The Illusion Of Retirement & “Economic Benefit” At The Expense Of Your Physical, Mental & Emotional Well-Being

CollectiveEvolution

This article is meant to discuss the “opportunity cost” of life and how our social structure consistently supports so called “economic benefit” at the expense of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being – not to mention the wonders and experiences the world has to offer that you will never see. An opportunity cost is defined as the lost benefit one receives of something over something else. It is the consequence of choice for better or worse. You want a candy bar, your spouse tells you to get an apple. You remain skinny but still crave chocolate. When we look at the fundamentals of most modern societies in the world they are characterized 100% by financial functions – debt, net worth, material possessions, or bought social status at a country club… you get the point. You are personally a financial function for economic projections – buying vs. renting, unemployment statistics, wage inflation, among many others.

Very rarely does society encourage anyone to believe in themselves or challenge groupthink. Want another easy example? If you are in the US, ask someone where they vacation and I am pretty sure Mexico comes up regularly as the only international destination. FYI, Puerto Rico is not an international destination. Why is the focus of this article on retirement and what does this mean? An “acceptable retirement” is one of the largest and most controlling variables and the biggest risk of opportunity cost, mainly regret, of who you are and who you will be as a human being.

Currently, the social structure is set up so you are forced to live beyond your means in order to be accepted in society and to save in anticipation that you will continue to live beyond your means. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Now, let me explain very simply without turning this article into an analytical mess. I have read that for most people to retire, the minimum dollar value requirement is at least one million, though some say two million and others say more. Let us assume that one million dollars is necessary for retirement, without which you will be homeless when you hit 62, as most financial “experts” will have you believe.