When you’re fresh out of college and breaking yourself into the working world, the idea of retirement or the world beyond where you are right now can seem ages away. It feels like a distant dream and something that isn’t to worry about. But it is. Concentrating on your career is a fantastic thing to do, but if you aren’t concentrating on how your present-day life can affect you in ten or twenty years, you’re going to be in for a shock. You don’t have to panic, though. The idea of retirement may make you relax and think you have time to worry about it but change that thinking from retiring from your career that you’re just beginning, to ‘planning for the future’ and you can pique your own interest. You can capture your own attention and start to look at ways that you can make your present-day life set up for your future one. The idea here is to live in the moment while trying to secure your lifestyle that works for you, so that one day when you do retire from the working world, you’re completely set up for enjoyment.
The best thing that you can do as a young professional is to work out a strategy that will set you up for the future. You can make a plan and identify the right goals for you to aim for. A written plan with your goals can help you to visualise the future that you want to have. Having a tangible goal can really decide how you make a difference with your finances so that you are successful and not a failure in later life. Making a plan can make you motivated and using the investing power of your superfund from the career you are nurturing so much can change your life and for more info, here are some SMSF frequently asked questions to get your head around how that works. The plan that you make for your finances will dictate your lifestyle, and your investments that you make whether that’s with your superfund or deciding to funnel cash into stocks or metals now will change your future.
The next thing that you have to do is to share the goals that you have. Once you share the goals that you have, you can benefit from the support of those that you share with. Speaking to employers, family and friends can help bolster you and get your motivation revved up. Employers are always interested in developing their employees personally, so why not set up a meeting with the company financial advisor and get some information about the right place to put your cash? You could even go one step further and invest some money in the company that you work for and be a shareholder. The more people you share your future financial goals with, the more you are accountable to others for realising those goals.
The way forward is to go slowly and take your time. I cannot emphasise this enough. The idea of those big goals that you have for yourself can feel overwhelming and yet, if you set yourself smaller goals within the larger ones, you can achieve them far more easily. As you achieve each tiny goal, you will feel more and more inclined to do better and achieve the next goal. Baby steps can make you more confident and you can celebrate your financial successes as you achieve them. The key element for this, though, is patience. When you are saving for your future, you need to watch it build and not be tempted to spend money where you are trying to grow it. Save a chunk, invest it and repeat. The more smaller investments you have, the bigger that they can grow and be a good fall back later on. Pay down your debts, buy that house you’ve saved for and invest in yourself while you’re at it. Those are the sorts of investments that you never will regret, as you can always rely on yourself if you’re debt free and a homeowner. The responsibility is bigger, but you will feel far happier and you will reap the rewards later on. Be realistic with your goals and keep them balanced. There’s no need to pull back on all of your expenses to scrape your savings together, but you should keep as much of a balance as you can.
It doesn’t have to take a ton of discipline to build a wealth for the future. Clever investments now can pay dividends in the future, and with that to fall back on, you won’t find yourself worrying about how to pay for another round of golf or a cruise that you’ve waited your entire life for. Clarity about your own finances and planning for them can make a massive difference to the confidence that you have in your ability to save. Don’t be put off by big numbers, when small changes can get you where you want to be. Time is on your side here, so make those goal lists and start your plan. The future awaits.
