You’ve probably heard that the first Baby Boomers are reaching the traditional retirement age of 65 starting this coming New Years Day, January 1, 2011. Incredibly, every day for the next 19 years, 10,000 members of the Woodstock Generation will turn 65, yes–10,000 Boomers turning 65 every day, for the next 19 years!  That’s about 7 Boomers every second!

So what steps can Boomers be taking to make 2011 a great year for them?  Here are 10 areas every Boomer can be looking at right now, to have the high quality of life they want in their next stage of life.  Here are my Top 10 New Years Resolutions for Boomers in 2011 (and for everyone else who wants to be able to retire some day, too):

I resolve that I will:

1.  Take Control to Have Enough Money to Retire Some Day—Put away enough money in 2011 to get your 401(k) match, if your employer offers it—that’s free money that can immediately double your retirement investment (just make sure you don’t keep it all in one company’s stock).

2.  Re-Balance, Diversify, and Keep the Costs of My Investments Low—Take a new look at all the investment choices offered in your 401(k) plan.  Make sure to re-balance your investment allocations and expand into investments that will preserve asset value in the next few years, including some that can benefit from emerging economies growing faster than our own.

3. Investigate the Best Ways to Have Continuing Income After I Retire From My Primary Career—Cultivate passions and talents that can provide you ongoing income (such as subject matter expertise, information marketing, consulting, collecting).  Forget about the old idea of “retiring from.”  Think of what it is you will “retire to.”

4. Get Moving Every Day in 2011 and Improve My Health—The biggest single health threat for most Boomers is from diseases of their heart and circulatory system.  The best antidote: Get moving every day, for 30 minutes a day, in the exercise of your choice (and with the approval of your doctor).  Too many people think of their health in terms of treatment, rather than prevention of disease, and that’s a calamity.

5. Take Better Steps to Help in Caring for My Aging Parents, And Provide for Preserving My Own Sanity—Anticipate the predictable stages of change in the capacities of your parents, and start a conversation with them now to clarify their wishes regarding actions to be taken or not taken at the end of life.  Put in motion the documents, which will provide legally for their wishes to be carried out.  Don’t keep putting it off, and don’t assume everything will stay the same

6.  Have a Will (and also a Living Will) Made Up This Year by An Attorney, Based on My Outline—Even if you don’t care a whit what happens to your money or property after you die, you owe it to your relatives to have a will (and a Living Will, so that in any event, you won’t burden your children, spouse or caretaker with making the key decisions without your input). Without a will, family squabbles and bickering will inevitably arise (and momentarily tarnish your memory).

7. Build My Dreams Together With My Spouse and Significant Others—Start sharing your future retirement dreams together now…it’s stimulating, fun and productive.  The key to planning for your enjoyable next stage of life is to build-in all the possibilities. You should organize activities that you can do individually as well as activities that you can pursue as a couple.

8.  Learn My A, B, C’s: Research and Decide the Best Place(s) for Me to Live in the Future, and When—Many aspects of retirement planning get involved with considerations of money.  However, here is where you get to consider the potentially huge variations in your annual cost-of-living – the expense side of wherever you choose to live.

9.  Enjoy a Travel Adventure While Visiting My A,B,C’s—Where to live for the rest of your life? That’s a question many baby boomers are asking themselves and each other these days. It’s difficult to know what life is like in a different part of the country, or the world, without spending some quality time there, in a few choice locations, at different times of the year.  2011 is your year to start planning for this critically important decision by investing in one or more strategic travel adventures, to investigate the potential best new location for your next stage of life.

10. Tap Into the Wisdom of the Ages to Strengthen My Spirit and Wellbeing—To deepen your faith beyond today’s concerns, tap into the Wisdom of the ages and strengthen your inner resources.  Whether through a church, temple, yoga, volunteering, other spiritual practices, reading of the sacred texts, or all of the above, restore your faith in the eternal intelligence of the universe.  Much has been written on the topic of finding happiness after retirement because it is so fundamental and yet so challenging for many retirees. One good place to start is with a little self-examination, along with obtaining inspiration from wise authors and trusted acquaintances whose ideas and input you wouldn’t have easily discovered by yourself.

Richard Roll

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First of all, the Saints had the benefit over the Colts of their high, supercharged spirit. You could see the motivation from the beginning of the game to the end, even when they were faltering. They kept believing, and kept waiting for their opportunity. They never gave up hope, even being down by 10 points to zero.

Second, the Saints had the energetic backing of the entire city of New Orleans, the state, the whole country. They had the emotional advantage of absolutely raving fans. Their fans fully embraced their goal and helped them make it to the top. Is the same true of your significant others, when it comes to your retirement dreams? Do they even know what your dreams are? Do you? (Need some help? Take our easy, free 10-Minute Retirement Quiz ^TM at www.mybbrn.com and get a free roadmap to your dreams for retirement).

Third, the Saints had the advantage of being the underdog. They knew they had to fight back to win, just like most Baby Boomers today. The Saints didn’t give up, they fought back, dug in their heels with a good strategy, and they won. You can too.

Finally, it’s just a little bit possible that with all the Ballyhoo beforehand, and their stellar regular season, the Indianapolis Colts were just a little bit overconfident, a little bit underprepared. I saw Peyton Manning getting frazzled (which I’ve never seen before). Don’t you get frazzled. Start now to have a winning game plan for your retirement dreams. The BBRN and BBRC can help you get there, through our exclusive 10-Minute Retirement Quiz^TM. Check it out here.

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See charts and further explanation on the Gallup Poll Web Site: http://www.gallup.com/poll/122546/Boomers-Spending-Generations-Down-Sharply.aspx

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