Ep 125 | What If You’re Closer to Retirement Than You Think?

Think you’re not ready to retire? That fear might be lying to you. Tune in and find out why you could be closer than you think.

It's time to tell that little voice in your head that you're ready to do this!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

•A simple 3-part check to determine if you’re ready to retire 

•The truth about saving for retirement, even if it feels like it’s not enough

•How asking questions like “When can I retire?” leads to clarity

Ready to Get Clear on Your Retirement Path?

Book your free Confidence Kickstart Call and in just 30 minutes, you’ll know what’s standing between you and retirement, and how to overcome it.

👉 Click here to book your free call now

Or, grab one of my free resources to help you take the first step:

5 Must-Do Steps for Retirement Planning — A simple guide to help you prepare with purpose

Retirement Ready Checklist — Make sure you’re not missing a single step on the road to retirement

Transcript

 You just assume like everyone else, you won't be able to retire. Or you just think, eh, it's gonna be a while. You don't second guess it, and you just keep working and living your life. But what if you're closer to retirement than you think? In today's episode, I'm sharing with you a simple three part readiness check to help you determine how ready you are for retirement.

I also invite you to book a retirement roadmap session. Where we will evaluate your retirement read readiness in six key areas. I'll also provide you with the next steps to move you forward to retirement and determine, you know, you're closer than you think. I'm asking you, how are you measuring progress?

When you say I'm not gonna be able to retire, what does that look like? Why? Where are you getting that information from? You know, thinking about retirement, take some active planning, some acting active, you know, moving forward and looking at the things that will get you there. If you are not measuring progress in any way, shape, or form, you cannot listen to that little voice that is keeping you up at night.

The fear of not being ready for retirement isn't actually the truth. And I'm gonna prove this to you. You and that little voice in your head are going to understand that you are closer than you think. It's crazy for me to really see the people that are saying, I'm not ever going to be able to I don't think I'll ever be able to retire.

I'll have to work until I'm dead, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they have this from. At what I don't know, evaluating, you know, maybe examples that have gone before them, hearing about all the talk that is going on and yet really not reaching in and beginning to understand first and foremost what is retirement planning and how do I know if I'm going to be able to.

That's what I talk about on this podcast is helping you plan, helping you do the basic steps to get there. And while it is about having enough and having enough money, having enough saved all of that, it is more than that. And I still really believe in my heart that retirement is possible for everyone.

But if you're somebody that is just quickly saying, I will never be able to, and you're not exploring it, I just, I think you need to do a few more things, which is what we're gonna talk about in this episode, and help you start reframing the thoughts and the ideas and have you taking action. We can't run a race.

We can't do all the things unless we start planning. We start preparing, you know, painting a wall. We've gotta go buy this stuff to be able to make dinner. We've gotta have, you know, first of all, decide what it is. Buy this stuff, get it prepared. You know, there's lots of steps. Retirement planning is no different.

As I said, let's talk about a readiness check just for you to understand, you know, some very foundational ways to see if you are getting closer to retirement. You're gonna be closer than you think, I promise. All right, so three parts. Part one, you have a handle on your money. Now what do you mean by that?

So you're tracking your spending. Not in the sense of you've, if you've been a listener long enough, you know, I don't really like creating historical things that have happened. That's not what I mean by tracking your spending, but that you know what you spend your money on. You know what comes in,

income, you know what goes out. You know what you're spending, you know where it's going. You have a rough idea of what you're spending on fuel, groceries, eating out, you know, all of the bills, everything. And you've also made room for savings because heck, at this point in life, if you are not saving for retirement, yeah, you're not gonna have enough.

We're gonna talk about that in just a minute, but even as you think about, I have a handle on my money. I do know what comes in and I know what goes out. I do have a little bit of savings, but it's, it's not perfect. And that's okay. The check here is that you're paying attention and that matters more than perfection.

You've heard me talk about awareness. Awareness is a soft skill. It is a skill that we need. That really isn't practical not practical, technical, but being aware helps us continue to be better. It's easy to put into place at many different times. You don't need to make sure you have something to write anything down.

It's just building that awareness. That is the first step to mastery, and most people never even get there. If you feel like you're going to run outta money in retirement. It means you're not aware of where you're spending your money now. If you're like, yeah, I'm not quite there yet, there's your action step.

There's your action step just to better understand where is your money going now? It doesn't have to be difficult. It doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be recreating what I've done last month. That's not what we need to know. Make sure you are getting a handle on your money. And if you're like, yeah, I do, I know, you know, all of those things.

