My husband and I were chatting recently about how it often seems we look to the past when planning the future. They say life is a learning experience so I suppose it makes sense that the knowledge we pick up as we move along is a valuable tool for dealing with what lays ahead.
Sometimes though, this tendency may not be as useful to us. For example, my whole life I’ve dreamed of what I’d do if I had a million dollars; give to charities, help friends, help the kids, quit my job, buy a house, buy a cottage, do a ton of good things. Another thing I always figured was I’d make sure I had enough put aside by the time I was 55 that I would be able to retire and enjoy the good life for the next 15 years or so.
Well that was my past and looking to my future I’ve had to make some quick adjustments.
I’ve gone from singing Bare Naked Ladies ‘If I had a $1,000,000….’ to Travis McCoy’s ‘I want to be a billionaire……’ in very short order.
I am also figuring out very few retire at 55 or even 65 anymore. Taking the good with the bad though, life expectancy is going to have most of us living into our 80’s and 90’s.
So my suggestion would be, as it pertains to your financial future, combine what you think you know with a hard dose of reality. A number of years ago we did some calculations and projections for clients who were considering retirement. Based on how they knew they wanted to live, their expenses, income etc. we were able to show them how they could live very comfortably into their 90’s. Everything was going along perfectly until just recently when they bought “the ranch” in Arizona. ‘Well’ they said, ‘we felt so good about our situation, we thought we could afford it, maybe now we’ll just have to exit sooner.’
When you sit down to think about your financial future plan for a very, very long and happy life. Oh, and really do spend time thinking of everything whether it’s the villa in Tuscany, your round the world cruise, that little red sports car , the ranch in Arizona, houses for the kids, your pied-a-terre in the city.……
Yikes! I’ve got to get back to work.
This article is supplied by Elizabeth O’Connor, an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (Member–Canadian Investor Protection Fund). This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a professional advisor before taking any action based on information in this article.
Elizabeth O’Connor can be reached at 705-789-2100 or [email protected].
Whether you are looking for a full time, full service financial advisor or seeking expert financial advice as a second opinion, call Elizabeth. With offices in Haliburton, Huntsville and Bracebridge, Elizabeth works closely with clients in cottage country from the lakes and surrounding towns.
Elizabeth O’Connor is an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities, which is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. 705-789-2100
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