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	Discussion Boards Retirement Investing Retired Fools

By Dayana Yochim (TMF School)
October 20, 2000

[Signup for the Roadmap to Retirement online seminar has been extended to November 5! You may have 20 years or more until retirement, but don't let procrastination keep you from retiring the way you want to.]

Here at the Fool, we tell you to buy great companies and hold them. But what are all the double-digit returns, industry reports, investment opinions, and stock-picking strategies for, if not to benefit us at some future point? Does there ever come a time when you get to coast and cash in the pot of gold?

You bet there does. It's called "retirement." The only questions are when, and how. Besides helping us feed, clothe, house, entertain and surgically enhance ourselves, money is what will enable us to leave the workforce entirely, or to pursue a new adventure in better climes -- in other words, to retire.

So, how do we connect our current investments -- whether biotech, software, aerospace, or anything in between -- with our future? With the first-ever Motley Fool retirement planning seminar, that's how. The Roadmap to Retirement is just that -- a guide that'll take you from where you are now (whether you're just starting out or are ready to retire tomorrow), to where you want to be (an historical manse in Provence? An RV in your driveway?). We've built it to help you develop and reach your goals -- and avoid any potholes (Social Security? Taxes? Insurance? Bad plastic surgeons?) along the way.

Why Now?
Most of us spend more time planning a two-week vacation than we do a 30-year (or more) retirement. We only have a vague idea of how to plan for retirement -- invest well, work into our 60s, and then fall back on Social Security and savings. We'll help you transform this hazy notion into a clear path to the future.

During this four-week, 12-lesson online seminar we'll tackle the big and small questions, like:

• How much money do I really need to save by the time I retire?
  
• How long must my money last?
  
• How can I ensure my money lasts as long as I do?
  
• How should I invest both before and after retirement?
  
• What impact will inflation, income, and estate taxes have on my retirement?
  
• Where will I live and what will I do when I am no longer working at my present job?
  
• When can I really retire, and how can I make it happen sooner?

Think you know the answers already? Then you're in the minority. According to recent census statistics, only one out of every 10 people of retirement age is financially able to fully retire.

Why not just buy a book?
Well, you could. But no one knows your wants, needs, dreams, desires, and brokerage account balance better than you. Retirement is a topic that requires specific solutions on a personal level -- something not available in a general session or even in our own Retirement area at Fool.com.

Only you can decide if you want to take on more investing risk to retire earlier or better. And, who better than you to keep an eye on the prize? In this seminar, you'll be able to custom-design your retirement according to your own desires and needs.

Leading you through the seminar will be our resident retirement expert, David Braze (TMF Pixy to those who follow his prolific discussion board posts). He has more than 20 years of financial planning and investing experience, and enough "official" acronyms after his name to fill a bowl of alphabet soup.

Joining Pixy (who, by the way, doesn't look a day over 29), is Roy Lewis (our own TMF Taxes), Rob Bennett (who is known as Hocus, author of early retirement tomes for Soapbox.com and elsewhere), David Wolpe (TMF Dbunk, resident layabout), and Bill Barker (TMF Max, sloth extraordinaire). With your input, these Fools will help you figure out your retirement plan.

What makes this seminar different?
You do! We mean that. You don't have to sit alone in your office, blinding yourself with Excel spreadsheets and combing your checkbook register to balance out those darn four pennies. Sure, there'll be some "homework," but this is one classroom where we encourage you to cheat off of your neighbor. It's people like you who make online learning fun. And, we're sure the discussions will be both spirited and deep.

What will you take away?

• Concrete and realistic goals on how you'll spend your retirement
  
• An organized action plan -- for both your finances and your work afterlife
  
• A plan to get your money working for you the best it can
  
• A rich exchange of ideas with like-minded, and similarly focused, members of the Fool community

In addition, we've assembled a packet of information that includes your own Personal Retirement Planning Workbook (available as a downloadable Excel file or as a printable file) in which you will enter your personal data as we progress through the lessons. As a bonus, you will also receive a free copy of Rob (Hocus) Bennett's Soapbox report Secrets of Retiring Early.

If you're serious about retirement, and want to do so when and how you choose, then click here to enroll in our Roadmap to Retirement Online Seminar (the deadline to sign up is November 1!). The seminar will run from November 8 to December 8, with time off for good behavior and Thanksgiving.

We hope to see you there!