FUTURE PLANNING – WHAT I WOULD TELL MY YOUNGER SELF

The future can be an exciting but scary prospect. It’s all an unknown isn’t it? The chapter of the book yet to be written. For me, I can say that time and life moves at a fast pace, no matter how much you think time is passing slowly at the time, you reach the later years in your life at a fast pace, and life can really sneak up on you.

However, the main problem you have is the fact that you may not have considered your later years in life, at a time where you can or could have made such significant changes to ensure you are happy and can sustain the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to. Your career will stop, so will the income, your life will change, and if you don’t take some time to think about that, then you may come unstuck.

Some people do take the time to consider their future, especially if we are in relationships or have goals we want to achieve. We can sit and chat about what we want out of life. But do we make plans to make those dreams a reality? Possibly not. The idea of this article is really to give anyone an insight into  the things you can do today, even if you have hit your fifties or sixties, can significantly change your tomorrow.

So I thought it would be a great idea to share with you some of the options to consider. When planning for the future, these things should at least set you on the right track and help you sustain and enjoy a great lifestyle in your later years in life.

Workout what the future entails

Whether you are sitting down discussing the future with your partner. Or you are working it out on your own. Thinking about exactly what the future entails for you is the first big step. You have to be realistic. You need to make sure everyone involved is on the same page. Does your future have mariage in it? Does it involve buying a house? Are you planning on starting a family? All of these things will have big financial implications for you. So they need to be well thought out and planned for as much as possible. A good way of doing this would be to try and ask yourself where you will be in five years and ten years? What do you envision for yourself? This will be a great indicator of what you want out of life.

Once you know what you want to do with your life you can then make the right plans and steps forward to make it your reality. The last thing you want to do is get to a stage where you have regrets. Life is certainly for living, so whether that is having a family, getting on the property ladder, or having the courage to take a holiday on your own, you just have to have the confidence to go for it and make it your reality. You will thank yourself later on.

Mature couple with back packs holding hands

Future Planning

Clear off debt

Like many of the bigger things a future can present. Like marriage, mortgages and babies. There comes a financial cost. So if any of those things are in your future, you need to try and put yourself in the best possible position. This means if you have a little debt, then that should be your first port of call to clear it off. One of the best things to do is to check your credit history and start to find solutions to your debt problems. This will show you every financial association you have and what is impacting your credit score. Even if you don’t have much debt. These reports are an excellent insight into savings and mortgages, and may even highlight any mistakes on your record. Once you know what situation you are in you may now want to look at ways to consolidate, maybe something like avant loans will help you bring multiple debts into one payment. Or at least start to focus on paying it off if additional credit is not going to be an option to you.

No matter what stage of your life you are in, debt can be a normal part of your financial situation. Credit cards are ideal for paying for things like travel and holidays because of the extra protection they provide, so making it a priority and a habit to pay things off will stand you in good stead for the future.

Blacboard with the word savings written in white chalk.

Savings

Get a good savings plan in place

A house can’t be bought, a wedding can’t be paid for, and a baby can’t be provided for, and retirement and lifestyles in the future can not be sustained without money. It’s an obvious one. So you need to try and save as much money as you can to prepare yourself for those costs. A great way of doing this is to set up a regular savings account and work out what you can afford to save each month. As you get used to this, you can increase the amounts over time.

Create a vision board

A nice way of keeping your goals in the forefront of your mind is to create a vision board. This can be as big or as small as you want it to be. Some people use big pin boards and stick everything they want out of life all over it. Some use a page in their diary as a reminder. But looking at your vision board each day will remind you what you are doing everything for. Some people don’t believe in these sorts of things, but they can really work to help you get all of what you want from your life. It’s a great way of keeping everything in mind, and they can be a lot of fun to create.

I hope these tips help you get on the right track for your plans.

 

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