Sometimes we need a kick in the head to wake us up from the deep sleep of resignation. Remember the story about the frog and the Bunsen burner? If you put a frog in a bowl of water and very, very slowly turn up the heat he will stew to death. The threat is too insidious ... too subtle for him to notice. Yet if you just thump the bowl, he will jump out.

I smoked for 15 years; two to three packs a day. I “tried” for years to quit. Trying is how most people pursue building their MLM empire. As we know, there is no try. There is either doing it or not doing it. Not doing it would be the track for most people.

One day while being treated for a respiratory infection, the doctor showed me an x-ray of my lungs and said, “Do you see these white spots on your lungs? They are the beginning signs of emphysema.” I quit within 30 days. That was 24 years ago.

I like to have people click on the following link and fill out the questionnaire. It will give you a wake-up call like you have never had before.

http://www.richardbrooke.com/quiz_calc2.asp

Keep the following in mind as you fill it out:

1. Your retirement income has to survive both you and your spouse, so whoever will likely live the longest is the age you want to use. The average age is currently 78. By the time you and I die, it will probably be 90.
2. The time you need to finance is the time from when you WANT to retire until death.
3. The income you want can be a combined net income of Social Security and any other pension-type earnings you will have, but only if you are certain it will be there when you need it.
4. Your current net worth should never include the value of your current home, unless you will have a free place to live in retirement. You may calculate in downsizing your residence, but don’t forget you will need a place to live.
5. This assessment does not take into account running your retirement to zero at death, which you can calculate for a more accurate look at your plan.

The point of this exercise is that most people you and I know — MOST PROSPECTS — are on a collision course for financial disaster in their Golden Years.

Take a hard look and figure it out. It may be the x-ray that saves your “living.”

Copyright © 2007 — High Performance People, LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without written permission of High Performance People, LLC.