By the time you read this, I ought to be in Reno, Nevada for some R&R, prior to heading down to New Orleans for the festival of insurance that is RIMS.Being in the US has prompted me to think about the frequent reports one reads about how ill-prepared for their retirement Americans are. The average American, we are told, has just about nothing saved, and yet plans to retire in great luxury and treat him- or herself to the finest of everything.

I doubt that the average Bermudian, if such a person exists, is very different. The impressive per capita national income figures for Bermuda are skewed by a relatively small number of insurance and other executives whose take-home pay exceeds the budget for the new Southlands hotel. (Am I the only one who remembers a song, popular a while back, whose lyric ran: “The South lands gave birth to the blues”?)

One insurance executive appointed this week was reported to be earning just about $1 million a year. If there are 65,000 Bermuda residents, and the average income was $76,000 a year before this fellow landed his position, he alone would boost national average annual income by $15. A thousand such folk, and there may very well be 1,000 Bermuda residents earning $1 million a year or more, and hey presto, the national average is up by $15,000 a year.

So, if you’re one of those people with little or no savings and no real plan to start doing something about it, what do you expect to happen to you when you reach retirement age (whatever it might be when you reach it)? If you have children, you probably expect them to look after you. Good luck. You probably hope that the Bermuda Government will recognise your plight and bail you out. Good luck. Maybe you think the tooth fairy will keep you going as your teeth fall out. Good luck.

The reality is that you probably don’t think about it at all, other than a momentary wince as you reach this page of the Gazette on a Saturday, and move right along to religion and the classified ads.

Baby boomers, those born in the 10 years or so after Word War II ended, think of themselves as the most sensitive generation in the history of mankind. Further, they generally do not accept that they are subject to the normal rules of life. I am a boomer who thinks differently.

A survey by the US division of Sun Life Financial showed that many boomers will need more income early in retirement than previously expected if retirement is to meet their expectations. The study also revealed that boomers will need more income flexibility throughout their lives to be able to live their retirement their way.

According to the survey, more than 70 percent of US boomers expect their income needs to fluctuate greatly throughout retirement, with the highest income amount needed in the first five years to fund the active lifestyles they’re planning.

This rather suggests that the boomers may be the dumbest generation in history.

“This survey shatters the old rule that people should plan to live on a fixed 70 to 80 percent of their pre-retirement income,” said Mary Fay, senior vice president and general manager of Sun Life Financial’s annuities division. “Boomers are eager to live life to the fullest, particularly in the early years of their retirement. To make that possible, they will need to create much more flexible retirement income plans that give them access to the money they need, when they need it.”

Of those surveyed, more than 80 percent cited domestic and international travel, hobbies and a new career as the top activities they plan to pursue during the first five years of retirement. What career, one wonders, do these latter-day hippies expect to start at 65, when their faculties are starting to erode? How do they expect to travel when they can’t afford to sit still?

Whether you are a boomer or not, don’t make the same mistake. Faith is relevant to religion, not financial planning. Get real. Unless you make an effort to save some money to augment your pension, the only travelling you’ll be doing is to the indigent clinic for free health care. Oh, wait. Forget I said that.

I’m dishing out tough love here, kids. I know you feel you couldn’t possibly live without a personalised car licence plate, several new pairs of shoes or dinner at Fourways three times a week, or whatever it is you’ve persuaded yourself that you “need”. You wouldn’t be happy without them, you tell yourself. So try this: ask yourself whether having those indulgences actually makes you happy for longer than five minutes.

And ask yourself the harder question: do I have a plan for my retirement, or am I just going to wing it and hope I don’t end up living on the streets? Other than your immediate family, and possibly not all of them, no one is going to care two hoots about you when you retire and start planning your global travel schedule. Western society generally thinks little of its senior citizens and often does the minimum to look after them.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world, baby, and old dogs get eaten fastest. Think. Plan. Save. Grow up. If you’re a baby boomer, who once fought from the battlements against all that was rigid and square, you are probably now totally in favour of rules and regulations. Make your first rule to look after your financial well-being as carefully as you look after your health. If you live to be 100 and are flat broke by the time you’re 70, the rest of your life is going to be a long and miserable affair.

Have I scared you into saving? I hope so. It’s now or never, hippies. Get on the case.