Retirement; is it even possible for you?

Well summer has finally arrived along with the nice weather.  You may be planning what to do on the family vacation. It seems like Canadians spend more time planning their vacations than their retirement.  It has been reported that household debt levels are higher here in Canada than in any other country, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  If this is true then you would think that the priority would be to spend the time planning your retirement so you can do all the things you couldn’t do while working full time.

Although I believe in the balance of living today, I still think you need to plan for tomorrow.  Canadians are also living much longer today than our parents and grandparents did.  If this is true then you would also think that maybe you would need a lot more money to live those extra years that our ancestors didn’t have to plan for.  On the other hand, our ancestors for the most part was a society of savers.  Today with the overabundance of available credit we can live like kings today and paupers tomorrow.

We may be looking at the government for guidance and get our approval that it is okay to borrow for today, somebody else can pay tomorrow.  From the top down it is all about how much debt we can carry.  Somewhere along the line this must stop if we want to live a balanced and enriched life in retirement.  After all retirement could be 40 years or more.

This summer instead of planning the family vacation, maybe the family can start planning and setting goals for when you are done work and real living begins.  This all starts with putting yourself and your family in a good financial situation.  You can start the process by asking for a free cash flow analysis, from your current advisor, to see where all the money is currently going.  Cash flow is king when you want choices in life.  In Canada we have the opportunity to make a change in our financial life that takes us out of the statistics of carrying too much debt to the small percentage of Canadians that are savers.  It is a habit to spend, as much as a habit to save.  Why not change the habit to one of a saver and know that you can afford to retire and in the lifestyle of your choosing.