You
wake up one Monday morning with the sun streaming through your bedroom
window and a cup of tea beside your bed. You glance at your clock. It's
almost half past eight but your alarm hasn't gone off. You have a moment
of panic. Why didn't anyone wake you? You're about to leap out of bed,
then you relax, lie back and breathe a huge sigh of relief as you
suddenly remember that this morning there's no need to rush. You aren't
going to work today. You're on holiday. In fact you won't have to go to
work ever again unless you choose to because this is the start of your
BIG holiday - the holiday that will last for the rest of your life -
your retirement!
As
you sit up in bed and sip your tea you think about all the things
you'll be able to do now that you've finally given up work. This
afternoon you've arranged to play a round of golf with three of your
friends. Then in a few days' time you and your other half are off on a
luxury world cruise. It's a trip you've been promising yourselves for
years but you could never find the time to take so many weeks off work.
You loved running your business, even although it was hard work.
However, you're very glad that you've been able to achieve financial
independence now, giving you the choice to stop working whilst you're
still young enough to enjoy life and able to do all the things you want
to do. You get out of bed and go over to the window to admire once again
the beautiful, gleaming new car you've just bought with part of your
tax-free cash from your pension, and you congratulate yourself on how
great it is when a plan finally comes together!
Is this what retirement is going to be like for you? Have you
planned it carefully, and are you reviewing your retirement plans on a
regular basis? Many people spend more time planning their next two week
break than they do planning their retirement - the longest holiday of
their lives.
Just imagine running out of money part way through your holiday. How
bad would that be? Think how much worse it would be if it happened part
way through the longest holiday of your life. What could you do about
it?
When you're planning any holiday you have to budget not only for the
cost of the fares, the accommodation and the food, you also need to
budget for spending money if you're really going to enjoy yourself. You
need spending money on your BIG holiday too. How sad it would be to have
the time to do all the things you don't have time for now but to be
unable to afford to do them. Only when you're in a position of financial
independence will you really be able to enjoy your BIG holiday.
So to plan for the financial freedom to enjoy your BIG holiday you need to decide:
When is my BIG holiday going to start?
- How much money will I need?
- How much can I realistically afford to save each month?
You probably know the saying, "Failure to plan is planning to fail!"
If you haven't already done so, consult an expert independent financial adviser
and start planning now to make sure you have enough money to really
enjoy your BIG holiday of a lifetime - your retirement.
