Glenn Ruffenach, who has covered the retirement beat at The Wall Street Journal for the past decade, contacted me a couple of months ago about a column he was writing for the October issue of their sister publication, Smart Money Magazine (available on newsstands now til the middle of the month). Much like his regular column on how best to plan for and enjoy later life, he was interested in discussing my perspective on the good news that finally appears to be poking through some of the gloom about retirement finances and planning.

Certainly flattered by the request, I was equally intrigued at how he’d found me amongst the millions of other professionals out there diligently working in this field. As it turns out, in his preparation for the article, he literally searched for good news in retirement and up popped my website and the E-Newsletter I’d written last October, “The New Retirement: Truth or Scare?” where I talked about the “benefits” from the recession – including and “increased awareness of both financial and retirement planning.” Ruffenach thought it was an interesting observation and wanted to talk about it a bit further.

There’s no need to rehash the perfect storm, in a sense, that has occurred over the last two years and created this recession, which supposedly ended in June 2009.  However, for a quick review, the combination of Americans having the lowest savings rate in history, coupled with the highest debt due to spending beyond their means, using their homes as a savings plan and then experiencing a 20%-plus decrease in value, a stock market drop of 45% from its October 2007 high point, and soaring unemployment rates, this certainly hasn’t been a pleasure boat cruise on calm seas.

Yet in search of some good news in all this, I thoroughly believe it was a much-needed wake-up call for most everyone. Americans needed to get real, and serious (i.e. real serious) about preparing realistically for the future. However, in their defense, I also recognize that because most Americans, and Baby Boomers in particular, had never experienced anything like this before, it also provides an opportunity to turn this ship around – and hopefully never have to sail these seas again.

While there are unquestionably, only certain aspects of this perfect storm within our control, as Ruffenach writes in his article, there’s good news on the horizon. Employment numbers seem to be inching up, and the market, while taking its sweet time, should recover back to precrash levels and be a blessing for long term investors who contribute steadily to retirement savings.

But perhaps the best news involves household finances. According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, the savings rate has more than doubled since the recession began – to 4.3% in 2009 from 1.7% in 2007 – and average household debt is down 6%.

The concern however, according to Ruffenach, is we’ve seen this before – as soon as the economy and nest eggs recover, Americans will go back to their bad habits – as we forget too quickly.

Well, maybe not. I believe the changes we’ve seen are very possibly more permanent this time around. I don’t think most Americans will go back into severe debt again, nor do I think we will repeat what happened in the real estate market where people over-extended themselves way beyond their means.

Much like during the Depression (which this recession has often been compared to), for those who experienced it, their habits were forever changed. Prior to this current economic downturn, most baby boomers lived very differently than their parents -- yet they were probably often reminded by their parents – and likely their grandparents too, that they shouldn’t be spending beyond their means, and instead should save, save, save. Of course, most all generations think they know more than the last – but the reality is, experience is the best teacher – and I don’t think this is an experience the boomers, one-third of our total population and the largest generation in history, wants to repeat.

One of the indicators of this reality may be the survey in Ruffenach’s article that reported almost half of surveyed adults say the importance of financial advisors has grown over the past two years. Obviously, the investment landscape has changed significantly – and understanding the complexity of products and markets to plan for a 20-30 year retirement requires a thorough plan, knowledge and understanding above and beyond the abilities most of us have as investors.

While there are a number of recommendations outlined in Rufenach’s article (which he unabashedly advised to cut out and tape someplace where you can read it regularly) it’s evidently clear that first and foremost, we must all do a better job taking responsibility for our financial futures. It starts with awareness, education and implementation – and then the discipline to stay the course, which will hopefully provide clear sailing toward that glorious retirement sunset we have on deck.

If you’re looking for an objective financial education, you might consider Smart Money Magazine as a resource. I was most impressed with the array of topics addressed in this October issue, which included the cover story on Women in Retirement and how their financial needs and the servicing of them varies vastly from men, as well as articles on the fastest growing share of the American workforce, and the next wave of medical moneymakers that could mean big profits for investors.

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist, longevity expert and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for age-related studies.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net