Remember the old television program Leave it to Beaver where every day Ward Cleaver toddled off to the same office, with the same company, where he worked for thirty nifty years before finally retiring with a comfy pension and a monthly social security check to boot? In "the good old days" employees rarely worked for more than one company in their "careers," let alone their lifetimes. Back then, and until only recently, workers could count on certain things when they retired and among them was a pension and social security check. "Cradle-to-grave" employment was the rule rather than the exception and employees rarely gave rise to thoughts of managing their own retirement portfolio -- heck, the company was taking care of all that. My, my how things have changed.

Contrast the present-day employment environment where studies show that today's worker will most likely work for 5-7 companies in her lifetime and typically will end up bearing sole responsibility for managing her own retirement portfolio -- one way (retrospectively) or another (proactively). More and more we hear of companies "downsizing," "right sizing," "cutting back," or "restructuring" their work force, displacing workers mid-career or right before they're eligible to retire. Oh yeah, and what about that Social Security? If we're to believe all the huffing and puffing from Congress, isn't Social Security supposed to run out in 2029? The financial futures of today's workers can no longer be blindly entrusted to the companies they work for, nor government programs that may or may not be there when they need them.

So why am I ruining your perfectly nice evening with this maudlin missive and what does it mean to you? It means you can no longer assume that companies are going to take care of you in terms of providing a stable pension or retirement program when you're ready to go fishing or cruise around in your Winnebago. It means you can't count on the government being there for you either. It means you, workers, people, have got to get savvy about investing so you can look forward to retirement, not backward at what you should have been doing all along. You've got to be proactive in taking care of your financial affairs. This is not to say that companies or the government are evil; they're not. It is to say that nobody cares more about ensuring a secure financial future for you (and your family) than you do. So, why not do it?

What? You say you don't know how? You say you're too old? Too young? Don't even know how to start? Start today. Start here! Teach yourself about investing. You can do it! Find out what "whole life" insurance is (and isn't), what a Certificate of Deposit is, how to buy a stock, save for college, buy a car, prepare for long-term care issues, or figure out what the best mix of investments are for you long term. Take control of your financial future by learning as much as you can; then you'll be able to make sound, informed decisions. The future starts now.

Next up -- What's a Fribble? and how you can write one!

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