Is it a waste of time to save for retirement?

Planning effectively for your retirement takes time and focus that many of us struggle to find in today’s busy world and this is often the reason so few of us are properly prepared. One reason is that retirement planning makes us reflect on the realities of life and make choices that we would rather avoid. Another is that when something big in our life changes, our retirement plans can seem to be less important. Most people are not good at financial planning. It means looking ahead and making decisions about a future that is uncertain. It is necessary to make educated guesses about our retirement years to enable us to plan for it. A large part of the process is learning more about ourselves in order to do this – a process that many of us would rather avoid! Our dreams about who we want to be and how we want to live in retirement are often a far cry from our current situation and the difference can be discouraging. Even though the act of preparing plans for our retirement will make us feel better, it doesn’t seem to matter at the time. One of the practicalities of starting a retirement plan is that we will realise some of the dreams we have will always be just dreams. If we realised the dream, we may not find the satisfaction that we were expecting. Creating a realistic vision of what we want to do in our retirement will help us toward achieving it. We have the option to ignore a realistic retirement lifestyle and continue to cling to impractical hopes and dreams, or we can plan for a life that is fulfilling and also achievable. It’s important to plan for retirement with the understanding that things can and will change in the future and to be prepared for that. The advantage of having a flexible retirement plan is that it will be able to evolve as circumstances change. A retirement plan can change in a number of ways. Our careers often change many times during our lives for better or worse. Family situations can mean a much bigger or smaller family than you expected. Our leisure activities change. Economies change. The cost of housing, holidays and medical treatment will all change. If your retirement plan includes these factors, it is able to adapt over the years. Planning for your retirement is not just an end but a journey of its own that you will find improves your own financial knowledge and sense of place. Contact ISN today about your retirement plans.