Why Baby Boomers are Waiting to Retire

Gallop reports that nearly half of all Baby Boomers still working state they do not expect to retire until they are 66 years of age or even older, despite the average United States retirement age being 61. This statistic includes one in ten who claim they will NEVER retire. While some would blame an uncertain economy and more financial responsibility for contributing to this rise in retirement age, there are several factors that are keeping Baby Boomers from leaving the workforce.

Financial Preparedness – Any plans Baby Boomers had to retire were put on hold when the economy took a turn for the worse in 2008-2009. Economic uncertainty put fear into this generation, causing them to continue in the workforce for longer than they intended. At the top of this list are those who did not prepare themselves financial for retirement years. Combining poor planning and an uncertain economy made many question if they were ready to retire.

Health Care and Insurance – According to an Ameriprise Executive Vice President, one of the top concerns of retirement among Baby Boomers is their health care costs. When the Affordable Care Act went into effect, there was a fear that it would cause a drain on the U.S. economy. This drain could leave retirees with fewer options and less comprehensive choices for care. A lack of understanding Medicare benefits and what retirees are entitled to under this plan, also caused concern for this generation.

Keeping the Mind Sharp – Research shows that keeping the mind active could help to stave off some neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s. Going to work and completing projects gives this generation a sense of purpose and keeps them thinking. Many that DO decide to retire after 30 years with an organization, do so only to take up freelance or part-time work in an area of interest to them. While some continue working out of necessity, many continue because they love it.

While there are several reasons why Baby Boomers continue to work out of necessity, we need to realize that many work because they want to, and they can. This generation continues to be a valuable asset to the organizations they work for by mentoring the Millennials that are currently entering the workforce. While Millennials may be more technologically proficient, they certainly will not have witnessed the various trends in business that Boomers have experienced. Utilizing a mentoring system can help both generations feel necessary and successful within a company.

Interestingly enough, Millennials are more open than other age groups to accept mentoring opportunities within your organization! Consider the implications, and look for opportunities like these to engage your more mature work force to provide meaningful relationships between Baby Boomers and those who can learn from their life experience.

Tom Zeleny, Aspen Associates, www.aspencanhelp.com

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A Quiet Prayer

Father:

Thank You for each and every day You have blessed us here on earth.
Thank You for Your tender mercies.
Thank You for giving us friends and family to share joys and sorrows with.
I ask You to bless my friends, relatives, brothers and sisters and those I care deeply for, who are reading this right now.
Where there is joy, give them continued joy.
Where there is pain or sorrow, give them your peace and mercy.
Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence.
Where there is need, fulfill their needs.
Bless their homes, families, their goings and their comings.

Amen

 

No Hard Feelings

https://youtu.be/tFGs7HP15d4

No hard feelings

When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Will I be ready?
When my feet won’t walk another mile
And my lips give their last kiss goodbye
Will my hands be steady?

When I lay down my fears
My hopes and my doubts
The rings on my fingers
And the keys to my house
With no hard feelings

When the sun hangs low in the west
And the light in my chest
Won’t be kept held at bay any longer
When the jealousy fades away
And it’s ash and dust for cash and lust
And it’s just hallelujah
And love in thoughts and love in the words
Love in the songs they sing in the church
And no hard feelings

Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold

When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Where will I go?
Will the trade winds take me south
Through Georgia grain or tropical rain
Or snow from the heavens?

Will I join with the ocean blue
Or run into the savior true
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night
Straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings

Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold
Under the curving sky
I’m finally learning why
It matters for me and you
To say it and mean it too
For life and its loveliness
And all of its ugliness
Good as it’s been to me
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies

My feelings as I turn 70

 

True Sadness

https://youtu.be/WrlMqM0QgXI

 

True Sadness

You were a friend to me when my wheels were off the track
And though you say there is no need I intend to pay you back
When my mind was turning loose and all my thoughts were turning black
You shined a light on me and I intend to pay you back

But I still wake up shaken by dreams
And I hate to say it but the way it seems
Is that no one is fine
Take the time to peel a few layers
And you will find
True sadness

When I was a child I depended on a bottle
Full grown I’ve been known to lean on a bottle
But you’re the real deal in a world of imposters
And I’ve seen the program make men out of monsters

‘Cause I still wake up shaken by dreams
And I hate to say it but the way it seems
Is that no one is fine
Take the time to peel a few layers
And you will find
True sadness

Angela became a target
As soon as her beauty was seen
By young men who try to reduce her down
To a scene on an x-rated screen
Is she not more than the curve of her hips?
Is she not more than the shine on her lips?
Does she not dream to sing and to live and to dance down her own path?
Without being torn apart
Does she not have a heart?

