A Successful Retirement Is Not the 3-Legged Stool

Back in the day, a successful retirement was defined by how well you had funded what had come to be called the “3 legged stool”. The first leg was defined by the amount of money in terms of Social Security benefit you had piled up. The second leg contained the amount of pension or defined benefit you had earned during your career. What ever happened to that? I know I have it around here someplace.

The third leg was defined by the amount of money and IRA’s you had managed to squirrel away while you were hemorrhaging money trying raise a family. Good luck with that by the way. That was it, The well endowed three legged stool, or lack thereof defined not only your retirement, but more importantly the rest of your life.

Is One Million Dollars Enough?

There is the long held belief that if you have one million dollars, you should be able to make it to the finish line without experiencing abject poverty. Well, that all depends. First of all it’s been estimated that only 10% of all retirees are millionaires, and if you subtract the value of their home and other real property, the number of millionaires with that amount of cash drops to about 3% of us.

Your financial state is only part of the story. An even more important factor is where you live and the lifestyle you are supporting. Living on Four grand a month is a pretty good life in Kansas but in Southern California that will barely pay the rent. Other factors include expensive medicine not covered by your prescription plan or God forbid, adult children still living with you along with their four kids.

On the other end of the scale, the IRS says that just over 17% of retirees are living on only Social Security. Even in that situation we are going to make the case that they are not going end up starving to death or living under a bridge with other unfortunate individuals.

Most of us fall in between these two boundaries, The median retiree, the one who lives at the 50% mark with half of their peers better off and half of their peers not doing as well have about two hundred thousand dollars they can get their hands on not including their home, or around $450,000.00 as a household. Shout out to “The Motley Fool Investment Team” for these statistics. I have found them to be pretty accurate in my work the past few years as an Accredited Financial Counselor.

In upcoming episodes we will explain that whether you are rich or of modest means, it is unlikely that you are going to “run out of money”. Even if you fall into the “Spousal Impoverishment Category.” That is where your spouse must go into long term care, but instead of leaving you, the healthy spouse ultimately penniless, you are still going to be able to keep your house, your car, your personal sources of income, $150,000.00 of the household retirement savings and your dog!

With the help of YBR, you will still be able to contribute mentally, physically and socially to your family, friends, church and other coveted organizations. But perhaps more importantly, Live the Legacy that will impact those closest to you for generations to come.

It doesn’t begin or end with the 3 legged stool.

It does begin and ultimately end with the key area of your retirement known as your Spirituality. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian or not, we all hold some values and beliefs that are near and dear to our heart. This is known as our “Internal Spirituality.” We shared a list of those commonly held core values a couple of weeks ago. To find them re-read the article entitled “Broken Glass for my Birthday” or click on this link for a list of common core values.

We use our core values to help us make decisions when choosing between several alternatives. Over time the choices we make produce a pattern and when repeated enough times, this pattern creates the “Identity” we present to the world, this is also known as our “External Spirituality.”

The values include the following excerpt:

“The Dash”

Here is a gift from us. Click here for a well known poem written by Linda Ellis entitled “The Dash”. It’s a very inspiring way to finish strong this week. Here’s a little sneak peak.

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.

He noted first came the date of the birth then spoke the date of death with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that they spent in life on Earth.
And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters most is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash.

https://dashaccessandinclusion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Dash-Poem-Printable.pdf

And What Do The Scriptures Say about the 3 Legged Stool?

Today’s scripture comes from King Solomon who often referred to himself as “The Preacher” and whom God Himself called “The wisest man who ever lived.” Today’s reading can be found in the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes.

Whoever loves money never has enough, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied. As goods increase so does the appetite to consume them. And what good are they to their owners except to gaze upon them with their eyes. Naked we came into the world and so we shall depart, we can take nothing with us from our labor which we can carry in our hand.

Ecclesiastes 5:11, 15

I chuckle at the end where Solomon registers a complaint with God as he ends this verse by stating; “And this is a very great injustice.”

That’s it for this week you Best Retirement people. Don’t forget to share this episode with someone and open your e mail next week as we dive a little deeper in how to live Your Best Retirement. I’m Coach Ledford and I look forward to seeing you next time.