Retirement Planning Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 02:33:00 +0000

Money Lovers:

Weirdly, it was through synchronicity that I found the article below. For my new book "Money Wisdom for Smart People — Dummies Don't Bother," I was looking to add to my list of recommended financial books. The first result on Google was:

The 10 Best Personal Finance Books of 2020: "Manage your money better with these reads" BY BEVERLY BIRD - Updated April 10, 2020

https://www.thebalance.com/best-personal-finance-books-4154809

Here's how the 10 books played out for me:

I didn't read the first one, find it interesting, so I ordered it.

I own and have read the next 5.

The 7th I wasn't that interested in.

The 8th I don't have, I find it very interesting, and ordered it!

The 9th — I saw that book somewhere before — Oh right, I have around 500 copies of it downstairs!

The 10th — Not that interested in it so I didn't order it.

In short, even though I don't need any new books on how to handle money, I still ordered two new books on the subject.

Of course, people who are broke and handle money badly likely have not read any of these books — and will not order any of them!

(Oh well, as Mark Coker recently stated, "Darwin will sort out the delusional, pig-headed, and willfully ignorant.")

Just a note that I have finally published the new edition of THE LAZY PERSON'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS — FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE AND PERSONAL FREEDOM TOO!

Copies can be ordered at:

The Lazy Person's Guide to Success on Amazon.com

The Lazy Person's Guide to Success on Amazon.ca

Best Retirement Books

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 01:21:00 +0000

Someone the other day posted that I don't know how to write.

Another woman with a "Masters in English" (which she emphasized) trashed my book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

I suggested that the woman search "best retirement books" and look at the Number 1 retirement book that appears on left in the images.

According to these images How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is the best retirement book out there. Note that my The Joy of Not Working is also in the top 10 of best retirement books.

I also suggested that the woman refer to my website How to Retire Happy where on the homepage I list 30 major websites and blogs that have written about How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free in a positive way.

You can see the list at Best Retirement Books on How to Retire Happy.

Below are some of the entries:

First in September 2014 the AARP posted the article 6 Retirement Books You Should Read Now on their AARP website. The AARP placed How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (now over 390,000 copies sold) in the Number 6 Position although it has out sold all the other retirement books since it was released in 2003.

Along with some of the other World's Best Retirement Books, here are more of the many places where How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is highly recommended by major media or bloggers, including US NEWS, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor:

1. 10 Great Retirement Books by Steve Holbrook of USNEWS: In this article US NEWS lists How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free in the Number 1 Position. "In How to Retire Wild, Happy, and Free, life coach Ernie Zelinski advises retirees on how they can relax and enjoy their lives. From retirement savings to envisioning your retirement goals, Zelinski offers guidance on a broad range of topics."

2. 7 BOOKS ON RETIREMENT YOU SHOULD READ RIGHT NOW BY REBECCA BOWSLAUGH:(Note that How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free is Number 1.) "Many retirement books focus on the financial side of retirement; specifically how much money you’ll need before the big day arrives. How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is something different. This book focuses on life (and how to live it!) after retirement. It encourages physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being and improvements and helps the reader set goals to achieve a better life. And Zelinski is Canadian, so his humourous advice is not only relevant, but also practical. His is also the author of The Joy of Not Working: 21st Century Edition – A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked an equally humorous and inspiring book for retirement and potential retirees."

26. 10 Best Selling Retirement Books on Amazon: by Knowing My Retirement.com: NOTE: How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is Number 1. Here "are 10 of the best selling books from AMAZON.COM on the non financial aspects of retirement. They are ranked starting with the most popular. We reviewed about 108 titles to develop this list. So for AMAZON, financial retirement books outnumber non-financial ones by about 10 to 1, pretty much the state of the art for retirement information."

27. 10 Books to Read Before You Retire: By Jeff Somers January 2018: More Best Retirement Books of All Time: Some people dream of retiring and living a jobless life. Others want to work until they fall over. No matter which camp you fall into, retirement planning is essential.

28. Retirement Books: Pinterest Collection by Retirement Style: Deborah Williams's Suggestions for books that can help you make decisions about retirement planning, spending or living.

30. Early Retirement Books by Todd the Financial Mentor: (Invest Smart. Build Wealth. Retire Early. Live Free.) Most people dream about early retirement, but few make concrete plans and take the required actions to achieve the goal. Readers on this site are different. I’ve have made it my mission to teach the methods I used to retire early at age 35. I’ve taught these same principles to 100’s of coaching clients with great success. The truth is anyone can retire earlier than old if you’re willing to commit to the goal, create a plan based on proven principles, and take persistent, consistent action. Surprisingly, it’s really not that hard when you know what to do. Here are several books that give you different perspectives on early retirement including How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 07:33:00 +0000

This is the front cover of my new book The Joy of Being Retired: 365 Reasons Why Retirement Rocks — and Work Sucks! It actually has 50 Bonus Reasons for Why Retirement Rocks — and Work Sucks! for a total of 415 Reasons. Each of the reasons has an accompanying cartoon image so this book is a little different than my two other bestselling retirement books. Just to let you know that the POD (Print on Demand) edition of The Joy of Being Retired is as of today available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. I just ordered 2 copies from Amazon.ca.

At Amazon.com, you can order a copy here:

The Joy of Being Retired on Amazon.com

At Amazon.ca, you can order a copy here.

The Joy of Being Retired on Amazon.ca:

Heck, if you order a copy in the next 24 hours and pay for express shipping, you may get the copy before I get my 2 copies. I am also doing a print run of 1,700 copies of a traditional offset print run but these won't be available until the third week of January. (Two financial advisors have already ordered 200 copies each to give to their clients.)

To my special friends and clients, I will be giving you a complimentary signed copy or sending you a copy of the traditional offset print copy once I get them.

Best Retirement Planning Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:39:00 +0000

A long time ago I learned from some of the top Internet marketing gurus such as Tom Antion that ugly websites can attract a lot more traffic and make a lot more money than professionally designed websites. (Of course website designers wanting to charge you thousands of dollars for a website that will be a total waste of money don't want you to know this.)

In June my "Retirement Cafe" website was the number 2 listing on "Top 55 Retirement Planning Websites" awards by GoldRetiree.com.

Check out the number 2 listing on "Top 55 Retirement Planning Websites awards."

Incidentally, I designed the "Retirement Cafe" website using a cheap website design program that cost $175. I used that same program to design about 15 other websites, including the "Retirement Quotes Cafe". Not so long ago someone offered me $15,000 for the "Retirement Quotes Cafe" — I declined because I didn't want anyone messing around with the design. Ultimately, it's not how pretty the website looks that counts — it's the quality of the content that you have on the website that makes the difference and ends up making you the big money.

Furthermore in July the Washington Post mentioned the "Retirement Cafe" as one of the better websites in an article titled "Best web sites for boomers and retirees":

Again, I make the point that ugly websites can attract a lot more traffic and make a lot more money than professionally designed websites. The Washington Post states the "Retirement Cafe" is "Not as pretty and polished as some of the others, but packed with information and links . . ."

Incidentally, not that long ago Seth Godin, one to the top marketing gurus in the world, wrote a brief blog post about how pretty websites are often not as effective as the not-so-pretty (ugly) ones.

"Pretty websites ... are rarely websites that convert as well as unpretty ones . . . it's a mistake to also expect your pretty website to generate cash, to have the maximum percentage of clicks, to have the most efficient possible funnel of attention to action."

— Seth Godin

For the record, my ugly retirement websites are one of the major factors for my books How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free having sold over 300,000 copies and The Joy of Not Working having sold over 295,000 copies.

You can also check the Best Retirement Websites on the Retirement Cafe.

