The Platinum Living Network

Even though I am a financial planner by trade, I don’t expect that this blog or the Platinum Years Network will spend that much time discussing financial topics. There just isn’t that much of a correlation between wealth and “authentic happiness.” And I’ll give you the stats on that some day. All in due time… But this recent news item just begs to be commented on: “At an event hosted by Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, the nation's first Baby Boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, today filed for her Social Security retirement benefits online at www.socialsecurity.gov . Ms. Casey-Kirschling, who was born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, will be eligible for benefits beginning January 2008.” Commissioner Astrue went on to gush about Kathy’s “personal milestone – she has made the transition from the workforce to retirement.” Now I know a social security commissioner has to say such things as a matter of public relations, but if at the end of my life, I...

Today seems like a good day to officially begin, although I’ve been at it off and on for a couple of years now. I turn 61 today. Over the past two years, I have greatly simplified my life. I sold off some property I had been managing, and transitioned my stock brokerage and financial planning practice so that I am now an independent contractor without the complications and regulations of running a corporate broker/dealer. A generation ago, I would now be telling you that I’m looking forward to “retirement,” perhaps moving to Florida, where you could find me on the nearest golf course. But that does not have any particular appeal to me. Nor does it have any appeal to about 80% of my “baby boomer” brethren, who have no intention of retiring in the same “drop out of life” fashion that our parents did. There’s just too much to do! I have a million ideas, and lots of potential adventures on my “Things To Do Before I Die” list (Do you have one of those?) One of those ideas is to create this ...

In my "book in process," Platinum Living , I make several recommendations as to how our government could reform the social security system, but they boil down to this. Only 20% or so of all "baby boomers" are planning a traditional sort of retirement. This represents a great opportunity for our government to "save" the social security system. And boomers, for our part, must be open to such changes, getting past the usual "How does this affect ME right now," analysis and looking at the effect on our country and our children. In other words, boomers must take the lead in eliminating the idea that social security reform is the "third rail of American Politics." Meanwhile, I came across these interesting, if more traditional, proposals from Kiplinger at http://www.kiplinger.com/businessresource/summary/archive/2007/10_retirement_steps_NCPA.html