Posted 27.11.2020
Have you ever seen The Northern Lights, run a marathon, been on an African safari, written a story or walked The Great Wall of China?
According to an American website, they are the most popular activities to appear on bucket lists – the things you must do before kicking the bucket.
Most of us like to daydream about what we may do, given the time and money.
The thought becomes more to the fore in our 50s when retirement is impending and schedule is clear for us to achieve our ambitions.
But what are the chances that we will be able to look back and congratulate ourselves on achieving all we ever wanted?
The fact is your dreams can come true at an age where you are still young enough to enjoy them. And if you start to plan early, you do not have to wait for that unlikely windfall.
Planning involves looking ahead and considering the course that your life might take and any physical, emotional and social challenges you’re likely to encounter along the way.
The more you are able to put into your pension throughout your working life, the closer you’ll be to realising your dreams and keeping your plan on track.
Of course, there is the need to make sure their savings will be sufficient to give a comfortable retirement which could conceivably last for 30 years or more.
This may seem daunting but a financial adviser can help you plot out how dreams can be achieved by reviewing all assets and savings – for example, cash in savings accounts, property, ISAs, and pensions – and consider how all of these could ‘work smarter’ for you.
Giving up work is not always just about retirement and taking life easy. It is also about fulfilling your dreams and doing big things – even if, right now, they seem out of reach.
So, think about what you want to do, when you want to do it, and how you are going to afford it. Then consider sharing the letter with your financial adviser, who can help you turn it into a plan to follow throughout your life.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and the value may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.