Edd here and going solo for this one.

“Septuagenarian” is your word for the day. It means “someone in their 70s,” which is what I am.

To be exact, 71 as of a few days ago.

You may wonder, “What’s it like to be that old (careful with that ‘old’ word )?” Not because you care what it’s like for me. What you’re really curious about is what it might be like for you.

Of course, I can’t help you with that one. But I’d like to share what my world looks like at this age as a possible glimpse into your own future. Let’s run through the trifecta of mind, body, and spirit.

Mind ~

Yeah, I can’t remember stuff sometimes. Not important matters like “Who/where am I?”  

Usually it’s someone’s name or when an event happened. Or I’ll use the wrong word and think, “Did I just say that?”

Guessing I’m not the only one with a paddle in that rowboat.

But the old...

A recent study by Charles Schwab found that on average Americans believe they need $1,700,000 to retire. And according to another study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, two-thirds of U.S. workers said they are very or somewhat confident they’ll be able to live comfortably throughout retirement.

Encouraging stuff, right? Except other studies pull back the curtain to reveal the shocking gap between our collective fantasy world versus harsh reality.

Let’s start with this—the 2019 Retirement Confidence Survey finds a jaw-dropping 47% of Americans age 35-44 have less than $25,000 saved for retirement. “Well,” you’re thinking, “those younger folks have a lot of time to catch up.”

Yes and no. Check out this chart from the same survey: