I thought of a conversation I had with my neighbour Mary for this post. In a recent chat I complemented how great it was that she with her husband and children, have seen most of the world already in their travels. I went on to joke how people must envy them and it was at this point she said something that got me thinking: “We work to LIVE while most people LIVE to work”.
I thought to myself “aren’t MOST people working to live?”. Sure, there are the oddballs like me who LOVE to work…but I would suggest most of the population works to support their lifestyle. The only difference between Mary and someone else is how they CHOOSE to live. It is obvious Mary and family live through their vacations so they work as much as needed to book the next get-away. They enjoy spending time together and seeing parts of the world – that is the truly amazing part of their lifestyle!!
You can also agree they support a ‘live for today’ outlook of which most of us are jealous.
However, even though most of us want to ‘live for today’, many of us do not or cannot. Even so, the reality is we must also consider our future. The true freedom we get is balancing and supporting both our ‘today’ and our future retirement lifestyle.
I’m not so sure Mary has this in mind. I also fear many of my friends and family (even if they are not traveling every six weeks or so) may also be ignoring their future and just living for today. It scares the hell out of me knowing many of them do not have a permanent plan in place for their retirement and EVEN MORE frightening, they think their RSP funds are the ticket. I also hear a lot about CPP and their pension plans but seriously folks, these avenues are not going to support you. I am all for the necessity of enjoying life, every moment and every one you can but I also understand the necessity of securing what you have today and make it work for your future.
Don’t blow that all away. Live for today, but PLAN for tomorrow.