The sands of time keep on trickling, whether you like it or not. As time goes on, you’re becoming older and older. Sooner or later, you’ll become a senior, and as such, you may no longer have the capacity to work as hard as a younger person could. This is more reason to adopt a future oriented mindset and start planning for a comfortable retirement today. So, what can you do in practice?

  1. Refrain from living above your means

Not living above your means takes some good investment planning and an iron discipline. Ideally, you should not even live within your means, but stay at least 15% below them. Of course, this is a luxury not everyone can afford, especially the working class who usually live paycheck to paycheck. However, if possible, try to cut down on unnecessary spending and put the remaining funds aside for retirement. Try to look at where you could be spending less – are you eating out frequently, for example? There’s no need to sacrifice this comfort completely, if you make sure to treat yourself to it sparingly. Then, proceed to spend less on items you want, but don’t really need.

  1. Start investing

The younger you are, the more important it gets to invest your funds wisely. The earlier you start thinking about investment planning and buy some stocks, real-estate, or make some other investments, such as investing in unit-linked insurance plans (ulips) the more time your investments are going to have to mature and give you a solid return. If you’re going to purchase stocks, be encouraged to give preference to those that give you a stable return and aren’t as risky. Furthermore, always make sure to stick to your guns and don’t invest in something you don’t know so well. Also, trust your gut and don’t back out of an investment even if the current trends don’t seem to be favoring it. The key is choosing a strategy that is the most likely to stand the test of time and pay off in the long run.

  1. Consider moving to a different area

Living in a luxury apartment is awesome. But then again, can you really afford paying the high-priced rent or even the steep costs of living if you’re located in a relatively expensive area like New York? Your monthly living expenses can very well dictate the comfort level of your eventual retirement. There are 2 ways you can go about this; either move to a cheaper area, or an area where a lot of your friends currently reside. The reason being is that as you get older, having a helping pair of hands you can borrow to take care of certain tasks gets increasingly important. In practice, you’ll be able to help each other out when one of you gets sick, has a bad back or arthritic pain, etc.

Conclusion

Thinking in advance is always better than acting on impulse. However, having everything planned out to the last detail can make your life less enjoyable, so always make sure to leave some room for adventure and spontaneity. As long as you keep this window open, the concept of future oriented planning gets infinitely easier to embrace.

About AEGON Life

With a complete product suite of life insurance plans, superior technology, and customised service, AEGON Life Insurance Company Limited launched its pan-India operations in July 2008. As a joint venture between AEGON – world’s leading financial services and Bennett, Coleman & Company – India’s leading media house, AEGON Life Insurance adopts a local approach to facilitate customer interaction. Our vision to be the most recommended new age life insurance company has enabled us to leverage digital platforms that bring transparent solutions to customer needs. Our financial planning and investment solutions include term life insurance plans, pension plans, unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), health insurance plans, child education plans, and more.

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