An article published in the Ottawa Citizen and the Financial Post on Saturday, August 22nd by Jonathan Chevreau (Wealthy Boomer) should be read by all.  I’m sure we are all wondering, given the recent economic downturn whether we have enough tucked away for the future.  The findings noted as part of the headlines in the newspaper article is “Most Boomers’ retirement plans going nowhere”……this is what caught my interest.

The article discusses a forthcoming book, unveiling the Retirement Myth by Jim Otar, which says most baby boomers have not saved enough to retire comfortably and should plan to remain in the workforce quite a bit longer.

The author’s background is engineering and he provides this perspective in his book regarding his views on boomers preparedness for retirement.  One graphic noted in the newspaper articles discusses a tower designed for an average wind speed of 6 miles per hour crumbling under a 100mph wind speed and the author noting that based on good engineering, you would never design anything for the average…..you would design for the worst and then some.  This philosophy is the one taken by the author regarding retirement plans – it is wise to design your retirement plan not for average but for adverse conditions.

The book will be published in the fall.  You can download a free trial version at www.retirementoptimizer.com from now until August 31st.  The free trial version is an Excel spreadsheet with restrictions – parameters are fixed.  You can purchase a user license which allows you to change the locked parameters should you so wish.

As well you can see a video interview with the author at www.financialpost.com – find the Wealthy Boomer section and look for the various interviews.