Private Air New York Magazine
Issue link: https://privateair.uberflip.com/i/1022750
www.privateairny.com Private Air New York | Fall 2018 40 P eer Pressure in your 50's?! Really? My friends and I were sitting around a table at a restaurant in Scottsdale. e table was outside. Because there are no bugs, no wind, no humidity, it was 75 degrees and perfect. People who retire to Florida have simply never been to the west coast. e conversation had quickly devolved into a question: "What's your plan?" I know my friends and I will get little sympathy. I have read the Go Banking survey that says 30% of baby boomers have zero retirement savings. But that's not us. We all owned businesses, or ran medical practices, or were C somethings - COO, CFO, CEO. We invested, saved, paid our dues by meeting payrolls, placating clients, and white knuckling through recessions with a brave face. Our homes were paid off, we had portfolio's that had compounded daily for decades and passive income from buy out plans. So now it was that time of life for choices. And around the table we went. Travel. (Italy and Israel the big winners here) Ski resorts (the Alps and Colorado), second homes and boats. Going back to school. Starting a charity. Learning a language. A trip to wine country. Or a wine cellar. Or just ordering more wine. I sat in silence and hoped I might skate by. I opened the desert menu and pointed out that the chocolate choices are often coupled with comic book movie terms. "Rogue Chocolate," "Depraved Chocolate," "Death by Chocolate," but the diversion failed: "What's your plan, Danny?" I shrugged, said the topic was boring. But you know how peer pressure works. e more I tried to deflect, the more they asked, when I said I'd rather not say, and reached for the check, (thinking that has to work, this is a party of nine), suddenly we were all 16 years old and I wasn't willing to talk about how far I'd gotten in the back of my car with my girlfriend's clothing. "Oh, we're not good enough? Your plans are so beyond our capacity to understand? We can share but you get to…" "I don't have a plan…okay, everyone happy?" THE CASE AGAINST RETIREMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FINANCES By: Danny Cahill OPINION