Phil Cannella makes a very astute observation about life when hearing people in retirement make the following exclamation: “I did it…I made it to my goal.” Phil Cannella’s response: “It all comes back to the “cycles” of life.”
Phil Cannella makes an analogy of 10 explorers climbing Mt. Everest and reaching the top. When they arrive at the summit they exclaim: “We did it- We Made it to the top! We’ve accomplished our goal!” However, Phil points out that only “half of the journey’” has been accomplished, and that they still have the other part of the journey left, and that is: to get back down the mountain. As Phil Cannella points out quite poignantly at his Crash Proof Retirement educational events:
“A few years back, I watched a television documentary about Mount Everest and a group of ten men who climbed the highest mountain on Earth. After days and nights of climbing and combating high winds, frigid weather, and steep inclines, they finally reached the top of the summit. The lead climber pulled the flag out of his backpack and joyfully stuck it in the summit as all ten men jumped up and down vigorously with the joy of satisfaction and fulfillment of accomplishing this seemingly impossible feat. They all yelled, ‘We did it; we made it!’ “In the coming days only six men came down off the mountain. You see, four men perished coming down the other side. All of those brave men thought they had made it when they reached the summit, when in reality; they were only halfway there. They still had the second part of the journey to go. They never thought it would be the way down that would claim so many of their lives.” -Phil Cannella
This story provides a great analogy to retirement as Phil Cannella so aptly explains. Retirement and life are a journey and that journey has a course. It is no good if you travel just half the journey; you need to make it all the way around. Phil Cannella strives to give you a plan and Crash Proof Retirement System guide that can take you through life’s entire cycle including the journey through retirement, without worry or risk, and with complete peace of mind.
