Retirement. One little word that conjures up complex emotions. Ten letters, three syllables, one simple word that can generate the conflicting feelings of fear and excitement, happiness and sadness, uncertainty and clarity - all at the same time. These feelings can be related to us or maybe our parents or other relatives, but the emotions are the same and they are real.
Not knowing what comes next, wondering if we’ll have to compromise our lifestyle or wondering if we’ll even be able to cover the most basic elements of what we consider to be a normal life are common thoughts that I have heard expressed.
If we have saved well, how do we know what to do with our money so that it lasts or doesn’t get eroded by inflation or poor investment decisions? How do we protect ourselves if we have a catastrophic illness that carries expenses great enough to threaten the nest egg we’ve so carefully created.
When I meet with people, I hear many different things about how they feel about their finances, but the themes that seem the most common whether actually spoken or not, are fear and uncertainty. I believe fear and uncertainty may be the two greatest barriers that we’ll face when it comes to achieving our financial goals.
There is so much information available for our consumption through television, the internet, radio talk shows and other media. All manners of solutions, strategies, philosophies and products are offered and one commercial even suggests it’s so easy, a baby could do it. Yet, in spite all of the available information and emphasis on the topic of retirement most people are not preparing adequately – if they are preparing at all.
Why not? It’s simple – they don’t have a plan. I’m not talking about saving money, buying investments, opening an IRA, or having a relationship with someone they call their “advisor”. These are typical answers I get if I ask someone what they’ve done to plan for retirement. I am talking about having roadmap, which to be used effectively requires that you know your destination and have a route planned. The route if followed without deviation will eventually get you there. It is a route on which viable detours have been identified in the event there is problem with the originally planned route.
To take the first step in removing yourself from the ranks of the unprepared, you need only to ask yourself two questions:
- Do I have a strategy or a plan to achieve Financial Independence?
- Am I confident in it?
One of my favorite movies is “The Shawshank Redemption”. My favorite line from that film is when the main character Andy Dufrense says “it’s time to get busy living or get busy dying.” That may sound a little extreme to some of you, but I’m going to suggest that you need to think of your retirement planning using that line as a metaphor for importance you need to place on it.
Don’t waste another day. Commit to developing a plan to achieve your vision of financial independence. If you can’t do it by yourself, get some help, but do it. Even if your ideal goal seems unattainable, you must believe me when I tell you that anything positive you do toward that goal from this day forward will result in a better quality of life than you would have had by not doing so.