A Lesson in Perseverance

November 11, 2010

Recently I was conducting retirement workshops and individual meetings at one of our client’s work sites.  Nothing odd about that since THAT is what my job entails!  But it was this particular client experience that added a special joy to me.

The employees at this site had recently gone through a very difficult time financially.  The company had to bring down the work schedules of the employees to the point where they basically were working one week a month.  I need not tell you that a schedule reduction like that would certainly impact a worker’s finances.  So when this company brought schedules back to 40 hours (plus overtime) a week, they also wanted to do something extra in the way of financial education for these employees.

When I learned of this situation I was kind of expecting, not so much a “no way I can retire” attitude, but a resignation of sorts and if there were questions, they would be about getting out of debt.  Oh, how I was surprised.

Almost every employee I met with had certainly gone through a difficult financial time; in fact some had to utilize plan loans to tide them over.  But what I found when I sat down with these people was – NONE had any credit card debt, ALL were contributing at least enough to get the full company match (many were contributing well over that percentage) and EVERY one of them had a positive outlook about their retirement.

I honestly don’t know who was more inspired, the employees after talking with me, or me after hearing the many examples of employees who persevered through their very difficult financial times.  Kind of makes you think; yes at times life can be very tough financially, but if we have the will and sound financial habits we all can persevere and reach our financial goals.