Planning for retirement is a primary goal for all Americans – and for those in the 55+ age range, the notion of planning for the future is becoming a fast reality. Bob Mecca, author and principal at Robert A. Mecca & Associates, joins Alex Margulis, Mortgage Advisor with PERL Mortgage, in part three in a series of podcasts about retirement planning. Enjoy! For more podcasts, visit the PERL archives.

“The first American in space is not going to be a chimpanzee.”

–Dwight D. Eisenhower

Starting in 2011, you’ll finally be able to buy your very own Jetpack for a mere $90,000 — nearly half of what it’ll eventually cost to fly into space via Virgin Galactic. Read all about the Jetpacks and how they’ll change your lives, allowing you to fly to Jewel to buy your tomatoes for 99 cents. I’m continually fascinated with what people would buy if they were suddenly rich and famous. After you win the lottery and pay off the VISA card and put some money away for the college educations of the next 20 descendants and finance the end of road rage, what next? I’d probably fly to space for sure, as it’s only about 200K to fly to space. I’m not sure if I’d get a Jetpack. Actually I probably wouldn’t. I’d like to wait until I’m about 60 and they’ve had some road-testing time. Kinda like a microwave in the 50′s. Best leave some of those contraptions time to settle-in a bit.

I’m somewhat fascinated with the idea of autographs, and why people will pay a lot of money to get a famous person to sign something like a photo, baseball or napkin. I guess it’s a cool piece of memorabilia, completing a “thing” that one would collect — and maybe daytime proof that one met someone who’s only seen in People. I came across this rundown of autographs at the upcoming Comic Con — and I’d probably head to the Comic Con to meet Michael Biehn for $30. It’d be worth it to say hi to Hicks from Aliens, though I probably wouldn’t need his autograph. Unless he made it out to Sandy.

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

–Thomas Paine