Part two, you are saving that. You are consistently saving. Now this podcast is called Wealthy After 40. If you are in your forties, and most listeners are, I hope you're saving consistently. Even if you're not sure it's enough, that you're just still got that consistency. It's happening. It's moving ahead.

You know, throughout the years, sometimes we have had to pause because we've raised a family, things have happened. I totally uns understand that, been there, done that. But at this point we need to have, you know, some sort of consistency. Savings is proof that future year, you, excuse me, future you is already on your radar, and now it's time to start connecting the dots.

As we think about savings, as you build up that consistency, maybe you're now making more than you ever have, but you've been saving a little bit. You've got some money in there. You've got to understand that compound interest is working in your favor. What does that even mean? That means your money is growing more quickly than the amount you're putting in.

Hey, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, one of them said the hardest level to get to the most difficult and these men have amassed millions is that 100,000 level. If you are past that, they're like, it's. It's just gonna keep doubling after that. Keep your savings consistent. Keep moving ahead. I also wanna throw in there, increase that savings as much as you can, as often as you can.

It doesn't have to be in leaps and bounds, but find some consistency in there to keep applying savings and growing and moving forward. Keep going. Part three. You've already started asking the questions. You being a listener on this podcast means you care. That's huge. But are you asking the questions?

When can I retire? What will retirement look like? Will I be happy in retirement? How much will I need to be comfortable? I know a lot of the recent people I've been working with, it's about comfortability. It's not about amassing millions, and you don't need to unless you really want to, but how much?

But those questions, as you begin thinking them will lead you to clarity. You don't need all of the answers. That's not what this is about. Questions give you that curious mind, and you can start exploring for answers one at a time. Be curious and be committed. You're thinking, all right, these aren't big enough.

Yes, they can be. Having a handle on your money, carrying that forward into retirement is huge. I worked with clients who had been working with a financial planner, and he continually asked them, how much do you need every month? They had not quite done this part yet. Even though all of their debt was paid off, they didn't have any, you know, they did not feel like they were living paycheck to paycheck, but they had, they weren't able to answer this question.

When they came to work with me, I helped them figure it out. How much are you spending every month? I. How are you doing that? So you have a handle on your money, making sure that you're consistently saving. Don't worry that it might not be in the right way. I've ha I've heard from many, many financial planners, read it several, several times over my journey.

It's not, it doesn't matter about the investment piece. Yes, investing it is important and making sure you follow through, but it's. It's a bigger impact, the amount you're putting in. So focus on that. Focus on that. Keep growing, keep going. And as you have questions about retirement, get curious and committed to finding out the answer.

Now as you have all of these questions coming in, it can feel overwhelming. I understand that. Pick one. And resolve it one and resolve it. You know, just work your way through it so you don't get that overwhelmed. That then causes you to stop. The most important thing is momentum in this. How are you getting that?

What are you doing? While you're consistently saving, what else can you be doing? What can you do and what can support you? Even if you have checked one or two of those boxes. You're probably closer than you thought, and if you want help connecting those dots and getting more confident in what you have already amassed what you've already done and what you need to do next.

Sometimes we're worried about the right order. Am I doing it the right way? I want you to head over and book you a retirement roadmap session at Elevate Finances us. Backslash roadmap. We'll walk through everything that you've done. We'll do that. Check that six area, you know, review what is going on, what have you done, what are your next steps in those six areas?

What can you do? And then we'll even discuss what is the most impactful for you? Where can you get the most in or momentum out of that. Just making progress. That is what you need to be doing instead of writing yourself off to, I am never gonna be able to retire either. 'cause that's what other people are saying.

Let's start exploring. Let's start measuring what we are actually doing. Let's think about things that we can do that we have control over. And you know what? Getting rid of those thoughts is one of those. Is one of those, and that is one of the biggest things that I'm sure once you get rid of, the rest of this will just fall into place.

Hope this episode has served you in thinking about making a claim, actually measuring the progress, and then the action steps you can do to move forward. I was recently reminded. Of my journey. I had forgotten. I had not talked about it in a long time. My focusing on one thing, getting really good at it, understanding and and then moving forward, that is what you need to do if you need help sorting through that.

Please book that session. If you took anything away from this and you're like, that's what I need to do, then that's the action step you need to do this week. Don't delay. Go get doing it. And then if you still have questions, write them down, explore them. Get curious and committed, and you can make retirement possible.