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Did We Screw It For The 30 Year Olds?

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When I started writing Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide, I didn’t really think beyond my own retirement fears. As I dug into the retirement savings deficit issue, I realized that I was just one of millions, make that ten’s of millions, that did not think that they had saved enough. Of course, being, well, realistic, I have a plan based on controlling my life expectancy.

Here is some more fodder from the new report PEW Social and Demographic Trends:

“More Americans Worry about Financing Retirement. Adults in Their Late 30s Most Concerned”

“About four-in-ten adults (38%) say they are “not too” or “not at all” confident that they will have enough income and assets for their retirement,up from 25% in a Pew Research survey conducted in late February and March of 2009.”

29% to 38% is ENORMOUS!

-> But, it gets worse. Who is more worried? Retirement fears peak in the late 30’s. What the fuck did baby Boomers do to screw up our follow-on generation? Feeling good about yourselves? I’m not.

Where Can You Afford To Live? Global Cost Of Living.

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I was in New York recently. My NYC crew talks about how much things cost. I think its a big city thing. Jane’s one-bedroom in Long Island City is $1,750 a month (a deal, I think); Megan’s family’s apartment on Madison Avenue and 61st Street is in the millions; Brooklyn has gone from early gentrifiers to hipsters to Wall Streeters.

So where can most of us afford to live if we wanted to move to a new local? Portland, my home town, is 56% less expensive than New York according to the database site Expatistan.This is one of the reasons that Portland is now a destination for people looking for a more affordable lifestyle. Portland’s hip, affordable lifestyle is definitely on the minds of New Yorkers.

I lived in London for a few years as a salaried expat (the way to do it given that London is the fifth most expensive city in the world — and 70% more expensive than Portland.) In those days, my agency Saatchi & Saatchi covered our rent, gave me a cost of living increase,  paid any extra taxes and sent us all home once a year in business class. A good deal.

Today? I probably can’t do London on my dime but I do dream of living outside of the USA again. Visit Expatistan, check out a rage of global cost of living factoids and dream. Hyderabad, anyone?

Best Places To Retire (Really?)

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“Best Places to Retire” is one of those standard go-to magazine and website articles designed to capture the dreams of Baby Boomers. I get it. They  usually include a mix of criteria like cost-of-living; climate; the economy; health care; recreation and occasionally culture.

Me? I need culture. I need intellectual stimulation not another discussion about someone’s daily hike. Here is a story. I was crossing Broadway on New York’s upper west side a few years ago and stopped to talk with an elderly woman sitting on a bench on the strip that divided the roadway. I asked her why she lives in New York. She said, “I feel free because I can get anywhere on buses or hop in a cab; I can have food and wine delivered right to my door; I have hundreds of restaurants to choose from; the best bagels in the world; the best medical care; I am surrounded by people and energy; I can go to Lincoln Center, the opera, museums, plays all at a discount and people like you stop to talk. Why would I live anywhere else?” By the way, Selma had one big advantage… she lives in a rent control apartment.

You know what? New York is NEVER listed as a best place to live in these articles. Not in US News, Forbes, CNNMoney, CBS News or AARP. What’s up with this? I mean, does living in Utah sound enticing? Guess what? It makes some lists? Have you ever been to Provo? In the winter? Tried to buy a bagel?

OK, New York and a couple of other major cultural centers do make a list. In this case on a smart website from the Milkin Institute’s Best Cities for Successful Aging. Check it out.

 

 

Will You Be One Of America’s New Authors? One of 200 Million.

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I am busy publishing my book as an eBook in Amazon’s KDP program and as a print-on-demand paperback using its CreateSpace platform. Down to the final details.

As part of the launch, I have written a 5,000 word white paper on my publishing process to help other fledgling authors give birth to their first book. I’ll get the paper up on the website in a couple of days. In the meantime, I cannot stress enough that we are experiencing an explosion in self-published books. Here are a couple of related facts:

According to the PEW Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project For Research: “As of February 2012, 21% of Americans had read an eBook, and that owners of e-readers read an average of eight books a year more than people without the devices (24 vs. 16).”

 The New York Times reported “According to a recent survey, 81 percent of people feel that they have a book in them…and should write it.” If you do the math, that represents over 200 million people in the U.S. who want to write a book in their lifetime.

Add the ease and low cost of self-publishing to the 200 million and you see why eBook revenues will soar. Here are some statistics.