Things to Celebrate in October - Including Book Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 10:00:00 +0000

This October was the 35th anniversary of my being fired from my Engineering job for taking too much vacation. I have not had a regular job since then. These quotations apply:

"Hard work is no match for relaxed, creative action."
— from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success

"Those who make the worst use of time most complain of its shortness."
— Jean de La Bruyère

"Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow."
— Douglas Pagels

"The work ethic is a terrible mistake — a cute term gone haywire.
— from "The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success"

"If people knew what they had to do to be successful, most people wouldn't. "
— Lord Thomson of Fleet

"If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
— Dolly Parton

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."
— Michelangelo

What's more, in late October I did a tally and realized that my books have now sold over 900,000 copies worldwide since I started self-publishing in September 1989. That’s an average of 34, 615 copies per year over 26 years.

Still more, Book marketing guru John Kremer on Facebook said he was looking for more ideas for the new edition of his book “1,001 Ways to Market Your Books”. So I sent him a few of my marketing techniques — which I didn’t think he would use. Surprisingly (to me), he did a blog post about some of them:

http://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/ernie-zelinski-creative-book-marketing-strategies/

Of course, sending John Kremer some of my marketing techniques is another marketing technique of mine to get me publicity in the new edition of his book. As it turns out, I got publicity on his blog post too. Some more words of wisdom:

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."
— Francoise Rene Auguste Chateaubriand

REPLY LINK

Did I Say That - Quotes by Ernie Zelinski

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 23:12:00 +0000

Just discovered this webpage (that I have nothing to do with).

Quotes by Ernie J. Zelinski

I didn't know that I said all of these things — or at least I forgot that I said some of them!

Here are a few more quotations by yours truly (Ernie Zelinski) to add to those on that webpage:

"Around some people it's best to keep quiet
about what we know.
Fools care little about wisdom and will
resent us for sharing it with them.
It's sort of silly to try to delight the undelightable,
wouldn't you say?"
— from Life's Secret Handbook

"Don't tell the world your problems.
The world doesn't care about your problems.
Instead, tell the world all the great
blockbuster solutions you have
generated for all your problems."
— from Life's Secret Handbook

"Before you climb over the side of the fence to
where the grass appears greener, try watering your
side first!"
— from The Lazy Person's Guide to Happiness

"Where is this incredible expansive
energy called "high intention"?
There is no place that it is not if that
is where you are coming from."
— from Life's Secret Handbook (Reminders for Adventurous Souls Who Want to Make a Big Difference in This World)

"Anything great that has been accomplished in the history of humanity has started with one small thought. We all have those thoughts; few people do anything with theirs, however. What do you intend to do with yours?"
— from Look Ma: Life’s Easy

"There are two principles for creative success — one general and one definitive.
The general principle is that everyone has the ability to be creative and make a big difference in this world.
The definitive principle is that almost everyone has volunteered to be exempt from the general principle."
— from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success (over 110,000 copies sold)

"The best advice that anyone can give you for choosing a specific career is never to accept someone else's advice. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons for choosing the career you have chosen should be that no one told you to."
— from Career Success Without a Real Job
"Being unemployed is the true test of who you really are."
— from The Joy of Not Working

Also see Inspirational Quotes by Ernie Zelinski

The 777 Best Things Ever Said about Money

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:41:00 +0000

No doubt few things spice up an article, a book, a conversation, or a speech more than a well-chosen quotation. Given that money and prosperity are two of the most written and talked about subjects in Western society, there should be a book of inspirational and sensational quotations about prosperity and money. The 777 Best Things Ever Said about Money is the book!

Organized into over 110 categories for easy reference, this is the ultimate collection of the best things anyone ever said about prosperity and money. This classic book will resonate with professional speakers, journalists, writers, career coaches, life coaches, and connoisseurs of great quotations. It also makes great reading for just about everyone who is interested in money.

This book has it all: Wisdom. Ridicule. Irony. Sarcasm. Paradox. Nonsense. Comedy. Mockery. Social commentary. Valuable insight. All told, you will have in your possession the best things anyone ever said about money.

Better still,

Here are some of the quotations about money that you will encounter in the book:

“Where is your focus? On money or spirit?
Truth is, money is just a symbol. If you focus on the
energy it respresents, you will attract it.”
- Joe Vitale

"A bum came up to me and said,
“Can you lend lend me $20 until payday?”
I said “Sure, but when is payday?”
“He replied, "How the hell should I know?
You are the guy with the job!”
— Henny Youngman

“Keep your credit card
maxed out — so if you lose it,
no one can use it.”
— David Patterson, Host of CBC Radio's "The Debators"

“Whether we are from the meanest streets
in Detroit or the finest in Beverly Hills,
time and money will show us to be
fools or geniuses.”
— Jon Hanson

“I'm going to retire and live off my savings.
What I'll do the second day, I have no idea.”
— Unknown wise person

“If a man empties his purse into his head,
no man can take it away from him. An investment
in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
— Benjamin Franklin

“Aside from temporary setbacks and extraordinary
fortunes of inheritance or luck, if you want to
know how someone feels about himself or herself
— look at their bank account.”
— Darren Hardy

“Lethargy bordering on sloth remains
the cornerstone of our investment style.”
— Warren Buffet

“I love money. I love everything about it.
I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a
$300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric
dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck
sweater. And, of course, I bought
some dumb stuff, too.”
— Steve Martin

“Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather
cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.”
— Françoise Sagan

“Looking in The Wall Street
Journal every day for a
"good investment" while
loaded with debt is like
lusting for salt while
dying of thirst.”
— Jon Hanson

Also see these resources for more quotes about money:

Money Quotes on Squidoo

Money Quotes on The Money Cafe

How Much Money Do I Need to Retire

Retirement Quotes for Retirement Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:58:00 +0000

I received the following email from my friend Todd about retirement plannig and used some new retirement quotes to respond to his concerns:

Ernie,

There seems to be a rel shift going on in terms of retirement planning, according to the CIBC poll about Consumer Debt in Canada:

"Two years ago, 24 per cent of respondents aged 45-64 named retirement planning as their top financial priority, which fell to just 12 per cent among that age group in this year's survey."

This is interesting because people have always had debt. So I wonder if this apparent attitudinal shift to saving and managing day-to-day bills, instead of planning for retirement, indicates that people are getting concerned about the economy and don't see their current debts as sustainable as they did previously, or if retirement planning "was selected by only seven per cent of respondents overall, down from 11 per cent last year and 13 per cent in 2011" because this generation doesn't really plan to retire in the same way that previous generations could.

In fact, I wonder if the idea of retirement was only a short term social myth that was really only relevant to the middle and upper class of the last 60 years or so, and that the "experiment" of retirement has proven a falsehood for most of the masses. For my grandfather, and generations before him, there was never really a concept of "retirement". He simply worked until he couldn't physically work any more, or died.

Keeping in mind that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was only started in 1966 (the plan is younger than me and is only 47 years old), it still seems to be in its "experimental phase". A very interesting fact is that I am one of the first Canadians to pay into the plan my entire life but will also be the first recipient who will see some of these benefits start to be clawed back (I will not receive Old Age Security until 67, causing an even heavier reliance on CPP for several years).

Anyway, I would venture to guess that this drop in retirement contributions most likely reflects a straightforward shortage of household income. As a person's household income and purchasing power erodes, I have always assumed that the first thing one would naturally cut back on is the retirement investments because they are such a long term futuristic concept and having food on the table or gas in your car is an immediate functional need. I am always surprised that these great "thinkers" in the CIBC analyst pool (or any other financial think tank) release these numbers without juxtaposing them with mean and median income figures to show correlation income down, retirement savings down; income up, retirement savings up. They make it sound as though Canadians have somehow started to belief that saving for retirement is no longer an important value to them.

