Financial Planning - If You Plan To Retire... Beware!

Hi! I just read a truly depressing news item. I guess the reason it caught my attention is that I have several financial planning and investment clients who are themselves pilots. This news story involved pilots in a rather bleak manner. Let me explain...

It appears that the American airline Delta is in such bad financial shape that it has to cancel the pension plan of its pilots! Can you imagine working hard to qualify as a commercial airline pilot, then flying in all kinds of weather for decades believing your pension plan was secure only to have it wrested away from you just as your planned-for-retirement comes into view? Here's a brief excerpt of that story. I suggest you take the time to read the full piece:


CNN.com - Delta files to cancel pilots' pension plan - Aug 4, 2006:
"Delta files to cancel pilots' pension plan
Friday, August 4, 2006; Posted: 8:53 p.m. EDT (00:53 GMT)

Delta says a wave of pilot retirements would cause massive disruption to its operations.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. filed a formal request with bankruptcy court late Friday to terminate its pilots' pension plan, as U.S. President George W. Bush prepared to sign a bill aimed in part at helping the struggling carrier save its other employees' pensions.
If the court in New York approves Delta's request to cancel its pilots' pensions effective September 2, the government's pension insurer would take over the plan and pay pilots a reduced benefit based on when they retire and other factors. A hearing on the request is set for September 1.
The 6,000 pilots, as part of a $280 million concessions agreement with the company first reached in April, have agreed not to oppose the pension termination request, though other groups may oppose it. "


If such a thing can happen to the super-skilled men who link our global village together with their vital flying skills, it can happen to any of us.

In the case of my clients, at least I have the comfort of knowing that I've done the best I can to get each one to take personal responsibility for his or her retirement funding. But what about you?

I urge you take a serious look at your personal ability to invest wisely. I hope these two free articles also prove useful to you:

How To Start Saving Money and
Why Bother With Dividend Investing?

Do use them to help jumpstart your thinking about what you can and should do about taking full personal responsibility for funding your future retirement.

As you do so, I hope and pray you never have to deal with a situation as blatantly unfair and tragic as the Delta pilots' pension fiasco.

Should you want more direct help from me in this department, do check out the PS section below. Thanks for dropping by.

Warmest regards,


Rajen

PS. If you'd like to join others who have opted to have me work with them to help improve their performance in the areas of personal finance, goal-setting and time management, please take the time to decide if this option is right for you...

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If you're interested, drop me a quick email to

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into a fresh email) with

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Please only write to me about it if you are 100% serious about joining this programme.

Thanks. Stay well.


Rajen Devadason is CEO of RD Book Projects and its sister company RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd. He lives in sunny, peaceful Malaysia with his gorgeous wife Rachel. He's a Malaysian Securities Commission-licensed financial planner, a life planning consultant, a professional speaker and a serial author... which probably explains why he's so exhausted! Some of his books are available here, and, if you're interested, here are some quotations he reckons are accurate, bold or cool.