Click for article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-expect-bloomer-millionaire-220600304.html
I think Dan and I have a lot to say to any generation who thinks they started too late and lost a bundle of their retirement nest egg in a bear market. You are not alone.
For Generation Xers (born 1966 – 79). The article addressed important topics:
1. Controlling debt by funding only none or part of your children’s college education (Smart move. As a baby boomer, where in the world did it become unlawful or unethical to have their kids work their way through college, like most of us did?)
2. Your house mortgage is less than baby boomers (Ill agree. We had a 17% house mortgage rate back in 1981!). You can pay it off sooner.
3. You still have faith in the stock market as it rebounded since 2008. (We were hit terribly during the 2000-2002 tech bubble crash and we were in our late 50s, but we learned from our mistakes, modified our investments and continued contributing).
4. One of the best lessons of any recession as bad as the last one is that our culture hunkered down and lived below our means. The trick is to continue to live below your means when good times return. Remember, it may sound good but the temptation to buy that new car because of the “let the good times” roll crap, will destroy the momentum of frugal living. Without frugal living, you will not reach any kind of status, except living month to month on Social Security. You don’t want to end up doing that!
5. The author didn’t mention if she had a spouse. We are extremely lucky that we have been married for 38 years with similar money values of saving, investing and living below your means. We did it as a couple and we started late but continued to learn investing and retired in our early 60s with a comfortable nest egg.
Gen Xers: Take heart. Don’t listen to the doom and gloom you hear from the financial news spin masters 24/7. You can still retire with financial independence and comfort. We know you can!