Todd

This was my reply:

Todd:

I believe that there are a number of factors at work here.

One of the factors that caused the shift in saving for retirement is the low interest rates for years that encouraged people to purchase cars, houses, and all sorts of other crap they don't need with easy credit. Now there is a restructuring happening to pay for this bad behavior, including raising the level for CPP and Old Age Security. There will be a lot more restructuring — such as many government worker pension plans and corporate pension plans will see the level of benefits paid out to retirees lowered dramatically.

It's a case of the whole nation being invovled in a fraud against itself and then being penalized for it — with everyone being in denial that they contributed to the problem.

There was a time when savers were rewarded with interest rates of 10 percent or higher on GIC's. In 1990, if you had $500,000 in the bank in GIC's, you could retire comfortably off the interest of $50,000 a year. There was a real incentive to save at that time. But for years now, savers have been penalized and the debtors were rewarded. This is really stupid and most people in society are in denial that this is stupid.

Now stupid governments (in response to the stupid people that elected them) are trying to solve the problem with what created the problem — low interest rates to stimulate the economy and get people into even more debt. How insane is this? Sooner or later the pain of paying off the debts has to be felt. The longer it is put off, the greater the pain will be.

Having said this, there will still be people who retire early — those not willing to buy into the silly consumerism and the insanity that characterizes most people in society.

Here is a blog that I just listed for the ebook edition of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free:

Retire by 40: Forget about Freedom 55. That’s for amateurs. It’s really possible to retire by 40. Joe Udo explores why it is possible to leave your day job much earlier than 65. This can be accomplished by aggressively saving and investing as soon as you start working. Many financial advisers will tell you to save 10 percent of your income for retirement. This is an OK model for some, but not for people who don’t love their jobs. For this reason you should be like Joe and his wife who have been saving and investing over 50 percent of their take-home income for many years now.

Here again are two reasons that I cite for most people having the debt levels that they have:

1. Instant gratification takes too long.

2. A necessity is any luxury that the neighbor happens to have.

In other words, elevating all your present "wants" to your "need list" is another way to trick yourself into being broke in retirement. This is what many people are doing. Spending $50 or $75 a month on a cell phone plan is not a need. It is an expensive luxury. Forrest B. has a land line and a cell phone. He needs a cell phone in addition to a land line almost as much as a giraffe needs strep throat. Forrest has made a lot of money over the years, and unless he wins a lottery or inherits some money, he will be broke in retirement. Who is to blame? Larry Wingett covers a lot of this in his book, You're Broke Because You Want to Be. As Larry Wingett says, "For anyone who gives me a bunch of excuses for why they weren't able to save, I will give you examples of people who had it a lot worse in a lower income, more living expenses, and other circumstances, and still managed to save a bundle."

I just heard this the other day: This applies to a lot of people I know, and the probems they have, including debt problems:

"I'm in love with the system that keeps me down."
— Words of a Song Heard on CKUA Radio

Regarding putting off retirement by working later, I always chuckle at studies showing that a large number of people have decided that they will work forever, instead of retiring at 60 or 65. Frankly, the majority of these people are delusional. As retirement expert Joseph F Coughlin stated, "Planning to keep working is NOT a retirement plan." This is the reality for a lot of people:

"I'm already worn out now — how do they expect us to work several years longer? My body hurts so much and I start working every day at five in the morning."
— Norbert Schmittbauer, a 50-year-old construction worker in Berlin, in response to Germany's proposal to have workers retire at 70 instead of 65

Plain and simple: Studies show that most people who had wanted or planned to work in their retirement years (60 and higher) aren't able to do so. There are about 5 important reasons why they aren't able to do so but I won't get into that.

I could go on and on about this but it would end up being a whole book.

Here are a few more great retirement quotes that I came across in articles and comments to articles, which place retirement planning in perspective.

"The top retirement planning strategy today is not to retire."
— Joseph F Coughlin

"You say you want to work past retirement? How's your health?"
— Joseph F Coughlin

Result for many Americans When They Punch in Their Data into a Retirement Calculator:
"According to your latest data if you retire today, you can live reasonably well until 5 p.m. tomorrow."
— Dave Erhard

"If you own your house and have SS, you will have a comfortable retirement. You don't "need" much else. That 401k and IRA are pure discretionary money."
— locke

"Save 15% of your money starting at age 30 and you'll be fine !! Live below your means.........or don't blow all your money !!! No fancy cars, big houses. Save your Rubles. That's what I did and just retired at 57."
— Carumba

"Babyboomers spent themselves into oblivion and now they are trying to take healthcare and food from the poor. Christianity sure failed, big time."
— kellamd. Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

"Those who didn't save for retirement should not be able to steal from those who did."
— Happily Retired Guy

"Homes are NOT investment vehicles, you morons."
— "Marine20" , Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article about

"Treat your house as a home and not as an ATM — then you'll be fine."
— DeanG72, Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

"If you want the best retirement outcome possible, get rich. If that fails, consider getting married, staying married — and doing your best to die before your spouse does."
— Andrea Coombes, (This is serious — see article Half of Americans Will Die With No Money)

"While your financial assets are a good predictor of your retirement well-being, it’s worth noting that as many retirees say that they have “just enough” to live on with an annual income of $7,800 as they do with $130,000. So it’s not just how much you have, but how you want or expect to live."
— Dr. Joanne Earl, UNSW psychologist and careers expert

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food."
— Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

“I didn’t want to die at work. I decided to start spending the money I’ve saved and enjoy it, because who knows how long I’ll live.”
— Lynda Thompson, 65, retired from being an artist for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority who was diagnosed with cancer

To sum up, as Talbot Boggs stated, "Like life, retirement can be full of surprises. Take when you retire, for example."

One more: I can't forget the wisdom of Richard Parker:

“Retiring is easy. Staying retired — now that’s the trick!”

Actually, I wish I would have said that.

Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author
Helping Adventurous Souls Live Prosperous and Free
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 175,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Writing Retirement Books Is a Business

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:36:00 +0000

My international bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (over 175,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages) has been in the top 1,000 books sold on Amazon for the last week or so, which means that it is selling really well, particularly it being Christmas season.

A lot of people think that it is really easy to accomplish what I have done with this book, which could end up being my $1 million book in profits (more about this some other time).

Note: as of August 15, 2016 How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free has now sold over 300,000 copies and has earned me over $1 million in pretax profits.

Here are some great quotations to put the business or writing retirement books (and it is a business) in proper perspective:

“What people really want . . . is to be broke. At least, that’s one likely interpretation of a new YouGov poll that shows more people [in Britain] would rather be a writer than anything else. Now, it’s possible they’ve all got their eyes on the J. K. Rowling squillions, but the financial reality is rather more depressing. Most book manuscripts end up unwanted and unread on publishers’ and agents’ slush piles, and the majority of those that do make it into print sell fewer than 1,000 copies … It’s not even as if writing is that glamorous. You sit alone for hours on end honing your deathless prose, go days without really talking to anyone and, if you’re lucky, within a year or so you will have a manuscript that almost no one will want to read. Your friends and family will come to dread requests for constructive feedback . . .”
— John Crace writing in The Guardian

“No amount of money or marketing can overcome a book that doesn’t deliver. So your first challenge is to write a book that your networks assure you is as good as you want it to be. The content of your books will determine how you sell them to publishers and promote them to book buyers. Content precedes commerce.”
— Rick Frishman

“People think that just because they’ve written something, there’s a market for it. It’s not true.”
— Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver

“Are you publishing this book to make a living? Good luck with that. Less than 3% of newly published authors make enough in royalties and advances to be happy to live on.”
— Seth Godin

And I am going add a quotation by Joe Konrath. For the record, I am not a big fan of Konrath, mainly because of his constant criticism of traditional publishers (My opinion is that Konrath hasn’t applied critical thinking skills in his analysis of traditional publishers.) Nevertheless, I do admire and acknowledge the success that Konrath has achieved. What’s more, I particularly agree with Konrath’s statement:

“Write a damn good book. This should be your main priority. It’s also one of the hardest things to do, and the hardest things to judge for yourself if you’ve done it. The problem is, most writers believe their books are good. Even at our most insecure, we believe complete strangers will enjoy our scribblings enough to pay for the privilege.”
— Joe Konrath

Note: I don't want to discourage anyone from writing books. In fact, I encourage all my friends to do so. The point is: If you want to make real money at this game and have a true bestseller (one that has sold 100,000 copies or more) you have to be a 1 percenter. A 1 percenter is a person who is willing to be more creative and more industrious than 99 percent of the population is willing to be.

