When I work with clients, I typically find that it’s hard
for people to envision their future.
What retirement will be like.
What challenges they will face.
They may be decades away from retirement.
Heck, many people – myself included – can’t even think about
what we might be doing next week, never mind years from now!
But the exercise of doing so is critically important because
the decisions you make today regarding your finances have a huge impact on what
you will be able to do in the future.
Recently, two interesting articles came across my desk. One asks current retirees what they would
have done differently about living in retirement. It’s pretty interesting as they respondents
talk about traveling and finding a purpose besides work.
But two of the seven retirees highlighted also had medical
issues which certainly affected their lives.
The article is here.
These retirees paint a pretty rosy picture of life after
work. And all are doing things they
enjoy and have a passion for so that work (i.e. income) isn’t necessary.
However, in order to get to the point where you “work
because you want to, not because you have to” stage, savings and taxes are
important during your working career.
The second article highlights surprises regarding finances
in retirement. And these aren’t good
surprises.
You can see the article here.
One major expense facing everyone is taxes. And in this article about retirement
surprises, two major sources of income after working – Social Security and
retirement plan withdrawals – are both taxable!
And you’ll notice that a couple of the retirees had health
issues so it’s no surprise that one of the major unexpected expenses is
healthcare.
What are you doing to make the things in the first article
come true and not let any of the things in the second article hold you back?
Your future self is giving you advice on life and money.
Are you listening?
Answer to last week’s trivia questions – D – Yes, in 1870, China US
This week’s trivia question – According to the AARP, what
percentage of Americans approaching retirement expect to collect full Social
Security benefits, but before their full retirement age of 65? Is it
A – 10%
B – 29%
C – 40%
D – 57%
