Become a Professional Saver

There were a lot of changes in the NFL this year, as team owners made swift and decisive cuts to team personnel. Most coaches that were fired this year were fired mainly because of the poor performance of their teams. With a group of athletes, it’s NOT the performance of just ONE person that drives the fate of a team, it’s the entire team’s performance that earns a win or loss. And it’s their leader who is ultimately held accountable for each success or failure. A failing classroom is blamed on the teacher, a struggling company is blamed on the CEO, and a losing team is blamed on the coach.

Does a coach need good athletes to win a game like the Super Bowl? Absolutely! Does an athlete need a good coach to win the Super Bowl? No question! The entire team must be committed and dedicated to their goal, of not only playing in the Super Bowl, but becoming a world champion!

Boomers, however, are woefully unprepared for winning at retirement. The last Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute in 2010, found that more than half of American workers had $25,000 dollars or LESS saved for retirement, and 27% of them had less than $1,000 saved for retirement. AARP conducted a survey late last year that found that 40% of retirees plan on “working until they drop…” and that, unfortunately, may be the harsh reality for many would-be retirees.

Parents of boomers, who lived through the Great Depression, had much different spending and saving habits. They became a generation of savers. However, if there is anything good to report about today’s economic difficulties, it’s the fact that the Great Recession is already having an impact on younger savers - many of them are reporting that they are saving MORE and spending LESS, for fear of being without enough money in the future.
While the Super Bowl may not be YOUR ultimate goal, the road these athletes took to get there, could likely get YOU to your goals as well.

In the “game of life” there will be winners and losers, and there will be those who barely get by, because they only gave a little effort, and then there will be those who will accomplish all their goals by giving 110%. Remember, sacrifice is only temporary, but victory lasts forever.

Why not follow the lead set by professional athletes? Become a professional saver! Make it your goal to become debt free by retirement, to have enough money saved to live the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of for yourself, and to have enough income to last throughout your golden years.