Self-Retired or Pushed, or Groomed

It is not as complicated as it is made out to be
by Pat Darnell

Retiring, are you? I worked in financial fields for about 7 years before retiring. I jumped into Insurance games from Chicago to Houston. It turn out pretty easy to take the tests for each state, passing with a score of 70 or better. Then finding a company to sponsor me; turned to be Farmers, then Western Southern.

It amounted to a lot of barking at the moon. Before sacrificing myself to "securities brokers," I worked in my chosen field of engineering... *[and sincerely, I would like to apologize to my family for dragging them through that decade of prospecting in financial dogma, also.]

Engineering is based on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us, because an act of God will destroy structures based on fault or graft and kill or maim people. Not so in the selling of securities for Insurance companies, Banks, Property Casualty outfits... those pyramidal groups have derived all the ways to not supply security with their securities.

There is only one total amount of insurance that can be sold. It alters any idea one might have about making a 'deal' in the purchase of Property\Casualty Insurance like Auto or House policies. That GEICO Gecko is a Chameleon. There are no 'deals' to be made. Return of premium from Allstate or USAA, that is your money they used for a year to pad their accounts. It should be returned 'with interest' paid by Allstate to you along with a thank you note for your donation. It is simply a return of your overpayment for that year. It isn't a dividend.

So, here is the 'Crux of that Bixcuit:' Securities are designed to be esoteric. The language and method of calculating and securing is designed in 'cryptic language, on purpose.' Bankers at holding companies thickly disguise Securities to be unrecognizable once they are printed into glossy, robust, unreadable pamphlets and brochures.

So, to myself and anyone else -- What happens to long time workers? Have a good talk with your postman\mail-carrier this week. Thirty years and out. "I'm retiring this year," says my postman. "Yep, 31 years, and I'm ready. I can't take that front office anymore."

"Wow, 31 years is tough to do, but congratulations," I say. "I have lots of friends who have tried to make the thirty year and out route.. they make it seven years or so, then.. move on."

He nods in agreement, because he has seen it happen over and over. The test of this trial by work-a-day has been "Can one keep up?" Keeping up is the number one comment I hear from friends who have retired early. "I sure don't miss having to 'keep up' at a job."

That is why when a long time employee moves on, what he and she did to 'keep up' day to day, 8 hours a day is lost. And believe it or not that is what separates the C Class elite from the worker-bees.

Most CEO types find time to plan their retirement, and groom a replacement before they leap into obscurity. That is because they know the securities are all liabilities. Most put a price on retirement and contribute to it personally.

Besides, many 'Groomlings' have recently been less loyal to the system they are prepared for, and move on in a matter of three to seven years. Long time employment has been on the wane for some time now.

Retirement is not based on your employment, as much as on your attitude. Do not think of it as over the hill; think on how it occurred no matter what. Think about Old President Carter and how his retirement became his most productive years.
(thanks for listening; pd)