A viatical settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy by the policy owner before the policy matures. Such a sale, at a price discounted from the face amount of the policy but usually in excess of the premiums paid or current cash surrender value, provides the seller an immediate cash settlement. Similar to reverse mortgages, viatical settlements involve insured individuals with a life expectancy of less than five years. In countries with high health care costs (such as the United States), this is a practical way to pay extremely high health insurance premiums and other senior care expenses that severely ill people face. Some people are also familiar with life settlements, which are similar transactions but involve insureds with longer life expectancies (two to fifteen years). - From Wikipedia and other sources 5/2007Fight Or Flight! As Boomers Approach Retirement
You married for better or worse . . . but not for lunch?
The sun set on your honeymoon many years ago.
Your kids are approaching or have recently arrived at young
adulthood.
You have been living in different domains—at the office—and now you
are transitioning into sharing the same domain—your home—but who is
in charge?
You are reclaiming your life . . . with no longer matching goals. One
wants adventure (flight) . . . one wants to make it work (fight).
If you recognize this scenario, you are not alone. Millions of Baby Boomers are approaching retirement and asking "Who am I?" and "What is my life about?" And if you are part of a couple, there is more at stake than just adopting a new lifestyle.
So before you buy the red convertible and flee with the blonde 20 years your junior, or your young and handsome personal trainer, you may want to stop and take a look at how you can recapture your dreams through openly communicating your needs to your mate, identifying the negotiables, and reinventing your marriage.
If you "want to be me", but you're not sure how to "evolve into yourself", you may find that participating in classes which address this common need, finding a way to involve your mate in open discussion to identify each of your needs and wants, and/or working with a relationship coach, may be less painful for you both.
Robert Pirsig's Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance helped transform the Baby Boomers in their earlier years and helped show them how to live. Perhaps it's time to dust off that old volume and add a chapter of your own. It's not too early and it's never too late to redefine the fundamental ways you choose to lead your life. Enlightenment and self-discovery are the legacy of this new generation.
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© BoomerVilleUSA™. 2004. All rights reserved.
Co-authors are life and business coaches and co-founders of
BoomerVilleUSA™, a virtual community of like-minded Baby Boomers
who are redefining the meaning of retirement. For a free report on
Boomers and the new retirement, contact them at
boomervilleusa@hotmail.com and put "free report" in the subject
line.