If you are like many people who are planning for retirement you probably think that you need to SAVE a whole bunch of money so that you can maintain your current standard of living once you retire.

We are constantly being bombarded to Save Save Save .  Companies are doing an excellent job at instilling FEAR in us with headlines that read,

“Do you have enough money to ensure that you can fund all of your retirement”?

“Will you outlive your money?”

“Do you know how expensive long term care is?”

Predicting the future is a difficult and complex task. Not only do you have to predict when you will die but you also have to consider the rate of inflation when you retire, end of life medical expenses and the possibility of long-term care.

Quite the daunting task! Not too mention it is rather depressing.

Let me ask you this:

Have you ever felt like you are saving for tomorrow but feel robbed of enjoying your life today?

Do you feel RESENTFUL of having to always save for a rainy day when what you really want to do is take that trip to the south of France or splurge on an expensive dinner with a great bottle of wine?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t save for retirement. In fact I strongly believe that you have a RESPONSIBILITY to save for retirement and I encourage you to make saving for your future a priority.

But I also understand that saving money does not come naturally to most of us.

After all, I am part of the latte generation!

So what I suggest is this:

Strike a BALANCE between living for today and saving for tomorrow so that you do not feel robbed of today.

One great strategy that you can incorporate into your life RIGHT NOW is what T.Harv Eker author of  The secrets of a Millionaire mind refers to as a PLAY ACCOUNT .

This is how it works:

Every time you set aside money for your future, you ALSO set aside some PLAY MONEY . It doesn’t have to be a lot of money but it has to be placed into your play account at the same time as you make a deposit in your future retirement savings account.

At the end of the month you need to SPEND all of your play money on something just for you or you and your spouse.  It can be a weekend getaway, a lavish dinner, a day at the spa or even his and her messages! Whatever you want.

When you get to play and spend some money in the present you will no longer feel resentful of having to save for your future.

Try it out and let me know how it works. Drop me a line at gill@directionsrc.com

Until next time,

to your retirement success,

Gillian

Gillian Leithman is the founder and president of Directions Third Age Consultants Inc, a company devoted to helping people prepare for their emotional well-being in retirement.

For more information check out

www.directionsrc.com

or drop Gill a line at gill@directionsrc.com