Warren Buffet learned how to make a profit from the time he was six. Today, at 72, he has an estimated fortune of $62 billion. Writer Alice Schroeder spent hundreds of hours interviewing the man they call the Sage of Omaha for his new biography, The Snowball.

In a recent issue of Parade magazine, Buffet and Schroeder shared a few of Buffet’s secrets for monetary independence. Apply them to your own life, and you are likely to experience a shift in your financial future to the upside, regardless of the state of the world economy.

1. Don’t spend your money on needless items. Save it, instead. And invest it--wisely.
2. Don’t be led by establishment thinking. What works for others may not work for you, and vice versa. Look for undervalued investments that have long-term potential. If you follow everyone else into an investment, there is probably no way to go but down.
3. Don’t “suck your thumb,” says Buffet. What he means by that is that you should not hesitate or equivocate in negotiation. Do your homework on an offer, and then make up your mind on the spot. If you put off a decision, very likely someone else will come along and whisk it out from under you.
4. Always get it in writing when your leverage is strongest. Before you start a project, spell out everything to a “T” so you will not shortchange yourself, and there will be maximum understanding on all sides.
5. Watch out for every expense, no matter how small. Pennies grow into dollars.
6. Don’t become a slave to debt.
7. Be persistent. No one is a loser until he gives up.
8. Know when to fold ‘em, and then, never look back.
9. Learn the true meaning of success, which is measured more by the people who love you than the wealth you have accumulated.  

The concept of retirement is being reconfigured these days as more and more people are reaching the “age of retirement” and realizing they can’t afford the luxury of full-time leisure.

If you are among the 40% of boomers who do not feel they can afford a comfortable “retirement,” you are in good company. You are also in need of a plan, and a list of viable options. Here are a few to chew upon as you look toward the foreseeable future.

Keep your current job.
Whatever you’ve been doing to support yourself over the years may be exactly what you need to keep doing in the future. With one caveat. Create a budget, and save more money. Then, invest your savings wisely. You would also do yourself a favor by realizing that work has its advantages. It provides you with exercise, tests your mind, and offers you a network of people who depend on your services. All good for your health and well being. It also gives you a lifestyle that you could not afford without it. The key here is to appreciate what you have and how it enhances your life.

Pursue your passions.
If you have enough savings to see you through the next year or two, you might want to hedge your bets. Keep some form of work, part time, and follow your dreams the rest of the time. After a lifetime of working hard and following the rules, you have earned the reward. Whether it’s a book you want to write or a trip you want to take—whatever it is that excites you—you owe it to yourself to find a way to make it a reality. It really is now or never.

Find a new job.
If your last job is no longer available to you, or you have outgrown it, don’t despair that you are too old to start again. You are not. If you have a computer with access to the Internet, do a little exploring and you will find dozens of job websites dedicated to serving the employment needs of older workers like you.

Here is a small sampling of online resources:

Monster.com provides job searches that match workers with jobs that utilize their skills.    
PrimeCB.com was created by CareerBuilder.com to serve the needs of the older worker.
Jobs 4.0.com works with companies that value the experience of mature workers.

If you are not computer savvy, there are other ways to get connected with jobs. Call your immediate contacts, and let them do the digging for you. Check the classifieds in your local paper for ads, or place one of your own. Call companies for whom you would like to work and talk to their HR director.

Acquire new skills.

There may be a line of work that interests you but for which you may not have the requisite skills. Now’s the time to acquire them. Find out what the jobs you want require, and then take a class at your local high school or college or trade school and become qualified.

Maybe your retirement years will not be spent doing the things you had once envisioned for yourself, but maybe they will actually be more satisfying—more interesting, more creative. After all, once you’ve sat around doing nothing particularly productive for a while, then what?

Here’s to your non-retiring retirement!

There is more bad news circulating these days than good news regarding the prospects for baby boomer retirement. In a recent issue of the Dallas Morning News, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy Russell Beland offered his positive spin on the hotly debated issue.

According to Beland, most authorities are warning that as “boomers quit working and ease into their golden years, they could break the backs of the younger workers who will have to support them.” Beland assures that is not the case. “Even at the peak of boomer retirement, around 2030, most of the population will still be of prime working age, between 20 and 64.” His statistics indicate that while the percentage, about 55, will be lower than it is today, it will be well above the levels of the 51-54% of 1960s and ‘70s. Another key factor is that more people will be in the work force than in the past. When these entitlement programs were first introduced, most women didn’t work outside the home. Today, 60% of them make up the work force. Furthermore, computer technology has allowed increasing numbers of people to work from their home. Both men and women are taking advantage of the opportunities to telecommute, which account for a vast number of people who go to “work in their pajamas.” Options for earning income have never been so numerous.

Beland also debunked the theory that we are “running out of time to fix senior citizen entitlement programs before a crisis strikes.” He maintains that we are already out of time, as early baby boomers and the generation preceding them are enjoying the government-sponsored benefits as part of their retirement package. There is no way at this point in the game to alter these programs significantly without causing “a major breach of faith.”    

Another myth shattered by Beland is that boomer retirement will hurt the already flailing economy. Although it may impact the federal budget, it is important to factor in that as boomers continue to earn they also continue to invest in the economy as consumers—definitely an upside that will go far toward bolstering the economy well into the future. As for those boomers financially prepared for retirement, they will continue to pay for products and services, yet not necessarily competing for jobs.