TIME: Your greatest asset or your biggest risk…

Time, it’s one of those things…it’s finite.

There’s only a certain amount of it and if you don’t use it wisely, you can’t just jump in a time machine and go back in time.

If you’re spiraling towards retirement, it’s likely it crept up much quicker than you thought.

Just like John who I spoke to recently said, “Shit, I’m nearly 60….”. It literally smacked him in the face, thinking I’d better do something about this thing called “RETIREMENT”.

But John’s story is not isolated. With 100,000 people retiring each year, you could call it a retirement Pandemic…

People who think about retirement, but keep putting it off and before they know it, time’s passed them by. Now they are exposed to limited opportunities and face real risks in retirement.

I call it drifting…

Drifting can be catastrophic to your retirement dreams.

It means important decisions are not made when they need to be made. For most on this pathway, the longer they leave it, the closer they are to living a frugal retirement full of regrets.

But this can impact people in two ways, financial and lifestyle…

TIME – Financial Impact

We are working with a couple right now, let’s call them Barney and Betty.

Over their working life, they’d been building up their super and were lucky enough to have built a sizable balance.

However, for years they had put off seeking advice let alone address the elephant in the room, “Will we have enough?”.

You could say they were a little confused, frustrated with what they were being told and ultimately did nothing. Putting in the too hard basket until recently.

Barney and Betty, happened to make a decision to retire a number of years ago to build their retirement home in a coastal town near the beach.

Now sitting there thinking can we stay retired or do we have to go back to work?

As we worked through their situation, we uncovered a number of strategies which had they dealt with a number of years ago would have put them in a far better financial position.

While we were able to address and correct some of these missed strategies, they had missed out on thousands of dollars of benefits. While future benefits are in the tens of thousands.

All because they let time get away from them…said they were going to do something, procrastinated, and now, two years down the track, taking action.

This is not an isolated case, just about everyone I speak to on a weekly basis, and I speak to a lot of people, has missed the boat on some type of financial benefit.

It does not have to be this way…

You need to use the time you have to put yourself in the best financial position you can.

That may mean finding yourself a good adviser (hint, hint, over here)…

Don’t be one of those people who spend countless hours researching the internet, trying to figure it all out, letting the years pass by while still sitting in limbo.

Only to hit a roadblock, more confused than ever that you have no more clarity than when you started down the retirement rabbit hole.

Retirement planning is complex…

TIME – Lifestyle Impact

While procrastination may hurt you financially, if you don’t use your time wisely, it can definitely have an impact on your lifestyle in retirement.

Our futures are uncertain, you just don’t know what’s going to happen, let alone know how long you are going to live for. It’s probably going to be longer than you think.

But here’s the thing, the clock is ticking, maybe faster than you think.

Potentially you will have 10-15 years in retirement where you’ll be fit enough to undertake all the exciting activities and adventures you’ve been dreaming about.

While you may like your work, and you may plan on working in some capacity in retirement for a period. It’s likely you’re going to want time freedom. The freedom to do all things you want when it suits you.

Meeting after meeting with new clients who want to retire, it’s TIME that comes up time after time as their number one challenge.

Time to explore other countries…

Time to hook up the caravan and explore…

Time to spend with family and friends…

Time to focus on your fitness and health (without this you simply can’t enjoy retirement)…

Or time to just take life at a more relaxed pace and spend it doing what you want to do.

And yet it generally takes a personal experience, like friends and family passing away far too young to jolt people into action. The realisation that time is limited, you don’t know how much time you have left.

The last thing you want is to drift into retirement, not doing the work around the financial side then suffer a medical issue or at worst die. All before you have a change to enjoy the best part of your retirement. That would simply be a disaster…

Yet I see this time and time again, the lack of planning which could see people retire earlier in a far better financial position and actually live life.

It’s Time To Take Control Of Your Time…

It’s time to stop using the excuse you’re too busy…you know it really means it’s not important, right?

You’ll always make time for things you consider important.

What’s more important than having a plan for your retirement? To be able to fund the next 20-30 years plus with confidence. To figure out how to position yourself for this important phase of life.

Without costing you tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars because you just didn’t take the time to take your retirement seriously.

More importantly, depriving yourself of experiences and adventures…

I’d go as far to say that nothing’s more important, other than your health, than planning your retirement journey.

If you can’t do it yourself, then it’s time to find someone to work with to help you sort it all out.

And before you say it, don’t use cost as an excuse…

Just think how much time you’ve spent researching everything via Dr Google. Let’s say you spend on average one hour per week. That’s 52 hrs a year and over two year’s that’s 104 hours you’ve spent researching and stressing about your retirement planning.

Why 2 yrs?

That’s about the time some people start making contact with us after reading most of my posts. Which in my expert opinion is 2 yrs too late…but that’s just me.

Let’s say you put a value of $100 per hour on your time. That’s $10,400 worth of time wasted. If you spend on average 2 hours per week. That’s a massive $20,800 you’ve forgone. Wasted, down the drain…

That’s without considering time you could have spent with your partner, kids, friends or simply doing something you enjoy.

And it’s highly likely you’re more confused than ever and just maybe you’re sick and tired of speaking to people who want to sell you a financial product.

If this sounds like you, it’s time to smell the roses and get some help from an expert in retirement planning. Someone who can take all your retirement dreams and map out a plan to get you there safely. One that’s easy and simple to understand.

Whether that’s with us or someone else, you need to get some help.

And if you think getting some financial advice is expensive, reread the above example. That’s before you consider what other financial benefits you get from receiving advice.

That’s not even considering the non-financial aspects of seeking advice. The clarity to know what all your options are. The best pathway to retire on your terms with confidence.

If you want to have a chat about the challenges you’re having with planning your retirement, book your Retirement Clarity Call by clicking here…

It’s a quick 15 minute chat to pinpoint the gaps in your current plan and a roadmap to resolve them.

You deserve to retire on your terms…

Glenn Doherty – CFP – Financial Planner | Retirement Planning Specialist |Retirement Planning Made Simple for over 55’s within 7 years of retirement

We work with people in Adelaide and around Australia virtually via zoom!

Retirement Retirement Income Retirement Planning Uncategorized