Check out the blog post Creativity Trumps Following the Rules

Also, check out the number 2 listing of "Top 55 Retirement Planning Websites awards."

Impostor Syndrome - Leave It to "Best-Selling Authors" Who Aren't

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Rachelle Gardner, a literary agent representing Christian writers, asked these questions on her blog post yesterday:

"What about you? Do you ever feel like an impostor?
What makes you feel that way?
What reminds you of the truth about yourself?"

This was my reply:

Regarding, “impostor syndrome”, I would imagine anyone who started from nothing and attained any measure of success may suffer from it.

Me too, occassionally, but then I remember these words,

“If you done it, it ain’t bragging.”
— Walt Whitman

If anyone should be suffering from “impostor syndrome”, it’s the many self-proclaimed “best-selling authors” whose books have sold only fifty, a hundred, or fewer than 1,000 copies. Even having a book sell 5,000 copies does not make it a best-seller in the U.S. As self-publishing guru Dan Poynter says, a true best-seller is one that has sold at least 40,000 copies.

I have checked out many authors calling themselves “best-selling authors” and have found that their books have only sold 100 or 200 copies or 500 copies through normal book channels. These are the true impostors. If they are suffering from severe “impostor syndome” — they likely should be!

Having said that, I wanted to give a great quote about impostors. There aren’t many — but here is one that will offers food for thought to all of us.

“While the impostor draws his identity from past achievements and the adulation of others, the true self claims identity in its belovedness. We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences but in our simple presence in life.”
— Brennan Manning, in “Abba’s Child"

Some Alarming (and Questionable) Retirement Statistics from Economic Secrets Website

"I want you to take a look at these alarming facts:

96 percent of Americans never achieve financial independence! (According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, they end up dependent on charity, welfare, or family … or are forced to work past their ‘retirement age’.)
85 percent of the people reaching age 65 years don’t have even $200 in their bank accounts! (That figure comes straight from the IRS!)
97 percent of all Americans, according to the US Census Bureau, will be forced to scratch out their retirement existence on a paltry $10,000 – or less! – a year.
Americans aged 85 and older are now the fastest-growing segment of our population! (In fact, Hallmark sells TENS of THOUSANDS of birthday cards for 100-year olds every year!)
Within 20 years, there will be 70 million Americans aged 65 and older (That’s more than DOUBLE the number in that age group in 2000!) "

Question: Are these retirement statistics right? If they are, many retirees and soon-to-be retirees must be experiencing impostor syndrome.

Note: Check out Cliff's Moen Family website.

More Money Quotes - Money Dislikes Being Equally Distributed

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 23:11:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite books ever: Living the 80/20 Way by Richard Koch.

My review of this book is featured quite prominently on the Amazon page.

Although the book is about living a great balanced life, I also liked the chapter about money.

Here are quotes about money from Koch's book that I am using in The 777 Best Things Ever Said about Money. (soon to be released as an ebook)

"Money dislikes being equally distributed."
— Richard Koch

"Money clones money."
— Richard Koch

"Can money buy happiness? Yes, if you are poor."
— Richard Koch

"We sacrifice our independence and time to make money, believing that more money will make us happier. It doesn't. All we do is squander our life energy at ever-higher levels of affluence."
— Richard Koch

"More wealth also requires more management. Looking after my money irritates me. (Don't offer to relieve me of it; it irritates me less than giving it away would!)"
— Richard Koch

"Shun anything — shares, property, or the latest hot trend — with recent sharp appreciation. Bubbles burst. Wait until prices fall and then stabilize. Never buy in a market that is rising or falling fast. In the short term, stick to safe investments, even if you can only get 5 percent."
— Richard Koch

"Money is a force, like the wind, the waves, and the weather."
— Richard Koch

"Money is for freedom, not slavery; for security, not worry. Unless money is used to give you greater freedom and happiness, accumulating money is a burden."
— Richard Koch

No doubt, "Money is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." If you end up living in poverty like
tens of millions of North Americans will in their retirement, well, good luck with your writing money off as an illusion. I will take an adequate amount of money to escape this poverty, even if the money is an illusion.

For more great quotations about money and about money tips for the retired, check out:

Importance of Money in Retirement

Sensational Quotes about Money for Smart People

How Much Money Do I Need to Retire

Best Retirement Job Book

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 22:29:00 +0000

I received this e-mail from a woman obviously looking for a way to work in retirement at a retirement job.

From: Marlene S
Subject: Recommendation
To: success101coach
Received: Thursday, September 27, 2012

Ernie,

If I may be so informal.

On Monday I am being transferred to another department in our company. I’ve spent the last year enjoying my role as Project Manager and have received numerous accolades on my success. Although it’s probably the best job I’ve ever had in all honesty I know it’s just another detour.

Overnight, the new head cheese, has decided he only needs a few project managers and suddenly I’m only qualified to write documents. It’s business and not personal and most likely a preliminary to fewer document writers. Oddly enough, my new manager encouraged us to remember that we are a family and need to work together during this change. I’m curious if he’s ever had to fire or layoff his sister or his cute, but unproductive and smelly grandmother recently.

But I digress . . .

I am grateful to have a job still as many are losing theirs. As I enter my sixth decade, however, I am more interested in expressing my gifts, exploring my creative nature and stopping on occasion to smell the roses or contemplate the lint in my navel. This would be easily done but I feel my current total lack of financial sustenance a bit prohibitive.

Your books appear to be just what I need if only for a fun pick me up and creative kick in the right side of my brain. So with the few extra dollars I have at the moment I would like to ask . . . . of all your books . . . and considering I feel like a butterfly with cement boots on . . . which of your many charming books would you recommend if I could only buy one?

No pressure.

Thank you for expressing yourself and be well

Marlene S.

This was my responese to Marlene:

Marlene:

If you are looking to semi-retirement and working in retirement at some sort of retirement job to earn some income, I would suggest my book Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations

I would also suggest Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter.

Many thanks and so long for now.

Ernie J. Zelinski
Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 165,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

P.S. Here are some retirement planning resources for getting a retirement job or working during retirement.

Retirement Jobs at UnrealJob.com
Retirement Jobs on Real Success Website
Retirement Jobs on Squidoo

My Retirement Plan Is My Retirement Book

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 01:13:00 +0000

First, I like this article Smoking Is My Retirement Plan. Needless to say smoking is not part of my retirement plan.

And here is a short article about about a retirement study done in Australia that won't be a big surprise to either you or me. It is about how to retire happy with money or without much money.

The last part of the article states.

"While your financial assets are a good predictor of your retirement well-being, it's worth noting that as many retirees say that they have 'just enough' to live on with an annual income of $7,800 as they do with $130,000. So it's not just how much you have, but how you want or expect to live."

Of course, I have said the same in my two retirement books, only in different words.

Incidentally I was searching on Google for a great unsolicited review of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Quintessential Careers that I was aware of. I typed in my other best-selling book The Joy of Not Working by mistake.
I came across this review of The Joy of Not Working that I was not aware of.

