One of my peers asked me where I would like to live when I retire, I was surprised by the question but said I want to live next to a golf course. In our sub conscious mind we know the best place that we would like to live, given a choice, but the conscious mind is full of day-to-day tasks and activities. Thinking about financial planning is similar, short term is top in our heads and long term is on a back burner.
Experts say the best time to plan for our retirement is as soon as we start working. That’s our twenties. But that’s also the time that we are most unlikely to plan for our retirement as there’s so much excitement about our new careers, further studies, love life, holidays with friends, pursuing new hobbies, moving to a new city or country and so on. Retirement planning is not exciting; however, it is as important as planning our short-term financial goals.
I would like to define financial wellness as our ability to be financially independent both short term and long term.
We can increase our financial wellness by taking a number of steps. These include setting aside funds for an emergency – medical or otherwise, financial planning for the future including retirement, doing an audit of current income and spending, using a personal finance app or software or consulting a professional financial adviser to plan, track and be accountable for how we spend our money.
We need good financial wellness for stability, well being and living a balanced life. Not being financially stable can lead to stress and may adversely affect our ability to – fulfil our responsibilities; look after ourselves; and balance our personal and work lives.
In order to achieve financial wellness, we have to not only become more knowledgeable about money matters but also have a mindset to clear debts if any, at the earliest. The purpose of improving financial wellness is to improve the quality of life so whether you are going to work on this on your own or with your employer, start now!
