Have you considered what you want for the future of your family? Or even just for your own future? Not many people like to consider thinking 20, 30 – even 50 – years into the future, but it’s important that you do this sometimes. You may want to live in the moment with everything that you do in life, but the problem with doing things that way is that you forget to set yourself up for your old age. It’s in those later years you want to be able to relax and take a moment to reflect on your life and know that you did everything the way that you wanted to do it. You can implement the plans you always wanted to have while you live in the moment, comfortably knowing you have got your later life sorted and straightened out waiting for you.
The question is where do you start? Where do you begin with the future when it feels a lifetime away? You could be a grandparent one day, or you could be wondering what you would be doing with yourself when your kids are old and gone themselves. You might have considered setting up a will and trusts for the kids, but what else? You could have decades ahead of you, and below, we’ve put together ten of the most important steps that you could take to prepare for your future.
- Live Life Like You Mean It. One of the very best ways that you can prepare for your future is to live your life as if you mean it, really mean it. Spend your time doing things that are meaningful, that gives you the chance to build some memories and that will build a solid foundation for that future you’re envisioning, and you will get to that future with an exciting base to work from. Take your time and make every single day count – even the smallest act is something that will build into your future. All you have to do is try.
- Don’t Burn Out. It’s not always possible to avoid this, but you need to remember what we say about living life as if you mean it. You want to make sure that you are living your life right and that involves knowing that you aren’t burning your body out just to work. Yes, work is important as you want to be able to leave things in your Will to your family. You want to build trusts for the kids, too. You must practice balance where possible and balancing your social life and your career properly is going to ensure that you avoid burnout. Exhaustion can make you feel sluggish and this can skew the balance of your life towards your work and less about the fun you can have.
- Leave Money In The Bank. If you want to prepare for the future, you need to keep your credit sharp and a good way to do this is not to get your bank balance to 0 every month. In fact, you should aim to leave something in the bank every month so that you can be consistent with your money. The bank prefers you to have something left so that you can show stability in your money management.
- Invest In The Kids. We’re not just talking financially here, but you need to invest your time and your effort in your children. Sure, invest money in their education, their first homes, their first cars – be there to help them to get a leg up in life. But make sure that you are spending time with them and in them so that they feel seen and heard by you as their parent. Today is the right time to be a parent because in those later years, it’ll come back to you.
- Face Your Problems. Imagine spending 20 years married to someone you are not happy with, only to get to your senior age and find out you were destined to split up anyway. You need to look at the problems you are having in your life right now, and do something about them. Don’t wait to spend time with the kids. Don’t wait to find the job that you really want and don’t wait around to fix your budget. Prepare for your future by ensuring it’s the future you really want, and waiting around won’t help you to do that!
- Build Your Network. It’s so important that you build a network of support for your life. There will be a day you want to lean on people, and when you spend time building a village of people to help you, you can only benefit from that. Everyone needs a network in their career, but the same can be said for your personal life too!
- Make Memories. Plan for trips and vacations that will add value to your life and make memories no matter what your income level or your needs. The worst thing that you can do is to wait to make memories. Waiting for a new job to start or a new house to move into won’t help you. Planning for your future includes ensuring that you have memories to get you there.
- Save For Retirement. Make a list of the things that you want from retirement and work out how much it will cost you to retire. You need to save that amount of money so that you can be comfortable in the years you’re not working. Without retirement savings, you’re going to struggle to keep living the life you want when you do finish work. You should hopefully have a company pension to fall on, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t save for yourself, too.
- Invest In Your Education. If you want to be successful in life, education isn’t something that you leave alone when you’re 18. You need to continue to invest in your education and what you want to know about life. Take courses on the job, put yourself through a Masters and focus on pushing yourself forward in your career. The more you invest in yourself, the better off you will be as time goes on.
- Don’t Forget To Talk. Talk to your boss about your goals for the future. Talk to your family about the personal goals that you have set for yourself. To get to your future, you need to have a plan and for that, you need support. Being communicative to the people around you who matter is going to keep you on track, and this is what you need when it comes down to achieving your life goals.
It takes work to prepare for the future but you need to consider what you want your future to look like first. Take a moment and be the best you can be at what you do, and be a good person to others. Life is for living but it’s also for smart decision making. When you make the tough decisions, you build something that you can work on for the rest of your life. By the time you get to your future, you will have set up enough of a foundation to make your future really count. It’s in these years that you live the life you want while you build something amazing, and you will always be happy as a result. It’s important that you find your path, and with these ten steps, you can get started.
Leave a Reply