Have you got enough money?
Err…..”what do you mean Glenda?”
Well…. have you got enough?
Enough for what?
Enough for what you want to do?
When?
Well – for the way you’d like to be living. That is now, and in the future, when you stop working.
I’ll let you answer that one in your own mind – not on this page! Are you fortunate enough to be able to say yes, or is there more that you want in life, that you just can’t afford right now.
It all comes back to knowing what you really want doesn’t it. Some people will always think they haven’t got enough money, and be wanting more than they have – just out of a general sense of wantingness – not because they have really clearly defined what they want. Others will know for sure what position and things they want, that they currently can’t afford. And for some, who deep down do want more, but don’t believe they will ever have it, the coping mechanism is to decide to be content with their “lot” in life.
Real contentedness is a blessing indeed, but forced contentedness is not.
If you really do want more for your lifestyle than your current earning allows, why not deliberately set out to earn, or make more money.
Generally the first thing is to know exactly what you want, and then you need to build up your resources that you can exchange for cash. This could mean taking a course of training to improve or change your skills, making yourself look more presentable, asking for a pay rise, changing jobs, or deliberately getting to know a whole different bunch of people. There’s a lot you can do to improve your current income. But you have to have a good reason, because you will have to change something.
And what about your future?
Most of us will want or need to stop working at some stage. This is called retirement, but it doesn’t just mean old age. There are lots of other reasons that people need to stop working – if not permanently – then for a while.
I stopped work for a couple of years after having babies. And then I stopped work again so I could do my own investing and capital creation projects. Lots of people need to stop work for a while for health or grief reasons – either their own, or a family member. I have a friend who took a year off work just to organize her home, and catch up on a whole lot of little tasks that had been building up on her things to do list over the years. What a productive year she had!
I’m a big believer in gradually building up a capital reserve so that you are well funded, and have enough money for how you want to live if and when you want to stop working. And this also means reducing your outgoings, such as debt interest, so that your cashflow can be sustained if and when you stop working.
So –
- Ask yourself when you might want to or need to stop working for a while next.
- What would your lifestyle “look” like during this stage? What would your cost of living be?
- Would you have enough income coming in from other sources to cover that?
You might be wanting to take time off for any of those reasons I mentioned above – or retiring for good. Will you have enough money to live comfortably? If not – I wonder what you can do about it. . . . .
The main 2 adjustments to cash flow are to 1) earn more money and 2) spend less money. When you are considering where your income will come from while you are not working, it is not YOU earning the money. You have to have an alternate source of income.
What will it be for you? It could be:
- A partner with good earning capacity.
- A government benefit, or allowance.
- An inheritance invested into a cash generating vehicle.
- A business that runs without you working in it.
- Your own steadily kept funds, invested into a cash generating vehicle.
- Your mandatory retirement fund (if you have access to it yet).
If you don’t have enough money for the life you want now – why not make up the difference. And if you don’t have enough money for the future you want when you’re not working – why not start planning on changing that. Take a look at the calculators at www.moneysuccesssystem.com/calculators to get idea of some target numbers for your future.
