Hello and welcome once again, today is when we really get you started on your journey toward a successful retirement. Over the following modules and lessons, that's my number one goal for you. The idea is that you will define a successful retirement in your terms the way you want your life to play out. By the time you finish module four, you'll have a roadmap to follow a way to process the never ending messages you receive about retirement. Another goal is to be able to keep some focus on your roadmap as the years pass in order to get as much as possible out of this third and last stage of your life. Never mind what your thoughts were up to this point.

We're starting with a blank sheet of paper. Speaking of which, taking notes is optional. Despite the few homework assignments you'll find along the way. I expect you to come back and refresh your memory from time to time and you can do that forever. I've been raising your expectations about what you will learn from the course and it's now my job to deliver. Our first step is to define retirement.

Yes It's just a word. But there are serious implications involved. The ideal situation is for you to have a voluntary retirement. That happens when it's your choice to quit spending days working for money. It means we have money and credit sitting somewhere in what I call retirement buckets that we now use to pay our bills. Another way of saying this is we turn off the get paid for work switch, and instead turn on the get paid from savings switch, we discover a shrinking expectation of living forever, and we decide it's time to do other things while we still can.

A less than ideal situation happens when retirement is forced on us. We might have a health issue that dictates a change, or there might be rules in place where we work that force us to retire. It may happen all at once, or over a period of months or years, but it will happen. Well, it all happens is largely up to you. However it happens, the money needed to pay bills start coming from the reserves or credits we've created over the years. Whatever your reasons, for making the transition, the same challenges exist?

Are you going to have enough money or credits to sustain yourself over what could be a 30 to 40 year time span, life expectancy today is far greater than it used to be. And that alone brings financial challenges that were not there when we transition from childhood to adulthood. A few more thoughts before we get into the meat of it. If you successfully reach my age, and have reached the state of mind, I call financial freedom. Hopefully you will not be sitting around waiting to die. Unfortunately, there are millions of people doing just that, as they don't have enough money in their retirement buckets to do anything else.

I can only imagine how depressing that must be. Financial Freedom is a state of mind that says I've learned as much as possible. I've taken the necessary steps to the best of my ability. I found answers that result in the best possible outcome for me and for members of my family. And I can now say I'm good. Yes, I know.

Perhaps you're just now turning 35 And it seems ridiculous to be thinking about filling your days, 30 years from now. But if you start now, maybe you won't have some of those. What if I'd only done it differently moments along the way? Chances are, you're going to have new jobs or positions between now and then. And all this time, I want you to pay attention and keep asking the key questions over and over. Because as the months and years pass, new answers will surface, and new opportunities will surface and you need to know how to filter them and arrive at the best possible solutions.

I'm an example of this. A few years ago, I retired, and then I discovered I was very bored. As a remedy I started working again, only I no longer wanted to put on a coat and tie and show up in an office every day. I discovered a way to keep busy and still make some money. You being here is a result of that paradigm shift and how we can live fulfilling lives. Always keep in mind the irrefutable fact that unless you die early retirement however you define it will happen How these next years play out is largely a function of what you do now, in anticipation of those years.

When you reach the end of this course, there's not going to be a magic bullet or a certificate of achievement waiting for you. How you quantify and measure the value built into this course will take years to manifest itself. So again, I encourage you to put the questions taught in this course in a safe place, and know that for years to come, you should revisit them and explore the answers you provided. The next step is to jump into module one lesson video two, there will begin to explore a fundamental requirement if you're going to have a successful retirement. It's the basis for the system to follow as you build your roadmap to follow them into the future. I'm also introducing some images like this one, even though I have no idea what you want to do, or places you'll want to visit after you retire.