Careful what you wish for
Careful what you wish for
Two client meetings this week.
Yesterday’s client is a good friend. We were both 23 when he came on board with us, the first person I ever set up with a pension.
We’re both 47 now. We updated his financial plan. Confirmed he’s still on track to retire at 56. Most of the meeting went on working out his maximum likely spending per year in retirement. To say he’s looking forward to retirement is an understatement.
This morning I visited a client who had to retire a couple of months ago. Health reasons, not choice.
He built the business up from nothing. Loved what he did. Told me it’s heart-breaking watching it get dismantled.
The struggle isn’t money. It’s purpose. People no longer need him. His customers have already moved on. His world has shrunk significantly in a matter of weeks.
One man counting down to a retirement he chose.
One man living a retirement he didn’t.
Robbie Williams said when he retired “I ate Krispy Kremes, honey Dijon kettle chips. I got really fat and watched all the Housewives of everywhere franchise and searched for UFOs from my bedroom window. And what I realised after 3 years in this retirement was that I have no purpose. And then my brain started to turn to Swiss cheese, and I realised I had a moment of, ‘Oh I understand why people die when they retire now.’”
Mitch Anthony has a line I keep coming back to: you need enough purpose to wake up in the morning, and enough money to sleep at night.
Careful what you wish for.
