Graduation!: Retirement Can Be the Best Time in Your Life. It's Time To "Graduate."

PLANNING

AND

PREPARATION

1

THE END

I would like to start with the end first. This approach can help a person see what it is they want for their life as it comes to a close. Say you are lying on your death bed and you have but a few breaths left: What do you regret and what are you most proud of when it comes to your life?

Here is what we know from many people who have shared their thoughts late in their lives. They regret not taking more chances to pursue their dreams. They regret not spending more time with the people closest to them, whether that be family or friends. They regret working so much. They also regret not saving enough money in many cases.

It is nearly impossible to live a long life without some regrets. We are all mere mortals and making mistakes is part of living a long active life. Yet, we still should be able to learn from those who have come before us. So how does a person reduce those regrets as they end up living a life worth living?

You must work at overcoming your fear of failure and looking stupid. You want to reach a state of self-actualization. This kind of person is unaffected by what others have to say about them. They live their life with an inner peace, listening to that voice inside that tells them who they can be and what they must do. They look within for their answers.

Fear is pushed aside as that person takes full responsibility for their life. They are so busy doing, they have no time to criticize others and worry about what other people think of them. That is the person you can be if you are ready to challenge yourself and your surroundings.

As this book unfolds, keep thinking about that last breath as you recall your life and what you have accomplished. Your life is ultimately a collection of decisions that takes you in one direction or another. Making the right decisions at the right times in your life will make all the difference in the world.

It is vitally important that you become self-aware of what you are currently doing with money and where it is taking you. For some, only small changes will need to be made. For others, major changes are in order as fears are overcome and pushed aside. No matter where you are now, it really is where you want to go that counts.

Believe in yourself. That sounds simple, but I do know it is difficult for many. Without a healthy faith in your own abilities, your life will be limited because of some of that fear that can very easily creep into your thinking, limiting what you actually do.

Self-confidence is a requirement for anyone who is ready to take control of their situation. It is so very important to become that person who takes control of all parts of their life. That’s what you will see in the following pages. It’s about creating the life of your dreams!

This book was created to provide you a step-by-step manual, helping you take control of your future by taking control of your money AND your emotions even though there are difficulties and obstacles all along the way. There is no better time than right now to take control of your life. Believe in that and believe in YOU.

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

- Christopher Reeve

2

THE ANSWER

I will review plenty of information as this book unfolds. Some of it might be very new to you. That’s okay. Read a chapter two or three times if necessary to better understand the material. Let it sink in. You will find this book much easier to consume once you have read my previous two books, Financial Happine$$ and What Color is the Sky.

I will also be asking you to retrieve a great deal of personal information as you identify where you currently are financially. Don’t put that off for some later day. It is so very easy to say one day. Before you know it, months and years have gone by and one day still hasn’t ever come about. Do it now!

Take each action item and do it without worrying about anything else. Traveling big distances requires small steps all along the way. Keep reminding yourself of that key point. Take those small steps as needed throughout this process, one by one. Success comes to those who are the doers in life. Be a doer!

Another big part of this process requires an open mind that is willing to change when provided with new information that can change your life for the better. I need you to really believe in that and what is possible as you read this book. New worlds are waiting to be discovered.

This new information can benefit you in ways you may not fully recognize at this very moment, but I promise you, it can help you when you are ready to take action. That my friend, is the value of a good book that is full of information that makes you think and behave differently. There is untapped potential in YOU waiting to be released. Go get it!

I also want you to challenge what you know about money and about yourself. What you know could be wrong! It could have been planted there by one of the many enemies I discuss later in the book. Take time to reflect on what you know and where you picked it up.

It’s okay if you have learned the wrong stuff somewhere along the way. I did, but I changed my ways (and my thinking) when I became aware of new information that would make my life better. The information in this book can improve not only your finances, but your life.

Here is a brief story that might help as we proceed forward. There once was a young man who was lost and confused and so he traveled the world seeking the answers to life. He spent his days looking for solutions to the difficulties of life from wise men and women all over the globe.

After years of searching with no clear solution, that young man ended up back where he had started, no wiser, or so he thought. When he stopped looking out there, the answer to a fulfilling and meaningful life came to him in a split second in the form of a $100 bill and what he could do with it.

That person was me. Once I realized the answer to life was not out there, but within me, my life changed forever. I found the solution once I became aware of my own true potential. The same can be said for you as you proceed down this journey. I will provide you the path. It will be up to you to follow it. More to follow.

The essential lesson I’ve learned in life is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent being that you are and recognize first and foremost you’re not here as a human being only. You’re a spiritual being having a human experience.

