It's So Easy

I was reading a magazine and saw an ad from the Social Security Administration. My first thought is "why is the government spending money on advertising this?" The tag line: Retire Online - It's So Easy. If only.

I started saving for retirement 8 years ago right after getting my first job. Unless I win the powerball, I will be working in some capacity for another 30+ years. Nothing about retirement sounds easy, especially if you have to spend your entire working life planning for it so that you can live / travel (or even pay for medical expenses) the way you'd like. So it's great that you can retire online...if only the rest of the details fell into place like that.

Brings to mind some lyrics from Kenny Chesney's song "The Life"

And all the things that I’ve gathered
From climbing that ladder
Didn’t make much sense anymore
They say my nest egg ain’t ready to hatch yet
They keep holding my feet to the fire
They call it paying the price
So that one day in life
I’ll have what I need to retire

I really like the message of the whole song, which is that the high-powered fast pace life isn't necessarily the best....you can envy someone who has a lot less stuff but is still living The Life.