Christmas, for most people, is a joyous time and a time to give thanks.
But it is also a great time to look back over the last 12 months and try to fathom not only where the time went, but what we have achieved.
Have we achieved the goals we set ourselves at the beginning of the year or did they just get lost in the everyday activities of living?
The hardest part of achieving a goal is the discipline that is required. If you can master the discipline, you can turn the routine that is required to achieve the goal into a habit and then it becomes easy.
If you don’t feel like you have achieved your goals over the last 12 months, Christmas is the perfect time to renew your vigour for what you are trying to achieve.
For pre-retirees, it is essential to look at your financial position now. Then ask the question, what is required for you to meet the financial target of the lifestyle you want for retirement?
Where do you start, you may ask?
Talk to a financial adviser
A financial adviser will understand how much you can contribute to superannuation and will be able to provide direction and strategy to meet your goals.
Compile a budget and buy yourself a notebook or download an app
Recording your spending will give you a good idea of where you may be wasting your money and where you can make savings. It doesn’t really matter if you choose the old-fashioned notebook or whether you download an app. The important thing is to start tracking your spending.
For those of you who have retired, you are not exempt from this time of reflection.
Take the opportunity to look at what you had hoped to achieve in your retirement and what you are looking to achieve in the next 12 months. Remember, this is your time. It is not a time to sit around and look at four walls. Take the trip you have always dreamed of, do some volunteer work or learn a new trade. Try something a little outside the normal such as barista work or gravestone restoration and get paid for some part-time work.
An essential for all of us is the mandatory health check.
Listen and look at your body. Have you been sitting around a little too much and the weight plus the shortness of breath is just a little worse than it was 12 months ago? Remember it only requires a little discipline and small targets to rectify the problem. A simple two or three-kilometre walk in the fresh air will do wonders.
Christmas means something different for all people but for all us, it is a time of reflection and renewal.
By Mark Teale
DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this document is of a general nature only and does not take into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs.
Accordingly the information should not be used, relied upon or treated as a substitute for specific financial advice.
While all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Centrepoint Alliance Limited nor its employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.
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