Reality Check – Does your desire to save match your reality?

Is your rate of savings in line with your reality? Are you saving so much that you are not enjoying life as much as you could be right now? Or are you saving as little as possible with the niggling feeling that you are not putting enough aside for your retirement?

The piggy bank we remember from childhood wasn’t just a place to store our birthday money and any spare change left from a trip to the sweet shop, it was a lesson, a way our parents encouraged us to get into the habit of saving. Many parents even go so far as to deposit half of any monetary gifts their children receive directly into savings accounts, just to drive the point home. Adults who took that lesson to heart might set up automatic deposits into long-term savings or retirement accounts from their salary every month – a modern mechanism for implementing this age-old lesson.

It is important to have financial goals, committing to a regular savings plan is good first step towards achieving them. But if you treat your long-term financial planning as just a series of targets to hit, or numbers you have to drive up as much as possible , your return on investment is going to be a lot higher than your return on life – the feelings of happiness and fulfilment that your financial planning should provide you.

Often new retirees who have spent their lives stuck in ‘savings mode’ often have trouble transitioning to the reward mentality that should provide for a meaningful retirement, these retirees worry so much about running out of money that they often neglect their own wants and needs, to their emotional and physical detriment.

Let us help you with your reality check to make a realistic plan to find that spend/save balance for you and your family. Give us a call at Hartcliff on 01226 446135 or email andy@hartcliff.com

Investments carry risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investing in shares should be regarded as long-term investment and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.