By boomeryearbook.com

In these times of economic depression, continuous wars, fewer freedoms and general uncertainty, the choice is surprisingly simple – an attitude of personal power and responsibility or its evil twin brother – stark pessimism.  There are tens of thousands (maybe millions) of baby boomers who would be entering the retirement phase of their life. In these trying economic times, the thought of retirement may cause more stress than smiles. We know that there are no dead ends in life, just hidden opportunities. Here is what I mean, imagine what would happen if the hundreds of thousands of Americans who find themselves unemployed today, would quit playing the “I am a victim” game and start asking themselves “how can we use our experience, skills and talents in new ways to contribute and make things better for others and ourselves?”. I believe if we ask ourselves the right questions, we will get the right answers. If we ask solution-based and empowering questions, our minds will obey and come up with solutions we never thought existed.

Retirement doesn’t necessarily have to be the “end” so to speak – it’s just the “end” of doing one particular routine and an opportunity to open yourself to new ways of looking at your life, your thought patterns and your true goals. Maybe, just maybe, the retirement and the ongoing economic depression can force you to find something to do that would be closer to what you always really wanted to do. The fact of the matter is that a booming economy can sometimes make it hard for an individual to do what he/she really wants. An economic recession could break those hardened thought and action patterns and force one to introspect and ask what’s really important. Yes, maybe it will not be something very profitable – but it will surely make you happy – isn’t that what profits are supposed to do? Wasn’t it Joseph Campbell who said, “Follow Your Bliss and Doors Will Open Where There Were Only Walls”.

Want to nurture your optimistic side? Sign onto boomeryearbook.com for daily self-help and coaching techniques. Join others at BoomerYearbook.com and let your voice be heard. Boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

www.boomeryearbook.com is a social networking site connecting the Baby Boomer generation. Share your thoughts, rediscover old friends, or expand your mind with brain games provided by clinical psychologist, Dr. Karen Turner. Join today to discover the many ways we are helping Boomers connect for fun and profit.

Introducing Boomeryearbook: Baby Boomers Mortgages and Finances

By Joseph J. Kusnell for Boomeryearbook.com

I have been asked to write an article as a way of introducing www.Boomeryearbook.com  to Baby Boomers. My original thought was to recommend to all of you who have reached the Golden Ages to shoot yourselves in the head except for those who have children not yet 21. For them I was going to recommend waiting until the kids are 21 and then shooting yourself in the head. But I have decided against that.  Instead I will come from another direction.

There is nothing that establishes solace like knowing there is someone just like you – someone sharing your happiness and your sorrow, your good times and your bad – somewhere in the world. There is something soothing just knowing you are not alone. The reason is simple: human beings are pack animals; they like the comfort of being with someone like themselves, someone who shares with them the joys and hopes and yes even the fears of living. And there are many of each emotion in all of us, particularly those of us who are called baby boomers. You know who you are.

Welcome to www.boomeryearbook.com, home to over a million Babyboomer visitors in 2008. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and let’s spend some time together. Hopefully, you will read something that will help you get by the day or at least a portion of it. You may even find we have something to offer whether it be in the area of retirement, love, finances, or relationships. Life is tough these days and a friend in need, is a friend indeed. Since there are 78 million ‘boomers’ in the US, this might be the right place for you to meet a couple of them. It’s really way past time.

The one thing that hasn’t changed very much as we have aged is relationships. They were difficult way back then and for many of us, they continue to be difficult today. That is if we are lucky enough to be in one.

Years may add knowledge as they say, but no one guarantees we will use what little of it we do pick up. It’s every bit as hard to make the right choices now as it was when we were kids a couple of years ago. Too many of us have never learned the lesson that it truly is what’s inside the person that makes him or her worth having and not what’s on the outside. For those of you who are alone and who have almost given up hope, take a moment to go to ARTICLES on this site and check out our article on “LIFETIME PARTNERS”, you may like what you read there. After all, it’s never too late.

