Have a GREAT retirement

Men are a funny breed of animal; it’s a fact that as they grow older, men need to address a few things though they almost always refuse to do so. Maybe this is illustrative of the old saying that men and boys are only different when it comes to the cost of their toys, but the fact is that it’s always a good idea for any man to sit down and assess where he is and where he’s going.

This doesn’t mean that obsessing over growing older is the way to go, because it most certainly isn’t. What it does mean, though, is that having a plan for a nice retirement income should be a part of any young man’s outlook on life. The old story about the ant and the grasshopper — in which the grasshopper was left out in the cold — it’s a good parable to keep in mind.

Unfortunately, a number of things in a man’s outlook conspires to prevent him from planning for the future, it would seem. Worrying about aging in the here and now has led to men waxing themselves to eliminate unsightly hair from chests and backs, which isn’t all bad (it must be admitted), especially when it means they won’t be using dye or shoe polish to cover up gray. That’s just ugly.

There’s a lot to be said for looking at the 20s through 50s as a golden opportunity to amass a lot of gold, for lack of a better phrase. These are the most vigorous years in a person’s life and can also be the prime time when a great deal of money can be made. After all, who wants to be thinking about saving huge sums of money in their 60s in order to fund their lifestyle in their 70s?

Men should stop and think about how easy it is to amass a literal fortune in 40 years versus trying to play catch up in 10 or 15 years. That’s why blowing a lot of cash on some super expensive anti aging eye cream when that money could be better used in an interest-bearing savings account or some sort of regular investment account isn’t exactly being very smart about things, it must be said.

Certainly, if one stops to think about how compounded interest works over a long stretch, one will quickly begin to realize that taking the money that was going to be spent on that cream and instead investing it or saving it will lead to quite a bit more money over the long run. Once one hits 60 and looks at that account, the shock can be quite impressive, as will be the money available for spending.

Perhaps considering something like what’s been discussed is in some way conceding that one will get old (though one never has to get ‘old, ‘ in all the ways that really matter) and perhaps it’s just a man’s way of refusing to confront the stubborn truth of things. We all have to age and it’s really what defines us as humans, but we have the advantage of being able to plan for it, so take heart in that.