Of course, my retirement plan entails selling 500,000 copies of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free which has now sold around 165,000 copies (over 300,000 copies as of August 15, 2016).

Here are some quotations about retirement to help your retirement plan and my retirement plan:

"Shun anything — shares, property, or the latest hot trend — with recent sharp appreciation. Bubbles burst. Wait until prices fall and then stabilize. Never buy in a market that is rising or falling fast. In the short term, stick to safe investments, even if you can only get 5 percent."
— Richard Koch

"The things that are most precious to the human soul are those that are beyond price — integrity, true friendship, health, achievement, reputation, true courage, great character, gratitude, greatness, emotional stability, common sense, self-esteem, creativity, wisdom, spiritual fulfillment, and peace of mind. These can’t be rented, bought, or sold — regardless of how much money you acquire."
— from Look Ma, Life's Easy

"Smoking is no retirement plan. Instead, it’s a death on the installment plan — with higher and higher payments. You’ll pay fiscally, mentally, socially — and physically. And most times the payments will go on for as long as you’re alive."
— Matthew J. Edlund, M.D

"If you want the best retirement outcome possible, get rich. If that fails, consider getting married, staying married — and doing your best to die before your spouse does."
— Andrea Coombes

"Re-retirement martinis tonight. Sad to be saying adios to such wonderful people, but happy to be thinking about my own stuff instead of other people's stuff. That, my friends is the definition of retirement."
— Sydney Lagier

"Today, every prosperous retired person who does not work in some retirement job has a grand scheme that does work."
— Dave Erhard

"You are the author of your own life, and you — and only you — can create the financial conditions for the ideal early retirement."
— Anon financial advisor

"If I would have known that retirement was going to be this great, I would have never have got myself a job after I graduated from school!"
— Unknown wise person

"Can I retire? The answer is obviously "no" if I am asking myself this question."
— Dave Erhard

"No one should rely on their home equity as a source of money for retirement. Home equity should be considered emergency money. I paid my home off 8 years prior to retirement and banked the mortgage payments for 8 years. Retirement plans must include worst case scenarios, a set amount you will need to retire. You should start living as though you retired a couple of years before you retire, to ensure that you can meet your monthly expenses. No one said retirement is going to be easy and no one should take for granted that it is going to be."
— "Popog", Alias for a person posting a comment on a USA TODAY article

Retirement Planning - Freedom 55 Is Just an Illusion

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 00:51:00 +0000

Retirement planning is a big issue nowadays, particularly with baby boomers. Of course my retirement plan has always been a little different from others and I don't even know how much do I need to retire.

The following is an e-mail I received from a friend of mine and his concern that many Canadians will not have sufficient retirement income when they retire.

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd L
To: Ernie Zelinski
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 7:27 PM
Subject: [Retirement] Freedom 55 is an Illusion

Hey Ernie,

Just back from a trip to San Francisco.

I saw this article on Huffington Post. I would love to hear your feelings on this just because is exemplifies the tension that is growing between those who are trying fulfill a sense of purpose of life in retirement years, and the hard reality that at least half of Canadians are really not even close to fulfilling the "entrepreneur's" (or economist's) view of a fruitful retirement.

Canadians to Work in Retirement

You are also aware, I am sure, of the newest statistics that came out citing how many Canadians (53%) had "NO" emergency savings. This is not stating simply "low" savings for retirement, but NO savings.

Retirement Savings of Canadians

I fit into this last category, and I suspect our friend Jim does too in some ways. No retirement, no savings, and no assets (basically, to speak of).

Thus the pain felt by anyone (such as myself), per se, who will see their Old Age Security rolled out to age 67. Therefore, I am not quite sure what the "incentive" is, even within a full-on capitalist dog-eat-dog philosophy, to think that Canada creates a sufficient landing space for those who work their entire life (like me) and pay their Canada Pension and Taxes (like me) for 40 years (like me) and end up basically making less than the poverty line once they "reap" their eventual Canadian Pension Plan. It says, to me, that if a certain person couldn't score a private pension and savings plan, then we (as Canadians) are prepared to let all of those folks who fall into the "middle" ground national pension plan of $18,000 per year (which is fine if you live in an airstream trailer, but not cool if you try to rent a simple apartment). Forget having anything near "home care", at some eventual stage of Alzheimers,but what about basic electricity, garbage pick-up, or water/sewer.

Having said all of that, each situation is different, and guys like Jim and I live on cosmic rules that allow us to "get beyond" the basic needs in life, so ultimately I am not concerned about "us". But what of the other 52%?

This is not a question about finding your way within a system that has opportunity, but reflects views of those who are increasingly facing dwindling pensions/incomes and aren't able to generate "dynamic entrepreneurial energy", but at age 60 or s, just need a bit of a social safety net. Where will they all go in the ext 10 years?
This seems to me to be an important question that you could answer on your blog. Perhaps food for thought?
Todd

This was my response to Todd:

I already cover some of these retirement issues in my blog and on several of my websites such as 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement.

Yes, many Canadians are going to have it tough in retirement. Americans as a whole are going to have it much tougher, however.

Refer to my recent blog post Dying Early as a Retirement Plan:

Here are some retirement quotes as well as retirement sayings to place retirement planning in proper perspective.

"My retirement plan is to find a shopping cart with good snow tires."
— Patty Doy

"My Retirement Plan: Get a job that will last until I am dead."
— Anon, in response to a retirement article

"The Republican Party is a friend of Social Security the way Colonel Sanders was a friend of chickens."
— Charles T. Manatt

"My retirement plan has always been quite a bit different from what retirement experts say is the ideal retirement plan. I semi-retired when I was thirty-five and had a net worth of minus $30,000 (due to student loan debts). Many people will say that this is unreasonable, impossible, and stupid. I did the right thing, however. That is why I have been able to work at my leisure four or five hours a day outside corporate life and make a great living."
— Ernie Z.

"I'll assume that when I retire I can find a good spot under a bridge to park my shopping cart and get some shut-eye."
— darko714 (Alias for person commenting on USA TODAY article about Social Security)

"My wife and I have our retirement figured out ... we will head to the Reno area ... nice climate. On one corner my 70-year-old wife will be a hooker and across the street I will be selling hot dogs until the day I die. I can't think of anything else to do."
— dryheavesdaily, in response to MarketWatch article Four ways 60-year-olds can save their retirement

"My retirement plan is to get great pleasure from living solely to enrage those who are paying for my Social Security and company pension."
— Unknown wise retiree

"As long as I get air conditioning in my cardboard box, I'll be OK [in my retirement]."
— Barbara Whelehan, Bankrate.com Writer

"My Retirement Plan:
1) Work 70hr weeks for average pay.
2) Live beneath my means and save 15-20 percent of my income.
3) Diversify my holdings between cash, RRSPs and PM's
4) Watch cash get destroyed by inflation, and RRSP get destroyed by fraudulent markets and gold get destroyed by deflation when interest rates eventually stop getting manipulated by the government.
5) Retire in a cardboard box living on a diet of catfood and dumpster diving.
— Unknown Canadian in response to Globe and Mail retirement article

In addition to this blog post, I recently read an article about the biggest fear that North American women in their 50s have. It is not about their looks. Their greatest fear is that they will live in poverty in their old age.

