On Easter, as on Wall Street, one needs plenty of eggs in their basket

By Dian Vujovich

I love springtime, Easter and all the happy trappings and implications the season brings with it.  Leaving any discussion about these religious celebrations to others more versed on those subjects, I’ll stick to the whimsical in this blog. So, whether it’s the Easter bunny or the boatload of eggs—the retirement nest egg type—that we’re all supposed to have, this time of year proves to be a good one for counting.

As you can read in the picture caption “Got eggs?” my very adorable pooch Gracie knows all too well the meaning of a well-filled basket whether the eggs involved are candy, plastic, chocolate, chicken or the real golden nest egg ones.

Grace, I’ve been told, is a poodle maltase mix but I suspect she’s got a few other breeds mixed in as well. Nonetheless, I doubt there could be a more perfect pet companion for me during this phase of my life. A phase that began in my mid-50s and will go on for who knows how long.

So the fact that she’s looking into the camera with that “Got eggs?” look on her face is one that’s oh-so appropriate and begs the human question of: Do you have enough eggs in your basket to make it through the coming retirement years? Years that could easily number more than the 30, 40 or even 50? And are those eggs of the mixed equity and fixed-income breed type?

According to me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks who coined the term “golden years” weren’t anywhere near their’s and probably died before they hit age 60. According to the government, whenSocial Security first arrived on the scene, the average life expectancy was around 60 but payments were not made until one reached the age of 65.

Today the gov reports that about one out of every four 65-year-olds will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95.

What do the golden years notion and Social Security have  to do with a basketful of nest egg money? Well, just as there is no Easter bunny or cute little doggie with fake bunny ears roaming the real world, the illusion of each makes us smile and believe in things that just aren’t so. Like believing that we have enough eggs in our retirement basket to live  in the same fashion that we’ve become accustomed to  during our pre-retirement years. Or, that Social Security is a retirement plan. It isn’t

So after the pink, green and blue foil is taken off the eggs, balled up and thrown somewhere to be discovered some other time, the head and ears of the Godiva bunny bitten off and swallowed, and before the sugar high of the day lulls you to sleep, think about the other eggs in that other basket. That would be the basket you can do something about all year long so fill it up thoughtfully.