Welcome!

Welcome to the Platinum Years Network! I'm Bob McDonald. I was born in 1946. Last year, George W. Bush, Willian Jefferson Clinton and I all turned 60, along with several million more of you who are in the advance guard of what was once known as the "Post War Baby Boom." Now, we are simply known as "boomers," and we are well known as a generational group. Our generation, in fact, has influenced many cultural changes as we progressed through our school and work years, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will also revolutionize the stage of life that has heretofore been known as "retirement."

A few years ago, in conversations with family and friends, I began to notice something about my contemporaries as they looked ahead toward their so called "golden years" of retirement. It sure didn't seem like many of us were looking at the good ol' do nothing, golf playing, "drop out of society" retirement that was once the norm. Later, I began to read surveys that confirmed that more than 70% of us had something else in mind. I have seen surveys where the number was as high as 88%!

Many of us have only a vague notion of what this may entail exactly, but we do know a few things:
1. The word "retirement" does not even begin to describe it.
2. We want to stay active and relevant.
3. We still have many, many things left on our "things to do before we die" lists.

So with some trepidation, I have started work on a book entitled Platinum Living: Getting the Best out of the Rest of Your Life. I have lots of ideas on the subject, both from my experience in financial planning, but also through a lot of personal experience in helping clients and friends in their "life planning" as well. And I have found that the latter is where my passion really lies. But effective life planning is not a monologue. It is a dialogue. And for your part, you can comment here to any post, or email me at a special address I have set up for that purpose, platinumyears@yahoo.com.

I have also begun work on a website, www.platinumyears.net, at which I will try to organize my own thoughts and your comments in as coherent a manner as possible. My goal there (and here) is to equip and encourage all who join up with us to truly "get the best out of the rest of our lives."

It should be an interesting journey. Let's roll.

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