Two last quotations about retirement to add to those above:

"A happy retirement doesn't require oodles of money, nor should it mean fighting the cat for food."
— Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun

"Uh oh. Half of my neighbors will have to develop a taste for cat food and dandelions. Hey dandelions are great and highly nutricious (just dont eat the ones you've been spraying), as for cat food, I'd prefer to skip that dry stuff and just down the cat."
— Unknown person commenting on USA TODAY article Retirement planning: Assume you won't get Social Security)

One note about the study of Canadians nearing retirement mentioned in the Huntington Post blog. It was best covered (even better than in all the Canadian publications) in this other American publication:

Canadians Short on Retirement Savings

Fact is, I have several friends and acquaintances who are likely to live at the bare minimum of $18,000 a year. On the other hand, I have several friends and acquaintances who will be able to live very well in retirement, much better than me, given that their net worth is anywhere from $1.5 million to $3 million.

In short, there is no answer to the retirement dreams that people have been conned into. There is a serious restructuring going on to account for the excesses that North American baby boomers lived through and must now pay for in terms of a lowered standard of living.

Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 165,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and The Joy of Not Working
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

The Joy of Not Working in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:29:00 +0000

Below is the latest e-mail that I received from a reader of several of my books, including The Joy of Not Working:

----- Original Message -----
From: Shane P.
To: vip-books
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 4:33 AM
Subject: A Fan from Japan

Dear Mr. Zelinski,

Hello, my name is Shane. About 18 years ago while I was a university student I was lucky enough to chat with you in a cafe just outside the Princess Threatre, where you kindly gave an autographed copy of The Joy of Not Working. I was very motivated and impressed with your work that I bought my younger brother a copy for his birthday, as well as a copy of your other book, Seeing Double or Better in Business.

Unfortunately a year later, I gave away the book along with most of my possessions as I took a teaching position in Japan, got married, and spent the next 18 there. My brother got so inspired that a few years later he followed me over the pond and has been living 15 years in Kobe, Japan, as well. I was visiting his apartment one day when I happened across your book Career Success Without a Real Job.

I was quite surprised that a writer I recommended to him ended up having such a big impact on him as well. I quickly snatched the book off of his shelf and started reading it. It was great timing in my life as I had become more and more disfastified with my Japanese corporate life and marriage. (I see on your homepage yoou have written a book about marriage as well. I plan to make it my next read.)

[Incidentally], Career Success without a Real Job was a great book.

Thanks for taking the time for reading my letter and I hope you found my comments to be useful. As for myself, I just turned 40 and I am working up the courage to try and tell my wife and child I want more out of life than the corporate existence I presently find myself in.

I better read your book on marriage [The Joy of Not Being Married] first. Thanks for all the great advice and inspiration you have given me over the years.

All the Best,
Shane P.
Hiroshima, Japan

Here are some quotations about work and quotations about marriage to place the two in proper perspective:

There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work,

Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality, Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle.
— Mahatma Gandhi

Every prosperous person who does not work has a creative scheme that does.
— John Otway

If a man has important work, and enough leisure and income to enable him to do it properly, he is in possession of as much happiness as is good for any of the children of Adam.
— Richard Henry Tawney

In careers — as in marriage — we are astonished at what others choose.
— Dave Erhard

Old people at weddings always poke me and say, "You're next." So, I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.
— Unknown wise person

Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.
— Mae West

Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.
— Oscar Wilde

There are two kinds of marriages — where the husband quotes the wife, or where the wife quotes the husband.
— Clifford Odets

Dying Early as a Retirement Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 03:12:00 +0000

In the New York Times article at the link below, it says "Dying Early Is Not the Basis of a Retirement Plan."

I say, "Why not? Dying early as a retirement plan has worked for many people!"

This article about retirement is unbelievable and bizarre, however. Bizarre, given that is written by an academic. More on that later.

This part of the article is almost unbelievable, but likely true.

"Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day."

Hmm, a food budget of about $5 a day doesn't seem like a great way to retire happy, wild, and free.

Here is the link to the New York Times retirement article Our Ridiculous Approach to Retirement.

My thoughts about the article: This woman says, "My plan calls for a way out that would create guaranteed retirement accounts on top of Social Security. These accounts would be required, professionally managed, come with a guaranteed rate of return and pay out annuities."

In my opinion, this woman is delusional when she says "professionally managed" and "come with a guaranteed rate of return".

What the heck does "professionally managed" mean? Managed by greedy bankers or dubious financial advisors? Sure, most Americans (me too) would have a lot of trust in these people!

Worse yet, would be to have a new retirement plan, just like the U.S. Social Security System, managed by politicians and government workers.

And "come with a guaranteed rate of return". Plain and simple, there is no such thing as a "guaranteed rate of return" when we factor in inflation and so many other uncertain factors prevalent in the world economic order. Even George W. Bush admitted that the U.S. Social Security system cannot provide a guaranteed rate of return simply because there is no trust fund set aside for Social Security. The funds for Social Security were raided by the U.S. Government many years ago to pay for general expenditures. (See these Social Security Quotes.)

Now this woman (an academic, at that) is talking about another government program that would "create guaranteed retirement accounts".

Get real! Now I know why this prominent French writer and philosopher so many years ago stated:

"I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly."
— Michel de Montaigne

Here are some new retirement quotes and retirement sayings to place your retirement planning in proper perspective so you don't have to adopt dying early as your retirement plan:

"Let's spend all our money to buy cool stuff. Later we can sell it all on eBay to pay for our retirement."
— from Glasbergen cartoon

"What a wonderful title: The Joy of Not Working. Ernie Zelinski's basic message, no matter your career stage, is get a well-balanced life and quit relying on your job to define who you are. It's hard to quibble with Zelinski's live-life-to-the-fullest message. Those who have drafted a resignation letter in their heads a thousand times may be motivated to finally quit an unfilling job."
— Michelle Archer, USA TODAY

“Get this book [How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free] if you look forward to a retirement with 'zing!' ”
— Nancy Paradis, St. Petersburg Times, Florida

"I'm regularly asked what my [retirement] plan is, and I deliberately don't have much of a plan. I've had lots of plans in my life and it might be nice to have a period that is less planned."
— Malcolm Hamilton, Canada's Expert on Pensions and Retirement Planning

"People may live as much retired from the world as they like, but sooner or later they find themselves debtor or creditor to some one. More money won’t bring you more happiness — It works the other way around."
— from the book Career Success WITHOUT a Real Job

"Everyone needs a reason to put their shoes on in the morning [when they retire]. If you put on the slippers, you'll end up dragging your feet all day."
— Norma Fagan, Dir. of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of Monroe County

"Whatever the challenge of a new age, in the end what really counts is not the years in our lives but the life in our years. It is not about longevity, but the depth of life. Long ago I learned that age does not wither the mind if people remain positive. No one is too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. It is a mind game. As Churchill suggested, "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind."
— Singapore Retiree Jennie Chau

"Yes, I am thoroughly enjoying retirement! The best part is observing my neighbors drive off to work in the morning knowing that that their day will be filled with jerks, brainless and endless meetings, jerks, vendor lunches where you hold your breath just waiting for the sales pitch until you regurgitate your pasta, more jerks and the eventual company reorganization of the section that was just reorganized last month!
— Bill Kalmar

Here is a little item in the Globe and Mail about how I invest my money: Early Retiree Prefers Peace of Mind Investing His Retirement Money. Note how mean and vicious the comments and replies to comments can become.

Prosperity Consciousness Is Not about Cheaping Out and Being Frugal

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 05:25:00 +0000

This is a dog story. But it is also a story about money and prosperity.

Two or so weeks ago, my good friend Nickolas was working out in west Edmonton and went to get a bite to eat at a Subway outlet. Close by the Subway, he encountered this dog. He looked at the lost poster beside it and thought, "Kinda looks like the dog in the poster."

He phoned the number and it turned out that it, indeed, was the lost dog. That's the pleasant side of the story.

Now, the not-so-cute side. Note that there is reward offered. It turns out that the people offered Nickolas a $6 reward.

