- Conscious preparation
- Retirement Income
- Cost cutting mechanisms
If life and death are ever considered as realities, so is retirement- the season of rest after labor. If the opposite of rest is labor, it suggests that it is either that you plan your retirement so well or prepare to labor so well till death forcefully rests your soul and body. Show me a fellow who intends to work without a rest at a later season and I will show you a fellow whose existence here on earth is destined to be brief, sorrowful and with legacies of mean achievements to down line generations.
Life can only be lived by planning. In other words, your life can never be better than the quality of your plan. There will always be a today before a tomorrow but note; both days are separated by a split second hence, living in the tomorrow is basically at the mercy of today. Start your retirement plans today so that tomorrow can be favorable to you.
Every soul is fundamentally a potential family tree. In other words, we all are born into a family only to restart another. You are called by a surname today. In years to come, you would have become a surname to many (particularly, if you are a man). Your living today will determine whether those unborn souls to your lineage will either bless or curse you. Your planning while the chances remain bright will put paid to such a question.
Planning adequately for retirement at whatever cost is not a choice but a must. Let me share with you some tips on successful retirement planning and execution in addition to all we have discussed here over the months.
- CHANGE YOUR BELIEF ABOUT RETIREMENT, REORIENTATE YOURSELF: Success in any area of life is possible no matter the seeming hurdles. All you need do is re-orientate yourself if no one else is such doing. In our time, men have climbed the Everest, reached the moon and visited other planets regardless of the difficulties imposed by natural forces. In the same vein. In our time, records are being broken and new ones set at unimaginable speed. New technology keeps evolving daily to make the previous looks like nonsense around the globe. All these great exploits, amidst global challenges makes your lack of retirement inexcusable. All you need is a paradigm shift in your psychological disposition.
It is high time we jettisoned this idea that planning is not possible and put on the possibility cap for so long as we continue to believe that retirement and subsequent living in peace thereafter isn’t possible, planning will remain difficult. What you believe you say, what you say you see and what you see is what you get. Change your beliefs; change your views and perception about retirement. Change your confession. Change your plans. Change your life.
I have come to discover that the end product of the impossibility thinking is passivity and extreme coldness in taking action towards achieving success not only in retirement planning but in all areas of life. If you have the benefits of discussing with some that are comfortable in retirement now regardless of the huge numbers of those that are struggling in retirement, they will sure tell you that planning was never easy. If you change your thinking and begin to believe that you can retire successfully, I never can tell how that nature makes things work out but what I know so well is that you will achieve whatever you believe so believe that you can retire rich and happy and that is exactly what you would see because your believe will ultimately result in an involuntary action in the right direction.
- STRETCHING YOURSELF: This is a key topic in one of Anthony Robbins’s optimal performance trainings where he referred to stretching as a principal ingredient in becoming successful in anything; I guess this also applies to retirement but what is stretching? Tony Robbins aptly describes this concept in a simple expression as I quote ‘if you can’t, then you must and if you must, then you can’. Premised on the current harsh economic realities around us, retirement is not going to come easy but it is possible if only our minds are tuned to it and because it is possible then we must make it happen by ‘fire, by force’. If all we believe is that things are difficult such that our take home pay can’t take us home not to talk of retirement, then nothing would ever be done, so to get planning for retirement right, you would need to stretch yourself even if it means to the last elastic limit and how do you do this?
A. If your current income is not enough to cater for your day to day needs and yet leave the extras for retirement savings, you might need to take up additional job for additional or multiple streams of income to complement. You can write books, join a multi-level marketing group or consult in the areas of your proficiency. This would definitely stretch you but you sure need it. This is already happening really because I know of a friend who works as manager in an insurance company who also lectures at weekends in professional insurance training outfit to generate additional income. I also know of a lady who is a marketer with an insurance firm but also at her leisure, sells ladies’ wears. Another woman that I know works as an Accountant in transportation firm, borrowed money from the cooperative society of her office and went to Turkey and China to buy dresses for sale; she today owns an average size shop in Balogun market while retaining her employment. Do I tell you this? I just discovered that one of the security guards in our house also runs okada business when he is not on duty. What is it that you too can do to complement your current income? The reality of the times require that you dabble and if you don’t know what you can do then you need to stretch yourself by thinking through but note it that there’s sure other streams of income that will not tamper with your current engagement. Did I just hear someone asking to know where the extra jobs to be done are? Then again, I tell you, stretch and you shall find.
B. Stretch yourself by cutting all channels of wasteful spending just to make sure that the so required excess is created for savings purposes. You might need to start with your call cards, then quality of phones and so many like that you can think of. My wife just told me as I write this that some people brought laptops to her place of work to sell for deduction within one year; what do you need it for was my response because really, she’s got a personal desktop computer and a tablet while I have a laptop, a desktop computer and a tablet to make how many now? So what does she really needs additional laptop for? The times at hand call for judicious use and appropriate distribution of funds just for one purpose, savings for retirement. Stretch yourself by cutting down on your alcoholic consumption. May I ask why you are this fat? Then cut down on your food intake. There are so many items to cut down on, please close your eyes and do so. Why should you be burning fuel at this exorbitant rate just to watch Chelsea and Arsenal? What do the arguments thereafter fetch you? You would need to cut down on the number of hours of generator use. This is what current realities demands and we’ve got no choice than to give it.
C. Stretch yourself by avoiding certain luxuries you can’t afford anymore. For example, if you can no longer afford to pay for private school of your hiring a private teacher to see which is cheaper? Who says you can’t even be your children’s teacher? I know of a family where the husband is a medical doctor and the wife a school teacher, these two even before times became this hard chose to take up the challenge of tutoring their kids themselves while the kids attend public schools where the mother of the house works. I have a friend who in the real sense of it could be said to be rich in Ondo state; I was surprised when he told me that his children were in public schools. Do you really need that latest car? Why not consider latest tokunboh instead? Must you live in Magodo when your income now can’t carry the rent? Think. If you cut on those unnecessary luxuries then you can create the desired savings that will carry you at retirement no matter how hard the times might be.
Need I tell you more? I will but till next week. However, feel free to get in touch at obastocks@gmail.com