Life's challenges big and small...

From the Jack’s Winning Words blog comes this tidbit, “Having a dream is what keeps you alive. Overcoming the challenges makes life worth living.” (Mary Tyler Moore). I’d have to comment that we must all be living life to its fullest these days.

Lately the “dream” of having a comfortable retirement is one that many have had to work hard to keep alive. Not a day passes without some story about some company declaring bankruptcy and dumping its pension plan or about another company suspending health care coverage for retirees. It’s scary that you can work your entire life for a company that promised you a retirement pension, only to find out at the 11th hour that they can’t fulfill that promise.

Of course we all have also been told all along to save for our own retirements, but where could you have had that money (other than stuffed under a mattress) where is would not have been impacted by the recent stock market meltdown? There are some challenges that are more daunting than others and starting over to try to save some money for retirement, when you are already retirement age is about as daunting as I can imagine. Now many of use can better understand how the older workers at companies like Enron felt when their company and their retirement investments went belly up.

For many, a big part of the American dream has always been home ownership. Pursuing that dream recklessly got too many people in over their heads and contributed greatly to the mess that we find ourselves in these days. However, for many, who have had the discipline to wait and save and to reach for a home that is affordable, these are great times. The mortgage rates are still at historic low levels, even if you need better credit and a bigger down payment now. The selection is great and the values (what you can get for what you pay) are unbelievable. Many first time home buyers are actually able to buy what would have been their first “move-up” home today, rather than waiting years to get to that level.

So, if you’re just starting out, these are great times, with huge opportunities. If you’re on the other end of life’s cycle these are likely troubling and scary times with many challenges to overcome. It’s important to keep your dreams alive, no matter which applies to you. I guess that we at least won’t get bored as we all scramble to make the best of the situations that we find ourselves in today. Let’s all go out and overcome some of life’s challenges.