Something about Nickolas. He is a Libertarian and claims to be an atheist. Yet he is a person who operates out of true spiritual values more than the vast majority of religious and spiritual people that I know. Even if the reward had been $100 or $500 or $1,000, Nickolas would have turned it down.

The point here is the people surely were not coming from gratitude and decency and excellence and integrity and high intention by offering a mere $6 reward. People who cheap out like this need to seriously work on their prosperity consciousness.

(Note that I have used Photoshop to obstruct the phone number of the people so no calls them to give them heck about cheaping out on the reward. I will let Karma or God or the Unverse take care of that.)

Now back to the pleasant side of this story.

If you look closely at the lost poster, you will notice that the dog owners wrote "Taken from this location" on it. Two of my friends think that the dog remembered from where it was taken and wandered back there thinking its owners would show up.

My theory is that the dog remembered that it was a Subway sandwich shop from which it was taken and that was a good place to hang around for a good-natured soul such as Nickolas to come by and buy it a Subway sandwich. And a foot-long one at that — no veggie stuff either.

Here are some retirement prosperity quotes and money quotes to help you attain financial freedom and prosperity in your life. You will need this if you want to retire happy and experience the joy of being retired.

Look Ma, Life's Easy

The Lazy Person's Guide to Happiness

Life's Secret Handbook

Retirement: Not Working Provides Untold Wealth, Health, and Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 01:32:00 +0000

Here is the latest e-mail that I received about my retirement books from a couple in the U.S who took early retirement. They certainly are not short of fun things to do in retirement.

From the thousands of letters and e-mails that I have received from readers of both retirement books, this one has to be one of my favorites. It will definitely go into a book called 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement: Advice from Readers of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and The Joy of Not Working.

Dear Ernie:

I am writing to you because my wife said I must. You see, we both read your books (The Joy of Not Working, and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free). In fact, we put much of your wisdom into practice. We both retired early.

While we walked the dog one morning, Karen said that with all the new things we have done since retiring that you might like to hear about some of them. Here they are, in no particular order.

In the first year or so of our freedom:

• I filed a provisional patent, taking the invention to prototype, and began marketing it.
• She started a part time job.
• I started a blog, and built a website.
• She learned belly dancing.
• We hiked, bird watched, and photographed eagles, owls, and wildlife too numerous to list, even an albino fawn with her mother.
• I fly fished Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
• She joined a book-reading club.
• We travelled with our dog Jedi throughout the southern USA.
• She learned to use power tools.
• I began leather working, and developed two new designs.
• She began gardening, putting in both vegetables and herbs.
• We stay up later, sleep in, and take regular naps.
• I study and play the classical guitar.
• She started word puzzles to keep her mind sharp.
• I started a small business delivering health and wellness classes to the public through hospitals, senior living, and community centers.
• We dropped fifteen pounds (each) of weight attributed to job-related stress eating.
• We spent a winter in the Florida panhandle.
• She does yoga.
• We made new friends in several states.
• I resumed fly tying because of much more time on the water.
• We attended classes and seminars, including the Creative Retirement [Exploration Weekend] Workshop (CREW) at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. By the way, they cite your work at the workshop and recommend your book (How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free) .
• I wrote one novel, and ten short stories, which I will submit for publishing after final editing.
• We attended plays.
• She hosted parties, and re-decorated the house.
• I tried and let go of part time work. You see, I am simply too busy.

There are probably many more things but I cannot recall them at present.

Karen and I are thrilled at having time each day for nature walks, bicycle riding, bird watching, and cruising in our classic sports car (we are from Detroit, after all). The time together has strengthened our marriage, too.

We worried about money initially, but now find we do just fine, even spending less than we did while working. In fact, we noticed work requires a significant outlay, even part-time! I believe working consumes more money than most people understand. Not working, on the other hand, provides untold wealth, health, and happiness.

Thank you for writing the books you did. They have helped us along our path. Best wishes for health and happiness,

Jack and Karen C.

I like the mention by Jack about how working in retirement did not work for him. From the letter, you should be inspired to generate your own list of 100 things to do when you retire.

Some retirement quotes and retirement sayings to help you with your list of fun things to do in retirement:

"Art is one of the few careers without a mandatory retirement age." — Julia Cameron

Vancouver Sun

Check out this article Dying to Retire: Early Retirement Can Be a Killer in which one of my retirement books is mentioned.

Retirement Jobs — Working Smart and Sleeping Smart Too

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:17:00 +0000

If you would like to make money in retirement (or semi-retirement), I would suggest that you develop some intellectual property so that you make money while you sleep. That way you won't have to get yourself a boring retirement job.

The other day I talked to my friend Dan in Vancouver late at night and then went to sleep. When I woke up in the late morning, there was an offer from a Japanese publisher for a $2,000 advance to publish The Joy of Not Working, (even though this book has been published in Japanese on two previous occassions).

This was the third time this year that I made money unexpectedly just by going to sleep. In January I went to sleep and awoke to an offer of an advance of $1,500 from a Russian publisher to publish a book of mine (The Joy of Not Being Married: The Essential Guide for Singles and Those Who Wish They Were) that I wrote and self-published in 1995 and went out of print in 1998. The Russian publisher hadn't even seen the book and I had to end up sending the manuscript in electronic form because I had no print copies left from the 10,000 copies I printed and sold.

In April, I went to sleep one night and awoke to an offer of a respectable advance from a publisher in Vietnam to publish my 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting in Vietnamese.

When I called Dan to let him know about the latest offer, he proclaimed, "Ernie, you should sleep more." Not really, since I make a good income from my books, partly when I am sleeping, giving me an income that is higher than 95 percent of Canadians.

I just wanted to point out with these book offers the power of intellectual property for generating prosperity and freedom in one's life.

Just a note that this isn't about laziness.

It isn't about working hard either.

This is about working smart — and sleeping smart too!

If intelllectuall property doesn't work for you in retirement, you need one of many other unreal jobs for retirement. Check out these out these retirement job websites so that you can avoid working in retirement.

Retirement Jobs at the Real Success Resource Center

Retirement Jobs on Squidoo

Check out this article Dying to Retire about how Early Retirement can be a killer.

The Charge for Prosperity and Success

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:44:00 +0000

Just received my free copy of Brendon Burchard's The Charge today."

About three weeks ago Brendon in an email campaign offered the new hardcopy edition (Price $26 in US and $29.00 in Canada) for free to anyone who was willing to pay for the shipping.

I am honored to have received this book given that I also received an email from Brendon today saying that The Charge will premiere at #1 spot in this Sunday's "Wall Street Journal" Bestseller list and the #2 on the "New York Times Bestseller" list (both nonfiction hardcover). The Charge also hit the #1 spot on both Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com in the last two weeks.

Brendon stated that in his email this was an early father's day gift for his father, who passed away a few years ago and to whom he had this dedication in the book.

" . . to Dad—we lost you too soon, Pops, but we carry your charge forever."

I am surprised at the thousands of people (including people I know) who were given the opportunity to receive The Charge for free but were too lazy to act on the offer or unwilling to pay for the shipping charges of $6.97.

These inspirational quotations apply:
"People that pay for
things never complain.
It's the guy you give
something to that
you can't please.
— Will Rogers

"If your daily life seems poor,
do not blame it; blame yourself,
tell yourself that you are not
poet enough to call forth its riches."
— Rainer Maria Rilke

"In the realm of prosperity,
luck only favors those adventurous
souls who don't expect
or rely on luck."
— from Life's Secret Handbook

I am looking forward to reading Brendon's new book. No doubt it will help me attain more success and prosperity in my life.
Check this retirement article in which How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is mentioned:

Dying to Retire Early

Write That Book Badly — But at Least Do It!

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:21:00 +0000

For those looking for retirement quotes, go to The Retirement Quotes Cafe and Funny Retirement Quotes on The Joy of Being Retired website.