I cannot go on with this evil inside me
I step out my front door and I feel it surround me
Just know the kingdom of God is within you
Even though the battle is bound to continue

‘Cause I still wake up shaken by dreams
And I hate to say it but the way it seems
Is that no one is fine
Take the time to peel a few layers
And you will find
True sadness

True sadness
True, true sadness     

 

 

The Ballad of Love and Hate

https://youtu.be/6Pre7bINBps

Love writes a letter and sends it to Hate
“My vacation’s ending, I’m coming home late
The weather was fine and the ocean was great
And I can’t wait to see you again”

Hate reads the letter and throws it away
“No one here cares if you go or you stay
I barely even noticed that you were away
I’ll see you or I won’t, whatever”

Love sings a song as she sails through the sky
The water looks bluer through her pretty eyes
And everyone knows it whenever she flies
And also when she comes down

Hate keeps his head up and walks through these streets
Every stranger and drifter he greets
And shakes hands with every loner he meets
With a serious look on his face

Love arrives safely with suitcase in tow
Carrying with her the good things we know
A reason to live and a reason to grow
To trust and to hold and to care

Hate sits alone on the hood of his car
Without much regard to the moon or the stars
Lazily killing the last of a jar
Of the strongest stuff you can drink

Love takes a taxi, a young man drives
As soon he sees her hope fills his eyes
But tears follow after at the end of the ride
Because he might never see her again

Patience, patience, patience

Hate gets home lucky to still be alive
He screams over the sidewalk and into the drive
The clock in the kitchen says 2:55
And the clock in the kitchen is slow

Love has been waiting patient and kind
Just wanting a phone call or some kind of sign
That the one that she cares for who’s out of his mind
Will make it back safe to her arms

Hate stumbles forward and leans in the door
Weary head hung down, eyes to the floor
He says, “Love, I’m sorry, ” and she says, “What for?
I’m yours and that’s it, whatever
I should not have been gone for so long
I’m yours and that’s it, forever
Your mine and that’s it, forever”

 

7 ways to improve YOU today

I think it’s a pretty safe assumption to say that your time is precious. Between work, school, errands, traffic, spending valuable time with your friends and family, finding time to eat, sleep, etc… you’re a very busy person and it can be hard to find time to work yourself.

But, I’m here to tell you there is a life hack to make sure you’re able to work on your personal growth while still accomplishing everything that has to be done.

Like most of my teachings, making sure you have time to work on yourself is a learnable skill… a habit… a discipline, and I have 7 easy disciplines for you to begin practicing and repeating daily to make personal growth a focus of your life. If you do this right, you will eventually make these disciplines into daily habits and upgrade yourself to new heights.

Here are the 7 disciplines:

Discipline #1: Goal Setting

Every morning, take 3 to 5 minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a notebook, notepad, or create a note on your mobile device solely for this purpose. By writing out your 10 goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert of the opportunities and possibilities that can move you more rapidly toward your goals.

Discipline #2: Planning and Organizing

Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list and always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance and personal growth.

Discipline #3: Concentration on Highest-Value Activities

Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop. Apply the 80/20 rule to everything — 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results. You must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80% while you still have tasks in the top 20% left to be done.

Discipline #4: Exercise and Proper Nutrition

Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life. After all, you can’t have the energy to grow without the right fuel.

Discipline #5: Learning and Growth

Your mind is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. Read books, listen to podcasts, attend workshops, etc.. I highly recommend taking a speed-reading course to get through more reading material in two hours a day than many people get through in a week.

Discipline #6: Time for Important People in Your Life

Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Strong relationships with others are vital components for your personal growth. Build time for your them into every day, no matter how busy you get.

Discipline #7: Commitment to the 7 Disciplines

Lastly, you must study these 7 disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life.

Individually, each of these 7 disciplines isn’t that big of an ask, but together they can equate to huge change. I suggest starting with one or two of the disciplines for a week and seeing how it goes. If it’s easy, then you can add another discipline. If it’s hard then stick with it until it becomes easy. The point is for you to take back control of your life.

To your growth,

From: Brian Tracy <newsletter@briantracyintl.com>

RINO and DINO

RINO & DINO

Republican In Name Only (RINO) is a pejorative term used by conservative members of the Republican Party of the United States to describe Republicans whose political views or actions they consider insufficiently conservative.

Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronny Reagan would all be RINOs today given the GOP leadership in congress. What ever happened to dealing and compromises to accomplish things in order be the leaders for all the people? Don’t get me wrong as there should be a number of DINOs along with fellow RINOs. The two-party system is currently failing us. Where are the deal makers today like the named presidents, and people like Howard Baker, Everett Dirksen and Sam Rayburn were in the past?

Conservatives would rather have a liberal Democrat in office than a moderate Republican. We can recall how badly the conservative Republican, Barry Goldwater lost in 1964 when Republican moderate Governors Nelson Rockefeller or William Scranton would have done much better and perhaps even won the election.

