Retirement Planning

It wasn't all that long ago when retirement was pretty simple. You quit working and took up hobbies or helped raise the grand children.

Your hobbies helped pass the time. If you were good at saving your money you probably had enough to do some traveling. There are people at both ends of the spectrum in retirement that either had lots of funds and money was no object that hindered what you wanted to do or there were those at the other end of the spectrum that really never retired due to having to work to live. The middle class though had it alright. They could play golf, take up hobbies, be with the grand children, or just hang out and relax away their days. There were some places to go and be a snowbird if you wanted. There were the two major places, Florida for those on the East coast and Arizona for those on the West. Some could afford to go to California but Arizona was the place to go and have dry heat if you lived west of the Mississippi. Quite a few traveled to Mexico if they had the interest in going international and living pretty well because the cost of living was pretty cheap in Acapulco and Guadalajara. There were places to go if you needed to be taken care of and you didn't have a family who could or would. There were referred to as old folk's homes, at least by those too young to know better.