Do you need Financial Coaching Retirement for advice on saving and investing for a more secure future? Coaching can support retirement planning, and it’s never too soon to start, as Peter’s story demonstrates
My Coaching practice is not only about
Retirement Financial Planning. When I first met
Peter - he was in his mid-twenties and was happy and successful as Marketing
Manager of a medium sized business in the computer industry.
He came to see me at my Life coaching practice. He was interested in furthering his career in marketing -
one of my pre-retirement specialities - but we also touched on his retirement
financial planning.
He told me he planned to give his current role
another two years and then move on, maybe even change career.
I asked if he was saving for retirement. He
found the question amusing and almost irrelevant for his life stage. However,
when I told him I was doing research on retirement financial planning - and since
he was a polite young man - he agreed to continue the conversation.
He didn’t have a pension plan at that time and was not
saving. “I’m a borrower, not a saver”,
he said with a laugh.
“I’ve time enough to worry about pensions. You’re asking
me to think about my standard of living in 40 years time! Right now I
couldn’t tell you how I’ll be fixed next week!”
“I have more urgent
priorities. I’ll start when I’m thirty”
I asked him about his ideal retirement age. “About 40 - early retirement would be ideal”, he quipped. “No seriously, late
fifties, 58 sound good”
“And how much would you like
to earn from a pension”, I
asked, realising that this was a very hypothetical question for a young man.
“Oh, about two thirds of my
final salary, which seems to be the standard for good pension schemes".
I liked his optimism, and his
innocence!
He had a reasonable understanding of Pensions.
Anybody who even glances at the financial pages of newspapers, or reads the
company literature could not ignore the “pension’s time bomb”.
He knew that his current employer was no longer
accepting new entrants to its defined benefits scheme, and was instead offering
a defined contribution scheme.
He also knew that there were attractive tax
deductions for pension contributions.
He didn’t know how much the State retirement pension
was.
“Do you mind if we do a
reality check Peter”, I
enquired. “Go ahead”, he laughed, “Tell me the bad news!”
“Peter, if you wish to
retire at 58, you need to
start contributing right away, mid thirties would be too late. You can find
out with a retirement calculator how much you need to be contributing.”
Peter’s eyes were glazing over. That was enough for
one day,
I reckoned.
Five years later, he returned to the
topic, and I introduced him to my colleague, who is an expert on retirement
financial planning.
Please feel free to contact myself to find out more about Retirement Planning and Retirement Coaching.
Stay in touch and subscribe to my monthly email newsletter, "Retirement Stories". It is full of new stories and tips on planning for and enjoying an active retirement.
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.