The immediate lockdown that we experienced is actually a test on whether we have the available resources to retire. This should be treated as a wake up call to check how we can do better in handling our finances. Remember, you have two choices at retirement: (1) enjoy your retirement, or (2) retire your enjoyment. The choice is always yours.
Time is everything
I would always go on to ask the participants in my trainings to tell me what they think is the difference between the dead and the living. This would puzzle most but when I start talking about what time does for us, it then dawns on them that the biggest difference between the dead and the living is time. Yes, time is everything. For the dead, their time is up. For us living, we still have time. With time we can still work to achieve our dreams and work on improving ourselves to discover our best version.
Financial Security Is In
The pandemic in more ways than one showed us things we never would have paid attention to because of our busy lives. In an ironic way, it has slowed down our pace, made us look deeper into our lives and prioritize what matters most.
We realized that we can do without the luxuries that we were used to — spa treatments, dining out, travel, facials, massages and the like. As we looked at the luxury items in our closet, we even probably felt regret that we spent so much on these things which we now do not use. In fact, I believe that whenever we heard the words “new normal” we were ready to scream.
The reality of suddenly losing one’s income or assets due to the pandemic’s economic fallout made us rethink how we live and how we handle our finances.
Indeed, we need to change the way we spend our money. If you can’t sustain your family’s financial health during the five or six months of economic hardship, what will thirty years of retirement look like?
Stick to a plan
Having that saving mindset is like a muscle that you need to build over time. It’s like you learning to walk all over again. When you were a child, the more you practiced walking, the longer you could walk unassisted. The longer you walked, the easier it was to climb.
The very first thing that we need to do about changing our mindset about saving is to stick to a life insurance plan. Why? A life insurance plan makes you pay for something that will give you savings in the end. It also adds up as a risk transfer tool for all that may happen to you. Interested in learning the secret of this? Set an online meeting via zoom.
31 Envelope Challenge
In the book of Rory Vaden entitled, Take the Stairs, he explained that taking the stairs is a mindset focused on making more disciplined choices day in and day out.
You see mindset matters. Back in 1999, I was someone who like you, looks forward to paydays. I will never forget that time when my husband and I walked around the university belt in Manila trying to sell the ink of the printer we had sold a few months ago just to have money for food that day.
We weren’t able to sell the ink that day. We passed by restaurants swallowing our saliva and along with it our appetite. We resolved, never again.
My husband came home the following day giving me 31 envelopes. We filled it with 100 pesos and committed to spend only that amount everyday and to deposit whatever was left in the envelopes at the end of the month. It was not easy but it turns out, that was the breakthrough of our financial life.
How about you? What is your 31 envelope challenge?