I saw a great video on CNN the other day, in which Money magazine’s George Mannes picked random people walking around in New York and asked them about what their ideal retirement would be like. As I was watching this video, I saw the commonality of what everyone wanted, no matter what their age was. Most people talked about family; spending time with the grandkids, being able to be comfortable and not worrying about tomorrow so that they could focus on their families. Pretty much everyone he interviewed would say that they just wanted to enjoy time with their loved ones and be surrounded by love and warmth, and not to worry about money! One guy summed it up really nicely by saying that an ideal retirement isn’t just about the financial comfort of being able to pay any bills and whatever expenses you have, but to do it without ever having to worry about where the money is coming from!
How true is that? Isn’t the ideal retirement all about having the right amount of income and not to worry about where your money is coming from?
But as I was watching the video, I noticed one interesting thing. Most of the young people who were interviewed would say that retirement is too far away for them to think about it, but at the same time the people who were older kept saying that they were indeed really concerned! Do you see the problem here? When people are in their 20’s and 30’s, they just don’t plan all that far ahead. And by the time they’re a few years away from retirement, it becomes too difficult to do anything about their situation with the limited amount of time and money they have.
To me, the key is to teach the next generation to start planning for their retirement income early. And I’m not just talking about young adults in their 20’s but people in their 40’s! It’s amazing how many 40-something year olds consider themselves far enough from retirement to not be worried! Well the answer is to start thinking about it now!
So whether you are 30, 50 or 65, start thinking about your retirement income today, because an ideal retirement is one that has all the income you need, without headaches or worry. And like all worthwhile things in life, it takes time to build it well.
— One Comment —
Comments are closed.