Nothing Extravagant

Nothing Extravagant…

Do you know what you want your retirement to ACTUALLY look like?

When working with clients to show whether they’ve got enough to retire, we urge them to think about what their ideal life and lifestyle would look like in retirement.

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll dive into and unpick the phrase we hear most often… 

So, when we ask…

“What does retirement look like for you?”, we usually receive one of two responses:

A blank expression because they haven’t really thought that far ahead.

Or…

They describe it negatively, saying it means not working anymore.

You see they’re SO fixated on the idea of packing in work, that they haven’t considered what their day-to-day life will actually look like in retirement.

Essentially they’re retiring FROM something, rather than retiring TO something.

So, when we encourage them to paint a more detailed picture and ask…

• “Can you give me some specifics?”
• “What would your ideal day, week, or month look and feel like?”

Most Teessiders we help tend to say…

“Well, nothing extravagant.”

That’s the most common phrase we hear, and it holds so much meaning.

We’ve just asked them to describe their ideal life and lifestyle, and their response is –

“NOTHING EXTRAVAGANT???!!!” 

This is supposed to be their time to shine after decades of hard graft, diligently growing their pension pots. 

But, you know what, that’s perfectly OK.

You see, for most of us, extravagant luxuries like owning football clubs or sailing yachts aren’t what we truly desire, even if we could afford them.

Typically, us Teessiders value the simple things in life:

• Financial security to ensure we won’t run out of money
• The ability to support our children and grandkids when needed
• Freedom to treat ourselves to a nice frock or a special meal, without worrying, “Can we afford this?”

These simple pleasures are what most of us mean when we say, “nothing extravagant.” 

But sometimes, we feel a bit shy about not aspiring to grand, flashy things.

However, that’s NOT what life is truly about, is it.

By the time we start thinking about retirement, we often realise that life’s essence lies in our homes, our families, contentment, security, and knowing we’ve enough money for what matters to us.

So, don’t hesitate to talk about and embrace your retirement goals.

Visualise and take pride in the fact that you want a comfortable, fulfilling retirement.

There’s no need to feel embarrassed just because you don’t yearn for extravagance.

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Or if you’re ready for a one-to-one chat to visualise and find out what’s enough for your retirement, use the form below to get in touch.

Joslin Rhodes Pension & Retirement Planning – Real Advice, For Real People