The Democrat party is the other extreme. California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, senator since 1992, is now being viewed as a DINO by her Democrat State Leadership. She is viewed as a DINO because she is not liberal enough and because of her attempts to work with the RINOs and other DINOs to get things done. I am wishing we had more RINOs and DINOs.

Another possible solution to the Washington log jam is if we had more major political parties and a coalition government. The creation of new parties; the Blue Dog Democrats (The Bulldog Party), the Ripon Society Republicans (The Lincoln Party), Ron Paul (The Isolationist Party), tea party (The Whig Party) could form a coalition government among themselves or with the Democrats (The Federalists Party) or the Republicans (The Tories Party) to run the USA. I would like to see three parties or more in the House and the Senate. Could be an improvement. Hard to imagine it being worse.

Meanwhile I will be a RINO and a member of The Lincoln Party.

Related blogs

Why Democrats are like Donkeys https://boydandnicholas.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/why-democrats-are-like-donkeys/

Why Cats Aren’t Republican          https://boydandnicholas.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/why-cats-arent-republican/

I want a Ménage a trpos https://boydandnicholas.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/i-want-a-menage-a-trois/

The Choice

https://youtu.be/ujk5O5onffI

 

Some inherit manly beauty,
Some come into worldly wealth;
Some have lofty sense of duty,
Others boast exultant health.
Though the pick may be confusing,
Health, wealth, charm or character,
If you had the chance of choosing
Which would you prefer?

I’m not sold on body beauty,
Though health I appreciate;
Character and sense of duty
I resign to Men of State.
I don’t need a heap of money;
Oh I know I’m hard to please.
Though to you it may seem funny,
I want none of these.

No, give me Imagination,
And the gift of weaving words
Into patterns of creation,
With the lilt of singing birds;
Passion and the power to show it,
Sense of life with love expressed:
Let my be a bloody poet,–
You can keep the rest.

 

Robert William Service

This is Happiness

My favorite thing in life is … Doing Nothing.

Doing Nothing is not laziness, inertia or lethargy.
It is not even necessarily the absence of activity.
Is it more like an attitude. A way of being.
An intimate and loving and slow relationship with life.

You can accomplish a lot when you’re Doing Nothing!
Because you’re doing what you’re doing with the fullness of your presence, with a deep sense of non-doing.
The thing you’re doing is the most fascinating thing in all the universe.
You are like a child, existing in wonder.
You’re letting life move through you.

In doing nothing, you may be doing a lot.
(Even though you’re Doing Nothing, and life is doing everything).

“You” may be writing a poem, or making pottery, or sitting drinking tea, or swimming in the ocean.
You may be compiling a report, or feeding the hungry, or researching a cure for cancer, or spending time with a beloved friend or relative.
But inside, there is great stillness.
Inside, there is contentment.
You know you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
And the goal is far less important than the journey.
And the miracle of existence itself
makes you so happy.

The mind may say,
“I’m accomplishing nothing here, what I’m doing has no value, I’m useless, a waste of space”.
The mind may run from the silence, the divine and timeless stillness at the heart of creation.
The mind may flee from what it perceives as nothingness and non-existence and loneliness and death.

But the heart, the heart rejoices in the very same stillness!
For it knows, your self-worth is not linked to your worldly accomplishments.
You are infinitely worthy because you exist.
You don’t need to do anything to prove your worth.
You are inherently lovable AS YOU ARE.

And free…
Free from the need to complete yourself in time.
Free from the need to be liked.
Free from the need to erase “unhappiness”.
Free from the need
to resolve this mystery called life.

This is happiness:
The absence of the one who seeks it.

– Jeff Foster

Forever Young

 

 

Forever Young Laura Branigan  7/3/1952 – 8/26/2004

“Forever Young”

Let’s dance in style let’s dance for a while

Heaven can wait we’re only watching the skies

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

 

Let us die young or let us live forever

We don’t have the power but we never say never

Sitting in a sandpit life is a short trip

The music’s for the sad men

Can you imagine when the space is one

As we turn our faces into the sun

Praising our leaders we’re getting in tune

The music’s played by the mad men

 

Forever young

I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever and ever

 

Forever young

I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, forever young

 

Some are like water some are like the heat

Some are the melody and some are the beat

Sooner or later they all will be gone

Why don’t they stay young?

It’s so hard to get old without a cause

I don’t want to perish like a fading horse

Youth’s like diamonds in the sun

And diamonds are forever

So many adventures couldn’t happen today

So many songs we forgot to play

So many dreams waiting out of the blue

We’ll let them come true

 

Forever young

I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever and ever

 

Forever Young Laura Branigan  7/3/1952 – 8/26/2004