Setting realistic financial goals

One of our golden rules is at Retirement Domain is that goals need to be within reason and within budget.

Let's deal with reality……not all your goals hopes and dreams will come to fruition

One of our golden rules is at Retirement Domain is that goals need to be within reason and within budget.

This way you have a far better chance of achieving an optimal outcome, one that you are confident with, one that provides you security now, and well into the future.

Here's a quick case study of how we deal with reality.

This is a meeting I held with a couple in their early 60s that are planning on retiring with In a few years. Presently they're both working full time and have no financial dependents.

They've worked hard and made many sacrifices for their family; they are now working towards their reward of a happy retirement.

Here are some of the discussions around the goals we had:

By the time they retire in about three years they want to be debt free, upgrade both cars, complete renovations on their home, buy a small holiday house on the coast, travel overseas at least once a year, in terms of cashflow given their living and lifestyle expenses less overseas holidays they expect they'll require $10,000 month once retired

They expect the cost of retirement per annum to remain the same for the foreseeable future. They have no plans to downsize their home as they like the suburb and the house that they live in.

Here's the reality check discussion I had to have with them :

We checked life expectancy tables and determined that we need to make income provisions into their late 80s. Also factored in was the capital required to cover expenses such as renovations and holiday house purchase including debt obligations required to make this happen.

From here we forecasted what their final retirement savings would be once they ceased work, and estimated how long these monies would last given their expectations on living and lifestyle.

It was a challenging outcome.

The likely result would mean that they would run out of money well before their life expectancy. In other words, they will outlive their money and their wealth expectancy compromised.

My job is to consider the broader implications of goals and ultimately, give advice that is in the client's best interest considering not only short-term outcomes but a strong emphasis on the future reality. The reality these clients had to face started with working through redefining their retirement using our Double-Yolker Philosophy and working through the 7 Pillars to work out what is important to them across key areas such as retirement, community, work, savings etc. From here we were able to set goals within reason and budget while still making retirement fun and exciting. Their mindset shifted away from stress & worry to a place of security & peace.

How do you set realistic goals?

Start with defining your retirement by what it means to you and key priorities. Look at our GPS approach, that is Goals, Positioning and Strategy

Goals : What are my expectations on retirement lifestyle? List your goals both financial and lifestyle

Positioning : How do I position myself for success to achieve my goals? Are their groups, things, people, professionals I need to create a relationship with?

Strategy : What are the things I need to do? What are the plans I need to develop? List them

By following the GPS approach correctly (and honestly) you will achieve an optimal outcome. It all starts with goals. If goals are not realistic, if goals are not factoring in the short and long term if they're not within reason and budget you will encounter challenging results.

To assist with setting your financial and health goals download our giveaway which provides step by step instructions on how to list and prioritize goals and ultimately create a master list.

It also has Doc's immune system rating (IRS) exercise. Why not set some health goals while you're at it?

Life, be in It – Life, stay in It

Sincerely, Nick

Written by Nick Longo

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Dr John Tickell is a registered Medical Doctor, who graduated at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr John has spent several decades travelling and researching the eating and living habits of the longest living, healthiest people on our planet.

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