Now Boomers Can Leverage Their Assets Into A More Comfortable Retirement

It’s Sylvia here with some thoughts on the boomer generation and the whole concept of retirement.

There was a day when my husband and I thought that Social Security would just be the icing on our retirement cake. We had saved, we had invested, we had spent both wisely and well. Thus, we concluded that our retirement would be pretty comfortable and that what we received in Social Security benefits would be the “mad money” we would utilize for some real luxuries.

Entered the economy circa 2008 and all that changed. The SS benefits we receive will amount to nearly 40 percent of the retirement cake. The icing will have to come from some other stream.

Given that upside down equation, we are real happy we have our vacation rental properties as eventually we will sell them and finally have the semi-cushy retirement we envisioned.

We have been speaking with friends and colleagues in the same situation. They, too, witnessed diminished revenues as well as collapsed stock values and are looking anew at retirement. They are even considering selling their second homes now to ward off future financial challenges. But we are talking to them about this unadvised action, given that the real estate market is still soft, if not unstable, and that once they sell, regardless of current price received, they may never again be able to afford to buy their dream homes as real estate values rise once again and regain past levels of worth.

Rather than sell them, we suggested that they rent them as vacation properties. And, like many people, they initially balked at the idea of having “strangers” in their homes, sleeping on their beds, using their bathrooms. The territorial imperative was paramount. Of course, we were quickly able to logic this out with them as they do use hotels and vacation rentals themselves so they are sharing all those things, even if not their own. Besides, isn’t that a great incentive to renovate and redecorate when the properties are once again turned into purely personalized vacation escapes in the future?

So right now, their biggest obstacle is how do you know you can trust the people you rent to? When we told them about Second Porch, light bulbs went off, and we are hoping that they will act on our advice. Why let an expensive and valuable asset sit fallow when using it means more money in your pocket, more freedom to spend this money as you please, and more life options as we all move (slowly) into retirement mode?