As New Year’s confetti clears, thoughts drift to fresh starts around health and finance. But while many eagerly tackle fitness regimes or budget tracking, envisioning the distant future often falls by the wayside amid tackling immediate priorities. However, new research suggests visualising your ideal retirement is crucial for midlifers to maintain long-term saving motivation.
A Phoenix Group study found that 30% of middle-aged adults cite picturing their perfect retired lifestyle as the best incentive driving persistent pension contributions. Other top motivators include regularly reviewing expenses, planning with partners, and setting clear monetary milestones. But imagination stands out.
This is increasingly vital today amidst rising barriers to saving, like rampant inflation or towering mortgage rates post-pandemic. 63% of midlifers confess that cost pressures have hindered their ability to set aside retirement funds.
However, with inflation cooling and additional fiscal breathing room hopefully ahead in 2024, now is the perfect moment to (re)commit to your future self’s financial freedom. Even modest, consistent investments add up substantially over decades. And the majority (72%) rightly believe it’s never too late to begin building your nest egg through retirement accounts.
For middle-aged professionals specifically, cultivating savings discipline today is particularly prudent, as this demographic generally has fewer company pensions than previous generations, coupled with fewer accrued benefits from lifetime auto-enrolment.
While diving into financial planning often seems daunting initially, envisioning the life you wish to lead after your working life concludes makes the payoff of diligent saving more emotionally resonant and tangible. Even brief moments picturing travel adventures with loved ones, picking up postponed hobbies full-time or launching a passion project can inspire you to keep contributing to your pension pot.
This year, rather than solely focusing on immediate 1-3 year targets, also transport yourself 25 years down the road. Map your dream retirement blueprint, then work backwards, calculating the savings required to actualise this vision. With a defined destination in mind, the path ahead looks brighter. Here’s to bringing your future oasis into clearer view in 2024!