What Kind of Retirement Do You Want?
Are You a Hoarder?
You may have built up some money behind you, whether that be savings in the bank, investments, pensions, ISAs, Premium Bonds, etc. GOOD FOR YOU!But what’s it all for? You might say it’s there to give you ‘security’ for the future or ‘peace of mind’ which are completely valid reasons, but what if you’re well on track to achieve that and STILL have money over? What does that mean to you and your life?Some people can be hoarders, we all know that and the same can certainly apply to money. The sense of spending more than we need can fill us with fear because we don’t know what impact that could have on our ‘security’ and ‘peace of mind’.
One Inescapable Fact
We live, then we die. Most of us have experience of people being taken well before their time, you never know when your number’s going to be called and, as far as we know, we don’t get to come back for a second chance at life.Please don’t think I’m morbid. Far from it. I think life is absolutely for living and should be as much fun as we can possibly make it but we can’t escape the reality that it will end, sooner or later, and it's worth staying in touch with our own mortality so we always keep that important PERSPECTIVE.
Get Spending?
Look, I’m not saying go out and buy a Ferrari or go to Vegas and put it all on black (or red). What I'm saying is that there seems little point to me in dying with too much money.It could be argued that dying with too much money is worse than dying without enough. Why? Because it COULD mean you had the chance to do a lot more ‘stuff’ while you were young and fit enough… BUT DIDN'T. That would be very sad indeed.Is there ANYTHING you’ve toyed with doing but not done out of fear that you might not have enough money or you're not quite ready? Are there any changes to your life that appeal to you but you’ve avoided because you’re not sure if you can afford it or you don’t want to break out of your comfort zone?
The Tax Man's Always There!
When we work with our clients, our job is to help them get (and keep) the life they want. We understand what’s important to them and show them how their money can support this. For our clients, goals and dreams come first, money comes second.You've paid tax all your life:
Income Tax
National Insurance
Capital Gains Tax
VAT on fuel
VAT on alcohol
VAT on just about anything else you can think of
Road tax
The list goes on…
So, when you die, do you want another potentially massive chunk to go to the tax man or might it be better to spend it having fun and doing some great things that you might have only dreamt about? Or, might you want to help your children / grandchildren out while you're around to see the benefit of doing so?
What's Not Important?
Frankly, if I meet a potential client and all their interested in is investment returns or financial products, without good reason for being interested in these things, I'm not likely to work with them for very long, if at all!Of course, if your money's invested, you want a decent return. Of course, you want to make sure your financial arrangements are efficient BUT there has to be a REASON behind this… a goal bigger than money.I'd love you to dare to dream... to think outside of the here and now… to live a great life! Of course, it's got to be within your means, but I'd hate it if you went to your grave with regrets about what you DIDN'T do.
Think About It
Take a step back from your day-to-day stuff. Ask yourself, if you had 5 years left on this planet (or 3 years… or 1 year), what would you change about your life? What would you do differently? What might you regret not doing?Yes, it's heavy stuff but I believe we should have this somewhere in our minds, so we don't let precious time, that we can't get back, slip through our hands. It's up to you, of course, you can lead a horse to water, etc…, but just take a moment to think about a different, more fulfilling life and what that might look like.Speak soon!...