesson No 4. You have a job to do, discover it
Physicist Gary Zukav’s “Seat of The Soul” inspired me: “Each soul comes
to the Earth with gifts ... enters into a sacred agreement with the
universe to accomplish specific goals … Whatever the task your soul has
agreed to, whatever its contract with the universe, all of the
experiences of your life serve to awaken within you the memory of that
contract, and to prepare you to fulfill it.” Mine was journalism. Find
yours. It’s never too late to find your calling, start a new life. Just
do it. What is your “task?”
Lesson No 5. Leap … and the net will appear!
Listen closely. Your decision will not be rational. Expect it, be
irrational. Trust your gut. Trust the real you. Act immediately. Or sink
back into logical thinking: Like no million bucks? Unclear dreams? Fear
failure? Risky? Family obligations? There’s never, never a perfect
time. “Leap!” says Julia Cameron in “The Artist’s Way,” “leap and the
net will appear.”
Martial artist champion Chuck Norris wanted to become an actor. Steve
McQueen said to his friend: “Remember that philosophy of yours that you
always stressed to students: Set goals, visualize the results of those
goals, and then be determined to succeed by overcoming any obstacles in
the way. You’ve been preaching this to me for two years, and now you’re
saying there’s something you can’t do?” That did it.
Lesson No. 6. Action is more important than goals
Yes, I know, it’s “politically incorrect” not to have concrete goals, a
“mission,” they tell you in every business book, right? But that’s as
misleading as saying you need a million bucks before retiring. You’ll
grow old waiting.
At my Wall Street “retirement” party, my boss assured me I could come
back. I left for the American Film Institute in Hollywood. Stayed one
day. Quit. Back to New York. But not to Wall Street. I was free. Wrote
scripts. Worked with a film producer. Finally, back to Hollywood. Yes,
some struggles. Then surprise, became associate editor of a metro
newspaper. Wasn’t even looking for it. In fact, didn’t know what the
interview was for. Later, head of a cable news network. Once you’re in
action opportunities seem to just happen. More and more writing ... and
the “task” became obvious.
Don’t get me wrong, goals help. The simpler the better. In “The Wizard
of Oz,” Tin Man just wanted a heart. Scarecrow, a brain. Lion, courage.
Pretty general. Remember, action’s more important than goals. My mentor,
mythologist Joseph Campbell, urged us to “Follow your bliss and doors
will open where there were no doors before.” Yes, they do.
Lesson No. 7. PMA and a smile
In “Success Through Positive Mental Attitude,” Napoleon Hill and W.
Clement Stone found the secret to success: “After years spent studying
successful men, the authors have come to the conclusion that a positive
mental attitude is the one simple secret shared by them all.” Plus a
smile!
Lesson No. 8. Trust yourself, the universe trusts you
Yes, I could have ignored that telegram. It cost a million. But I knew
it was time. Besides, it was never about money. Never. Scary, yes.
Uncertain, definitely. And it sure didn’t turn out anything like I
planned or expected. But somehow I knew I was protected and guided.
Besides, at some mysterious turning point, you have no choice ... but to
go.
Each must enter “the forest at a point that he himself had chosen,” says
Joseph Campbell in The Hero of a Thousand Faces, “where it is darkest
and there is no path, if there is a path it is someone else‘s path and
you are not on the adventure.” Find your path, get into action.
When it’s time, you’ll know. An early Christmas gift? Leap!
My Irish grandfather was a man of few words, here’s how he’d put all
this: May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the
foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you
have gone too far.
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