What a Retirement / Financial planner SHOULD tell his clients but will not. He will not because he thinks (perhaps rightly) that the client (You!!) do not have the maturity to understand the real meaning:

1. Sir to me the visibility of any retirement plan is just as clear as the iceberg was for the captain of the Titanic. 90% of the iceberg is BELOW the water. I have no clue how your retirement will be like.

2. None of your existing problems will disappear when you retire.

3. Once you retire and go to some place they will have no clue about your past. You could have been a peon, a clerk, a CEO, a nuclear physicist, – frankly the world has moved on.

4. You may live for 40+ years in retirement, find something useful to do. Start searching at 50 – you will not be able to start a hobby at age 70.

5. You may live for 40 years does not mean you WILL. Prepare as if you will die tonight. Finish all paperwork. God does not give you extra time to file papers properly.

6. You may end up living longer than retirees in previous generations, but that doesn’t necessarily mean those extra years will be healthier. Natural aging will do at least some of the following:

• Weaken your immune system.
• Diminish your sense of taste and smell.
• Make your heart muscle less efficient.
• Shrink your bones in size and density.
• Cause frequent constipation.
• Diminish bladder control
• Increase frequency of urination
• Impair your memory – which will irritate your spouse.
• Slow your reaction time
• Reduce your ability to produce tears, making you more sensitive to glare
• Cause dry mouth and pull your gums back from your teeth
• Make you susceptible to bruises and wrinkles
• Alter your sexual needs, patterns and performance.

(point no. 6: source a magazine for elderly people)

7. If you do not have a good exercise, sports regime you are likely to put on weight. This happens esp if you are prone to snacking…so time spent at home will be spent snacking….

well, well,….sadly more to come…