As we’ve said before, retirement represents quite a change from life at the coalface. You’ve done things the same way, financially speaking, for ages, and now things are looking a little different. In these three blogs, I want to go over some financial housekeeping that will stand you in good stead for a spree-free financial retirement.
I firmly believe that managing your finances shouldn’t really take any more than 30-60 minutes per month, but in order for that to be true, things need to be set up correctly in the first place, otherwise you’ll always be somewhat behind, playing catchup. So, I want to share the way I encourage my clients to set things up to make their retirement as effortless as possible.
Everyone is Different
There are just a couple of quick things we need to know before we get into the practical bit. Everyone is different and hence there are many different ways of engaging with the day-to-day mechanics of your finances.
Some of you reading this will be all about the paper, with hanging files, folders and hand-written notes. Others will be paperless, or striving towards it, and there will be many different shades of grey between those two extremes.
In my house, we do both. If it was up to me, we’d be paperless for sure, but Jo doesn’t work like that, so for her to be engaged in our finances, she needs to able to see where things are. So, we have a digital filing system that I use, and once I’ve scanned something and saved it, I put it in the paper filing while muttering under my breath…
While I’ll give you some guidance about how to manage things in the next couple of posts, be aware that how you apply these things is up to you – you need to find what works best for you.
Transitions are Opportunities
Life’s transition points are always opportunities to stop and take stock of where we are and where we’re going. That’s why we set resolutions at New Year. It’s the turning over of a new year – a transition – and so we set the course for, well, the next 36 hours until things return to normal.
Retirement, as has been said, represents possibly the ultimate transition, except for death, maybe, and so it’s a natural time to look at how things are set up and to make any changes necessary to set things up correctly for a steady, easily managed financial retirement.
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