When is the right time to start a journey to financial stability? There is only one answer. The answer is Now.
There are plenty of common truths that can describe the situation. The most appropriate one is:
“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.”
I could have bemoaned my procrastination, of which I was supremely guilty. However late, I eventually got my act together and started saving and investing. Now, years later, it has paid off. I feel comfortable financially.
One Never Knows
The world is full of unknowns, and they will never cease. Unexpected and random events seemingly occur at any time. As a result, we sometimes wait, and think “Well, maybe X will happen, maybe Y will happen…” and so on. Well, in my view, there will be plenty of unforeseen events. Accidents and slip-ups will happen. And yet, under normal circumstances, normal things will happen.
We will grow, and grow older. We will want to retire. We will have a need for income during retirement. So it behooves us to prepare.
At times I would wonder… is it possible to eventually retire? Is is possible to retire and not live in poverty? Will there be enough? It is possible to get there? How can I get there?
Unknowns
There a no real guarantees. Technological change affects people and their careers. Companies come and go. Countries experience successes, and countries experience misfortune. Disasters and calamities are always possible. And despite the unknowns we might face, we persevere. We get up in the morning and head to our work. We pay our bills and take on the next challenge.
While I never aimed for retirement, I felt it would be a possibility if I lived long enough. As it happens, retirement is not guaranteed, nor is a comfortable retirement. We can do the right thing and still have a difficult time. Consider someone who might have retired on September 1, 1929. I suspect things became difficult very quickly, through no fault of their own. In a case like that, one needs extreme flexibility and determination to survive.
So, despite what charts and statistics might say, luck has a part in one’s life. We have no control over so much in our world, and we have no insight into the future. And yet, we still must move forward and make plans. We hope for normalcy, but are battered by the unknown influences all around us. By participating in the that which is in our best interests, we can prepare for the future.
As part of the normal things we can do, one can make saving and investing part of the routine. I think that is the easiest way. Make it routine, normal. Prepare by adding the right things to my regular habits. This makes it easier and simpler.
When we think of getting our finances in order, it sometimes seems like we are in a whirlwind, and do not know how to see clearly what to do. I know for me, I was fearful of making bad choices, of being taken advantage of, of being worse off than if I had done nothing. So I had to find a path that made sense to me, felt good and safe, and was not dependent on a someone else to determine what was right for me. Everyone’s circumstances are different, but that was my way.
There are some simple, basic steps.
1. Live below one’s means. This means to spend less than one earns. Maybe not easy, but simple to describe. Avoid debt.
2. Set up an emergency fund. Set aside some savings that one can use in an emergency.
3. Save and invest the balance. For me, it meant saving a large part of my unspent money, and investing the rest.
In essence, Less now, more later.
Do/did you prepare? Let me know here.
The illustration “A Map of the Garden of Eden Before God Destroy’d it with the Flood” appeared in the The Gentleman’s Magazine (London), 1737. It seems to have been a popular topic for artists of the time.
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