This is a retirement belt slap for all of those who are going to wake up broke in their 80s, no matter what they do. This is a sad one. Sad and funny, though.
The year was 1981. He was the biggest lottery winner to date – $5 million.
They called him “Lucky Lou” when he hit the big one.
At the tender age of 53, he immediately quit his job and planned on living out his days in style on the $239,000 per year after taxes that he would receive for the next 20 years.
Three wives and a lot of friends who needed cash later, Lou is broke. He says he didn’t waste it; he spent it.
But the problem wasn’t his spending, it was that he never thought he’d ever live to be 89.
Yes, 89. It’s been 16 years since his last check.
Lou says, “Getting old isn’t bad, but when you get there, it sucks!”
Especially if you’ve saved nothing – and he saved nothing – and then you have trouble rounding up as little as $20.
What he does do is play the lottery religiously – $3 twice a week. He calls it “the dollar and a dream” and figures his turn is due to come around again real soon.
It is almost a 100% certainty – in case you were planning on it – that nobody watching this video is going to win the lottery. The saying goes, “You have a better chance of being eaten by a shark or hit by lightning.”
But if the numbers I read every day are even close, many of us will end up like Lou – in our late 80s and broke.
We’re living longer, and we have to put aside as much as we can for the long haul, which is getting longer every year. Life at the poverty level has to be experienced to be believed. But that’s where many of us – as much as 40% of baby boomers – are headed.
I know this is an ice-cold slap in the face, but better now when you have choices than when you’re out of money and options.
If Lucky Lou with $239,000 a year coming in after taxes can end up broke in his 80s, I can only imagine what’s waiting for us down the road.
Good investing,
Steve
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Source: Wealthy Retirement