"Take Nothing for Granted"

"It is easy to become careless about our blessings. A favor done once is always appreciated. But a favor done multiple times can easily be taken for granted. It is then no longer a gift. It's expected, treated almost as an entitlement. So if the favor is no longer offered, we complain about its loss.

Come to think of it, we take most of our benefits for granted - our daily bread, our health, our loved ones, our nation.

How different life would be if we took nothing for granted. We would swim perpetually in a river of gratitude.

The best advice I have ever received on this subject came from William Shakespeare in Henry VI: 'Let never day nor night unhallowed pass, but still remember what the Lord hath done.' "

~Jim Jackson

"Jim's Daily Awakenings" are short daily e-mail messages from Jim Jackson. These morning messages are based on Jim's very successful radio spots heard daily on Houston's 94.5, the BUZZ. http://www.jimsdailyawakenings.com/

My thanks to Jim Jackson for sharing this message today.  I could not have found a better way to say it, so I quote him here verbatim. ~Kirk

By the end of today, 10,000 more people will have retired from work

As I think through this statistic and consider what I'm about to write, I know that by the time I'm finished writing and post this blog, another 250 people will have retired.

The unfortunate truth is... the likelihood that these retirees will run out of money: greater than 50%.

Some people are actually going to be okay, but they're afraid they're going to run out of money so they can't enjoy the retirement they could have.  They could be sharing their wealth with children, grandchildren, churches or charities near to their hearts.  They could be traveling, replacing an undependable car, or enjoying a hobby.

Many other people are not okay, but they are living like they are.  They look around them and see people living in nice homes, driving nice cars, wearing nice clothes, and they think they can afford to do that, too.  They may have a lump sum of money from their retirement plan and think that it will never run out.  They're continuing to live like they lived when they had an income.

Some are living cautiously, spending very little, but worried to death they'll run out of money and have to go back to work.  All the while, knowing in the back of their minds it will be very difficult to get someone to hire them.

If you're still working, now is the time to send money ahead to your future.  If you're not saving in your employer's retirement plan or an IRA, start now.  If you are already doing that, increase your savings.  Do something.  We all have a "status quo" bias.  We like to do what we're currently doing.  That can also be called "cognitive laziness."  If we can do nothing, that's easier.

Don't do nothing.  Do whatever it takes to get on track to build a nest egg that will be able to replace 75% of your pre-retirement income by the time you reach age 67.  That's not impossible to do, no matter what your current income.  But, it's very difficult to figure out by yourself.  Find a financial advisor you can trust and get started today.  Statistically, half of the people who make it to age 85 will not be capable of making sound financial decisions.  Do it now while you can still think straight.

The power is in your hands.  It always has been.

But I'm not so sure it always will be.