I have read the book the Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar and more recently read the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss and both talk about avoiding the deferred life plan.
The deferred life plan is working for 35-45 years doing something you don't like so you can spend the next 10-15 years doing something you enjoy (retirement). Personally being a slave to a job when I don't have to be does not sound appealing and I imagine avoiding the deferred life plan is one reason why you are reading this blog.
When I was working a corporate job, I saw people that were in high positions working themselves into the ground to one day live their dreams. At the time I wasn't aware of the term the "deferred life plan" but I it seemed obvious to me that a lot of money wasn't worth what these people were doing to their health, relationships, and families. I didn't want to get myself into that same position and that is when I started buying real estate.
Another problem about the deferred life plan is that people are looking forward to retirement because they dislike what they are doing but dread the thought of retirement because they don't know what to do with their time. This becomes evident by the chart from this site. I reposted it here for your convenience
| Age at Retirement |
Average Age At Death |
| 49.9 | 86.0 |
| 51.2 | 85.3 |
| 52.5 | 84.6 |
| 53.8 | 83.9 |
| 55.1 | 83.2 |
| 56.4 | 82.5 |
| 57.2 | 81.4 |
| 58.3 | 80.0 |
| 59.2 | 78.5 |
| 60.1 | 76.8 |
| 61.0 | 74.5 |
| 62.1 | 71.8 |
| 63.1 | 69.3 |
| 64.1 | 67.9 |
| 65.2 | 66.8 |
It is unfortunate that people have gotten so wrapped up in their job that they have forgotten what they love to do. The author of the study concludes that people put tremendous amounts of stress on themselves while working and that stress leads to poor health which leads to people dying less than 2 years after they retire.
Right now we have an incredible opportunity to live the life that we desire now, not 45 years from now. Real estate investing has allowed us tremendous opportunities and I am going to share with you shortly some steps that you can take right now to live the life that you desire in the near future, not 45 years from now.
We are going to be introducing some new and exciting learning opportunities for you to take your investing to a new level and avoid living a deferred life and get into the life that you desire now!
I have heard of similar stats, but seeing the numbers is astonishing. I linked this post in my post "Retirement is a Stale Idea" on my blog gratitude-magic.com
Posted by: Akemi | October 12, 2007 at 14:16