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How To Retire Without Money
By Bob Belmont
CHAPTER 4
RETIRING ON A SMALL INCOME
Page 2 of 5
However, it
would occur to comparatively few American couples who had a
guaranteed income of a hundred a month, to retire. Why should
this be?
Largely
because we Americans have established a set of standards which
makes five hundred dollars a month hardly more than pin money.
There are some who say that this set of standards is a
ridiculous one, but ridiculous or not it is there.
If you feel
you absolutely must have a new automobile every year or two,
then obviously you are not going to be able to retire on a
hundred a month—in fact, it'll probably cost you that much to
run your car, if you include depreciation and adequate
insurance.
If prime
quality steak is the only meat that you find digestible, I
also doubt that you'll be able to retire on anything like this
sum. If your clothes must be the latest styles from Paris,
you're sunk and will probably have to keep on that treadmill
for a good many more years. If the only beverages you find
potable are imported Scotch or cognac, once again it's no
go—unless you wish to give up drinking.
It's a matter
of sitting down and thinking it out. What is it that you
really want in life? What is really important to you?
If you must
have the ultra-ultra gadgets that our civilization has dreamed
up, then you will need a considerable income before you can
retire, free of any work, because they are very expensive. In
later chapters of this book I am going to illustrate ways in
which you can make good money with a minimum of effort, but if
you wish to retire completely free of any effort at all and
still demand a king-size house, a new car, the most expensive
of frozen and canned foods as well as the latest styles in
clothing, you're going to have to have a whopper of an income.
However, I
repeat, what is really important to you?
More than a
million Americans are currently living within the boundaries
of our country in trailers. Of these, hundreds of thousands
are retired men and women. And of these it has been estimated
that more than a hundred thousand have actual cash incomes of
less than $6,000 a year. Needless to say, their lives have
many advantages. They go where the climate is best, where the
scenery is most striking. They fish, they hunt, they swim when
such desires come to them. They see our country in all its
glory, they grow to know it intimately.
>>> CHAPTER 4
RETIRING ON A SMALL INCOME Page 3
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