Who is Fritz Gilbert?
Fritz Gilbert is like many average individuals who work in a corporation for a great part of their lives, until one day they retire.
In Fritz Gilbert’s case, he worked for an aluminum company, in corporate America, for about 33 years.
Writing has always been a passion for Fritz Gilbert, and about 3 years before his retirement, he started a blog called The Retirement Manifesto, where he started documenting his preparation for retirement. Now he has been retired for 2 years and it seems that his blog is only getting started.
Keys to a Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active, and Productive in Your Retired Years
Keys to a Successful Retirement highlights 24 keys that increase your chances of having a successful retirement. Fritz compiles all his learnings over the past five years into a concise, easy to read, book.
The book is mostly targeted to people who are about 5 years away from their retirement, but I find it to be insightful for everyone. For example, I am not planning to retire (ever) but I had a great amount of pleasure reading the book and putting myself into the mindset of a person who is facing retirement.
It’s not about the money
The concept was created at a time when communism was becoming popular, and there was a lot of unrest in Germany due to the high unemployment. What he wanted was to pay workers who were 70 years old and older, to leave the workforce so that he could create a working work position for the younger generation.
In the United States, the idea of retirement was introduced by President Roosevelt in 1935 for workers 65 years old or older.
Retirement was not something people gave much thought to since most people rarely lived past the age of 70.
As our life expectancy increases, many of us will be looking at spending between 20 to 30 years in retirement, and that’s why Keys to a Successful Retirement is such an important book.
We don’t actually want to retire and do nothing
The truth is that most of us don’t want to spend the rest of our lives drinking margaritas down in Mexico or spend every day at the golf club. We want to do something we love, something that gives us meaning.
Fritz compares life in retirement to have a white wall and a box of crayons. Whatever you paint on that wall, it has the potential to become a reality.
For Fritz, working on his blog, The Retirement Manifesto, and his book Keys to a Successful Retirement have been some of the activities which have filled his life with pleasure.
Many people fail at retirement
Many people cannot accept retirement. Their work is what gives them meaning. Not working is a punishment.
We see millionaires and billionaires who have enough money not to work for the rest of their lives. They continue working every day, waking up early and doing what they have to do. Not for the money, but as an active contributor to society. We see that people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, have all the money in the world, but nothing else gives them the thrill of running their financial empires.
But in the same category, we have doctors, artists, professors. Many people feel that retirement is an unwelcome imposition.
Check out the sneak peek
Introduction
You’re standing on the cusp of a new horizon, a journey to a place you’ve never been. It’s been a tough road to get here, and you should be proud of making it this far. As you start this book, allow me to offer you sincere congratulations on a job well done. You’ve conquered many milestones as you’ve put yourself into a place where retirement is now a reality. You’ve paid attention to the financial side of things, saved as much as possible, and “paid yourself first” for decades. Continue reading…
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