One of the purposes of BYB (BoomerYearbook) is to bring people together. It’s a site where the people you meet are likely to have a lot in common with you and that’s a good thing. The site is hosted by Dr. Karen Turner a clinical psychologist for more years than she would like to admit, and a Baby Boomer herself. Dr.Turner writes about the kinds of things that you need to read about so when you drop in, pull up a chair and set awhile. Maybe she can teach you something that will make your day. It’s worth a shot. (Besides it’s all absolutely free.)

One of the things that has us all concerned these days is the economy and what’s going to happen to the savings we have accumulated over these many years. We aren’t getting any younger and this is no time to have to start over – so, what’s going to happen? How much trouble are we really in?

Well, you can relax, we are going to recover. Unfortunately, it may not be in 2009. Serious recovery is going to take a bit longer. Let’s give it to the second quarter of 2010 before real improvement is evident. Remember this is not just a USA meltdown, it is a worldwide meltdown. Therefore not only do we have to recover but our worldwide partners also have to recover. We are all interrelated these days and that seriously complicates matters. But whether its mid-2009 or mid-2010, we are going to recover so hang in there.

For those of you who are on the higher end of the age definition for Baby Boomers, and who own their own homes but have a problem with dwindling income, there may be a way out for you. Let’s take a moment to discuss this today, Monday, January 5, 2009.

Welcome to the New Year.

The subject today is how to overcome a shortage of funds during a financial crisis using the equity in your home. The procedure is called a Reverse Mortgage. Reverse Mortgages are available from most banks and real estate brokers and they are a product of the federal government’s housing program. I will explain the program to you briefly and if you find it relates to your situation, you can pursue the matter as you so desire.

Reverse Mortgages:

Basically a reverse mortgage is a way for you to spend some of the equity in your home. It’s like the government comes up to you and offers to be a partner in your home and is willing to pay for the privilege. How much they are willing to pay depends on how much you need and what the equity is in your home.

But what makes this program so different is that the government is willing to give you the money now but wait for repayment until you – the owners – die. If you own the property with your living spouse, they will wait until both of you are dead before they collect on the loan. Think of it as a loan you don’t have to pay back until after you die. In the mean time you get the cash and you can do whatever you want with it.

The program is called a reverse mortgage because instead of sending the lender money, the “reverse” is true, the lender sends money to you.  For example, it you are sixty-five years of age and you own a home worth $700,000.00 and its free and clear, you can extract from that home a significant’ portion of the $700,000.00 and you can use that money to live on now. When you die, the money is repaid with interest from the proceeds from the sale of the home. If the home sells for an amount of money that is less than what you owe, the government eats the difference. All they can get is what there is in the home. But keep in mind once that equity is sold, it is no longer yours. You can’t sell it more than once.

Now if you have kids and you intend to leave the home to them or its equivalent cash value, then this program might not be for you although you can’t still take out part of the equity and leave the rest to the kids. But other than that, if you are really hurting for cash and you have the equity, and you understand all the provisions of a Reverse Mortgage, you may want to look into it. Maybe it won’t be for you but then, maybe it will.

That’s what www.boomeryearbook.com is all about: Baby boomers helping one another, getting to know one another, sharing life’s experiences both good and bad. It’s said that human beings function best when they share their lives so here’s a place to do just that. There’s a lot here for you – different strokes for different folks as they say – but we are confident you will find a subject or a topic or a forum that interests you.

So sign up – it’s free – and become a member. Drop in whenever you want, there is no obligation. Stay as long as you want and leave when you want. There are no restrictions, nothing is asked.  And hey, it’s not an exclusive club by any means – there are over 75 million of us in America. That’s a whole lot of future friends for you, and they are all right here waiting to say hello.

Drop in anytime. You are always welcome.

WWW.Boomeryearbook.com

www.boomeryearbook.com is a social networking site connecting the Baby Boomer generation. Share your thoughts, rediscover old friends, or expand your mind with brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join today to discover the many ways we are helping Boomers connect for fun and profit.