In my internationally best-selling How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free I advocate that retirees write a book (not necessarily a retirement book). There is no better way for anyone to leave a legacy than to write a book and have it published as a print book (not an ebook).

And this comes from my latest book:

"Writing a book is an incredible, satisfying experience.
It is a way to connect with the world.
It tells the world who you are.
It makes you an authority on what you write about.
It’s a swell way to eventually make money from your own creative efforts and feel much better for it.
A good book excites readers to self-discovery and making a difference in this world while you yourself make a difference.
You should write at least one."
— from Life's Secret Handbook (Reminders for Adventurous Souls Who Want to Make a Big Difference in This World)

Do you have to hire a professional editor and make it perfect? Near as I can tell, no.

If you have a great book with great content, it won't matter all that much, if at all.

One of my mottos is: “Write That Book Badly — But at Least Do It!”

In my pursuit of success in the publishing industry, I have always remembered this great advice by a self-published author Robert Ringer who has sold millions of his books including Restoring the American Dream, Winning Through Intimidation, and Looking Out for Number 1:

“It’s better to do a sub-par job working on the right project than a great job working on the wrong project.
— Robert J. Ringer

One of my “right projects” was my second self-published book The Joy of Not Working which was released in 1991. Instead of getting it perfect — or even remotely close to perfect — I kept to my schedule and followed my motto “Do It Badly — But at Least Do It!”

At the time that I first published The Joy of Not Working, I used a desktop publishing program that had no spell check. I did not hire any professional editor and just used some of my friends to help me edit the book. Three years later. I purchased an update of the desktop publishing program that had a spell check. When I ran the spell check on the book, I found out it had 150 spelling errors. Did it affect sales? I don’t think so. It had sold 30,000 copies in its first three years — and that was in Canada with one-tenth of the population of the U.S. Incidentally, I received only one complaint about the book. It was from some school teacher. She complained about the spelling errors and how good she was at spotting these spelling errors. But she only spotted about ten of the 150.

Here is the key to having a bestselling self-published book: Create a book that has great content, something that really stands out and is so far ahead of your competition that it owns the category (something like How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free). If you can accomplish this, readers willl overlook spelling errors (like the one I just made). The best promotion for a book is still word-of-mouth advertising from readers who love your book and tell others about it.

Recently, I purchased a copy of Brendon Burchard’s The Millionaire Messenger. Burchard had the book published within 10 weeks after he started writing it (not that's committment). The Millionaire Messenger was released in March 2011 and has now sold over 50,000 copies. I spotted a number of spelling and formatting errors in the book. Did I mind? Not at all — simply because it has great content.
Here are a few quotations about perfection to put perfection in proper perspective:

“And in fact, I think the more we start to worship perfection the more soul leaks out of art.”
— Kathy Mattea

“Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.”
— Gustave Flaubert

“Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it.’
— Salvador Dali

“Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life’s ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.’
— W. Somerset Maugham

“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well."
— William Shakespeare

Incidentally, if there are any typos here, enjoy them.

Here are some retirement quotes since this is a retirement sayings and retirement quotes blog.

"WEIRD AND DELUSIONAL: A quarter of middle-class Americans are now so pessimistic about their savings that they are planning to delay retirement until they are at least 80 years old. This is delusional because this is two years longer than the average American is even
expected to live."
— Dave Erhard

"I'm not just retiring from the company, I'm also retiring from my stress, my commute, my alarm clock, and my iron."
— Hartman Jule

"I never stopped doing anything [when I retired], I stopped getting paid for it."
— Bill Chavanne

"Retirement is the beginning of life, not the end."
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

"The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary."
— Fred Wilson

Being Alone in Retirement Is Better Than Being in Bad Company

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:59:00 +0000

If you are looking for the very best retirement quotes, then go to the Retirement Quotes Cafe:

I received the following e-mail today about The Joy of Not Working:

Mr. Zelinski:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The Joy of Not Working

It Is Better To Be Alone Than in Bad Company

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Here are a few quotations about loneliness and being alone to place solitude and loneliness in proper perspective:

The Prelude

Corruption of Inspiration Quotations - Albert Einstein Did Not Say This:

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:36:00 +0000

If you are looking for great retirement quotations, then go to The Retirement Quotes Cafe website.

This blog is about a non-retirement quote that appears on many websites:

"The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been."
— Albert Einstein

Problem is, Albert Einstein never did say this. This is a variation (and a not-so-clever mangled corruption) of a great quotation that unfortunately appears on many quotation websites.

Fact is, someone (no doubt a devious woman) has taken the first two sentences of a great quotation, placed "woman" in these sentences and attributed it to Albert Einstein.

This is where the passage comes from:

"If you follow the crowd, you will likely get no further than the crowd. If you walk alone, you're likely to end up in places no one has ever been before. Being an achiever is not without its difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. The unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they'll simply say it was obvious to everyone all along. You have two choices in life. You can dissolve into the main stream, or you can choose to become an achiever and be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no else but you can be.
— Alan Ashley-Pitt

and which at times was changed to:

You can read this article in Guardian about how quotes "get misattributed or mangled all the time, especially inspirational quotations:"

Inspirational Quotes Misattributed or Mangled All the Time

Another quotation that apparently is not attributed properly is this one:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!"

It has been attributed to Goethe all over the internet (including embarrassingly on one of my websites) and in books such as Joe Vitale's The Attractor Factor.

According to researchers, Goethe never did say this. Check out this article about Goethe's quote:

Goethe Did Not Say This

If you would like to read the many viewpoints about quotations, visit the home page of Sensational Quotes for Smart People.

Perhaps You Don't Need Any Money for Your Retirement

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:11:00 +0000

If you have purchased How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and are now looking for great retirement quotes, go to The Retirement Quotes Cafe.

Now that you are retired, perhaps you don't need any money for retirement and can avoid debt management altogther.

Let me tell introduce you to a guy who has proven to himself that "money is an illusion."

He is a true 1 percenter who I really admire, a guy who is committed to what he believes in (unlike 99 percent of people who say they believe in something but their actions say otherwise).

Meet Daniel Suelo, a 21st-century hobo-philosopher. Meet The Man Who Quit Money and says:

“I know it is possible to live with zero money — Abundantly.”
— Daniel Suelo

If you don't want to purchase the book at the above link, first, read this article that was in a recent issue of the Globe and Mail.

Daniel Suelo - Money Is an Illusion to This 21st Century Hobo Philosopher

Then go and check out his website.

Living Without Money

Daniel Suelo's philosophy is really interesting. For example, he says that if he ever comes across any money on the street, he just walks on by without picking it up.

In short, a guy who walks the talk. But enlarge the photo of him on the Globe and Mail webpage and it says:

"Living in caves outside Moab, Utah, Daniel Suelo lives off of foraged plants, road kill and dumpster contents. He refuses to accept or spend currency."

Not a way I want to live but I admire the guy for his dedication to what he believes in.

Here are a few quotes about money to keep it in proper perspective so that it enhances your retirement and so that you don't need a retirement job:

The Science of Getting Rich

Winning through Enlightenment

The Science of Getting Rich

Inspiration for How to Retire Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Ernie J. Zelinski) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:44:00 +0000

I received this e-mail today from a business reporter in Chile who had interviewed me previously about my books:

El Mercurio Newspaper

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Below are the questions Carlos asked me along with my responses:

1-What's the big diferrences between this and your others books?

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The Joy of Not Working

101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The Get-a-Life Tree

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

How to Retire Happy

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

How to Retire Happy Wild, and Free

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

The Joy of Not Working

Here are some more funny retirement quotes and some serious quotations about retirement to put retirement in proper persective:

Winnipeg Free Press