The stories of individuals who have worked their entire lives only to find at age 65 that they must continue working are endless; however, in most of the individuals’ cases, wealth – “a large amount of money and possessions” – was often hard to come by. Rather, most worked average, middle-class jobs and made good money, but just weren’t able to save the needed amount to supplement Social Security income in retirement.
In the case of Tom Palome, former V.P. of Marketing for Oral-B, while he didn’t accrue what many think of as wealth over his life, he did maintain a great job with an equally-great income. Still, after providing his family a home, his children a college education, and other expenses every family realizes, Tom hadn’t accumulated the savings needed to maintain his lifestyle through retirement. Now, although optimistically and energetically living life, he must work two jobs for little pay in order to continue providing for his family. Tom’s full story can be found here.
Hindsight, as always, is 20/20, but who knows how adequate retirement goals and financial planning might have helped Tom prepare for this stage of his life. As Warren Buffett once said, “someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” So be sure to plant many saplings throughout your life by participating in your employer’s retirement plan, saving additional funds when possible, and working with experts like The Trust Company so that one day you, too, can “sit in the shade”. I’d be honored to discuss the financial goals you, or others, have any time, and thank you, as always, for your time and support.