- Wayne Dyer

3

THE ELEVATOR

How you ride in an elevator can tell us plenty about your prospects for graduation at some point in the future. An elevator? Yes, I am talking about that steel box that you find in many hotels and large buildings that house many floors. Let’s take a look at what an elevator, and how you ride it, might tell us about your future.

When you get in an elevator almost anything can happen based on the assortment of people in there with you. Many times those people will be going to different places than you. They look like they know where they want to go, but do they? It all kind of starts when you step into the big box and the doors start to close.

That’s when your fellow riders start jostling for their spot in the big steel box, sometimes before and sometimes after they have hit the button. The button? The button in the elevator will tell you whether you are going up or down.

There is no sideways button so keep that in mind as this story plays out. Selecting the right button should get you to where you want to go (maybe). Selecting the wrong button could send you to the great unknown.

Sometimes you are stuck going in the wrong direction for awhile as you wait for people to get off on floors that have no interest to you. If you’re not careful, you might find yourself pushed out onto the wrong floor because of the momentum surge coming from the herd in the back of the elevator. That kind of effect can cause you to get lost on a floor that is unfamiliar to you. What do you do when you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time?

What kind of person are you when riding an elevator? Are you the take-charge type that steps in and immediately presses the button highlighting where you want to go?

Maybe you are the type of person who presses the same button everyone else is pressing even when you’re not sure where in the hell that will be taking you. They know where they are going so you are wise to follow, right?

Who knows, maybe you are the type of person who closes their eyes and just starts pressing buttons without rhyme or reason to see where they may take you. Here I am being a bit silly, but I’m sure you have observed many people in life who for one reason or another, aimlessly do things without any real thought to what could happen.

Whatever your style may be in an elevator (or life), how you ride will probably give us a good idea regarding where you might be headed in the future. This book is a bit like that elevator.

This manual will provide you buttons to push that will take you to the places you want to go, but YOU must hit the right buttons at the right times if you hope to reach the destination you desire. For most of you, that is a happy and fulfilling life. Right? That’s what I want and I do believe that is what you want when you bore down to the truth.

Welcome aboard. I will serve as your bellboy, asking you what floor you desire to reach. This may not be entirely smooth, but I promise to help you reach your preferred destination. Stand back. The doors are closing. Where do you want to go?

You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

4

THE MINDSET

Having the right mindset is critical to graduation no matter at what age you decide to take the leap. The mindset? You must acquire the right mindset that places you in the right frame of mind to make the right decisions, which will lead to the right habits, eventually leading you down the right path as you grow beyond where you are right now.

You are probably already noticing this chapter is not about math. This chapter deals with your thoughts. What you think has a lot to do with where you end up in life. Self-help book after self-help book will tell you that. They are right!

What is the right mindset? (1) You believe in yourself even when others may not. (2) You know there will be difficulties along the way, but there will also be opportunities. (3) You know there will be people who will stand in your way and others who will help you. (4) You realize that you are in charge of graduation and not someone else. (5) If you falter (and you will at times) you know it is up to you to get up and get going again.

WHEN you succeed in acquiring the right mindset, you know it’s on you to help others do the same as you show them the path when they are ready. When they are ready? You can only help people who are ready and willing to be helped.

How do you acquire the right mindset if you are not quite there yet? (1) Want it and be open to change. (2) Be willing to put in the time to learn from others who have it. (3) Avoid those who put you down for wanting it. (4) Stay with it; it doesn’t happen overnight. (5) When you have it, share it with others as the student becomes the teacher.

Some of you reading this chapter might be fired up to develop the right mindset. That means you are ready. Others of you might think I am a bit nutty and this talk about mindset is a bunch of mumbo jumbo. That simply means you are not ready at this time. That’s okay, too. When you are ready, I will be here waiting for you. So will the books you see below. Change comes to those who are ready!

•   Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

•   The Happiness Solution by Allan Gettis

•   The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

•   The Millionaire Teacher Andrew Hallam

•   The Joy of Not Working by Ernie Zelinski

•   Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

•   Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

•   The Millionaire Next Door by William Stanley

•   The Pursuit of Happiness by David G. Myers

•   Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph.

- Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

5

OLD AND BROKE

There is an old saying that goes something like this. There is one thing worse than being broke, old and broke! I agree with that sentiment and so it’s worthy of a chapter. P.S. This chapter primarily deals with people who are not prepared for graduation and don’t really have a plan to get there. If that is you, pay close attention. If not, feel free to move ahead to the next chapter.

This falls right in with the chapter on the mindset. The secret to graduation is that there is no secret. It’s basic math that will get you there and then psychology will help you find some tangible meaning when you reach that point, but it does require a person to get on the right track. For many people that will require a real change in lifestyle and habits. If you want graduation bad enough, you will make the needed changes.

Wherever you are right now,