The LEARNING library

Are You Stuck?

There’s this really handy tool on the Internet called “Google.” The first time I (Shea) learned of this was my senior year of high school. I had a question and my friend said, “Google it.” I replied, “What is that?” After a quick description, I was baffled. How could something on the computer know so much, and where was the information coming from? That was 1998. That same year, during career day, I took a Communications course that was being taught by a phone company. They said, “In 10 years, everyone will have a handheld personal phone. Landlines will be almost obsolete.” I leaned over to my friend and said, “That will NEVER happen!” In 2007, I was at the airport flying to Grand Rapids from Hartford, Connecticut, and a gentleman standing next to me was using his new iPhone. I asked, “Do you like that?” He said, “Yeah, pretty cool so far.” I thought to myself, “That will never take off. Who will want their face on the screen of their phone? Gross.”

If you can’t tell, I’m not one for embracing technology, but regardless of my interest in it, it’s here and I’m dependent on it every day. The same goes for retirement planning. While so far off in the future, it’s actually happening right now. You can Google how to retire and find fairly helpful information. But you and I both know that it’s not for lack of information that we don’t plan, it’s the psychology behind it.

Tune in today on the old-fashioned radio (or online) to find out where you’re stuck when it comes to moving forward. The information is there, but how will you choose to use it?