We are the boomers.
We are the generation whose promise was to build up the country
at a time of post-war national prosperity.
We were the generation of competitors, fighters, striving and thriving
to get into a good college, land a job and buy a home—a battle for resources
we've waged our entire lives.
So what happened?
Our security is gone.
With inflation rising against the cost of living, that battle's now more
of a Pyrrhic victory—a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the
victor that it is amounts to defeat. One
that negates any sense of achievement or profit.
What was once a virtually unlimited income is now fixed. We're conflicted about our finances. We worry
about the financial, social and physical challenge of growing older, losing
control of our lives, feel the invisibility and irrelevance that can come with
it. We need to take second and even
third jobs to make ends meet, knowing full well that, more often than not, our
gray hair will always be a liability at the next job interview.
Most of us have already cut our expenses, downsized and
simplified our lifestyle. But few of us
have bothered to calculate just how much income we'll need for retirement. Still fewer of us calculate how much savings
we'll need to produce that income. Maybe
since times were so good before, we've become complacent, but just how long can
we keep doing that?
We need look no further than the news to see our government's
self-serving, practically maniacal efforts to dismantle Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security—Social Security not being a handout or charity, nor anything
that our government has any business privatizing or borrowing from, but money
we've paid in and set aside for our
entire working lives. The way things
are going, these things might not even be around for the next generation. We can't go on with the delusion that they'll
support the standard of living we’ve enjoyed throughout our lives.
If we own our own homes, there's always that concern of being
able to use equity to supplement our income.
But what with all the scams and risks out there, it sure makes it
difficult to figure out how to protect ourselves.
If one or more of our parents are alive, so many of us are
forced to use all our savings and retirement to care for them. That emotional and financial strain puts us
on the edge. What's more, with the
mobility of modern life and fraying of the American family, we can't help but
wonder who will take care of us when we eventually become old and
incapacitated.
So we come to terms with the prospect of delayed retirement,
downsize our lifestyle and curtail spending.
But does this solve the problem of earning enough to save for our sunset
years? Must we consider the possibility
of selling our home in order to raise money for expenses?
But let's rethink this problem, shall we? Is the daily nine-to-find grind the only
solution available? No, not for
everyone.
Does selling something as valuable as a house indicate the
presence of financial leverage from which we could derive advantage? Most certainly.
Would learning about how to take advantage of such leverage
provide a way to gain the financial stability that we so desperately seek? Quite possibly.
In fact, it's certain.
Quite a few boomers like us have been humble enough to admit that our
accumulated life experience, knowledge and education hasn't served us as well
as we expected it to. They have sought
more, and prospered. They are a part of
Renatus, a nationwide organization of real estate investors who have gained
education from actual real estate practitioners...
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