Ben Stein was on Dr.Phil the other night and he said that retirement was a western experiment for the last 50yrs and it's coming to an end. I could this coming a few years when I decided to go back to school so I wouldn't have to work at Walmart after I can no longer do my present job. I was never expecting to "retire", but I would like an easier job when I'm older. Let's face it, what we think of retirement today is something that's only been around for one or two generations.

I am one of the retired folks. The financial downturn "has not" impacted me.

My "total cost of living" is becoming more expensive but I planned for that.

For 30 years I was a middle class worker but very early in the game of life I learned the meaning of the word "NO".

Hence ..I own my house, I have no debt, I drive a nearly brand new high end van (paid for), put kids through college, dealt with a severe family sickness and loss of second income.

The success of my good fortune was "in the math and I had a plan".

I am not a rocket scientist ..I just knew when to say "NO" and stuck to my plan. It worked.

The only part I have no control over is the Government reneging on my $ocial $ecurity Contract (not an entitlement). So, the plan says "vote Democrat" as they are least likely to screw me.

I don't want to ever retire, but I do want to change careers so that I can work less, play more and enjoy my kids and grand kids.

Maybe start a bed and breakfast, or something like that.

I'd like to keep doing the job i'm doing for as long as i can. the company has a mandatory medical every 3 years if working foreign so that will tell me when to hang it up!

Financially the downturn has dramatically affected my savings by knocking about a third off their value...and still going down.

I never planned on an early retirement though so i figure i will just see if we can ride this baby out and find that distant Sunset...lol

Like BadFrog I made a 15 year plan and stuck to it. I served my country (Air Force retired). I answered a couple of key questions to my plan:

1. What do I want to do when I stop working?

Live the resort lifestyle, golf, tennis, fitness center, country club, restaurants. I'm living this lifestyle now. This where I live: http://www.robson.com/page.cfm?name=PebbleCrk_

2. Where do I want to live when I stop working?

I live in Phoenix Arizona. I'm 4 hrs from Las Vegas, 5 hrs to Los Angeles and Long Beach. I don't deal with tornado's, hurricanes, or earth quakes, 8 months out of the year it's an average temperature of 75 degrees.

As for the economic impact, it hasn't affected my plans. I have a solid financial portfolio, inheritance and not debt. I don't charge up credit cards. I use them (so I can get travel points and awards) then pay them off every month.

I'm semi retired now and work from my home office. I'm a very high paid consumer market research analyst with clients world wide. I don't drive to an office in the daily grind of traffic.

I will fully retire in 8 years. I don't have a need or have the desire to "not ever want to retire". I have enough income to continue to golf year round, travel throughout the year and do the things I want to do.

It wasn't luck, it was good planning and sticking to the plan.

~Jonathan~

Retirement? What the hell is that? if you love what you do then retirement is a tough option isn't it? Good for you bad frog Glad to hear there are still people out there that are going to be unscathed through this slump.

Ernie, I'm from Canada and retirement is not legally mandatory. You can work here until you are 100yrs old if you choose. Is it legal mandatory down in the USA?

We also have a different system up here and while we are affected, its different. My retirement funds are secure. My finances currently are being dealt with but this was set in motion far before the turn-down in economy. For myself, I'll be just fine but I'm not looking at retirement for another 20yrs.