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No substitute for saving, planning for retirement
My motivation for saving and planning for retirement came from observing many Latino elders struggle after they “retired” or could not work anymore. They lived from social security check to check, and went without many necessities in life. I decided that I would not live that way.
There is no substitute for saving and planning for your retirement. The benefits of this planning are immeasurable. After your working years are over you can have a very secure and comfortable lifestyle and indulge yourself in the things you want to do.
You have to do some work. Teach yourself, or take a class, about limited partnerships, money markets, certificates, and annuities. The time you invest will pay you back many times over. There is no way to get rich quick unless you win the lottery – the odds are not in your favor.
The time to start saving is now. Not much, $5 or $10 or $20 a week. Believe me, over time, it adds up. I started saving money 40 years ago in 1969. I opened a Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA). Every time I received a raise I added some of it to my TSA.
The first rule I tried to follow every time was “pay yourself first.” This meant putting a few dollars away before paying the bills. This didn’t always work, but it worked most of the time.
I started retirement planning in 1969, I retired in 1992. My wife, now deceased, and I knew we wanted to live near Payson. In 1972 we made our second major investment. We purchased a small “summer” home with an eye toward the future.
The second rule we tried to follow was to know the difference between “need it, want it,” and “can we afford it?” Again, it didn’t work all of the time, but most of the time.
My first venture into Limited Partnerships was a bust. I trusted someone without checking them out. It was a Gold Mine Venture in Southern Arizona. That mistake cost me $16,000 which was a lot of money in 1975. I promised myself that would never happen again and it hasn’t.
I learned how to do my research. I learned how to check out brokers. I built up my savings again and waited until I had money that I could invest and that wouldn’t hurt too much if I lost it.
I found a broker and I trusted him. Life has been sweet for the past 10 years. Pete Garcia, who has made a profession of raising money for others, and I share the same broker.
The point of saving money is to make it grow so that you can invest safely and plan for your retirement. The benefits of planning and saving are many. I am not rich but, I am very, very comfortable. I have no house payment, no car payments, I am able to help my sons when they need it – and they have needed it. I travel when I want and I play a ton of golf.
You can never start too early. Retirement will come quick and you need to enjoy it. The sweetest result of all this planning and saving is that after all the spending and playing I do, I will still leave my sons a nice chunk of money with no debt, and I get to spoil my grandchildren as much as possible.
Lionel J. Martinez is a retired community college administrator.
