Lesson 32: Dare to Dream
Hello Revolutionists,
Wayne and I have a plan; we've been working on it for about 15 years. We love our current home but we know that it will just be too big for us when the kids have moved out. We also know that it just doesn't have enough land to suit our plans.
So we are looking for our retirement property. We (or rather I) would like a smaller, easier to care for house. I don't want to spend all my time cleaning and maintaining a big house just for the sake of having a big house, especially as I get older. And we would like a little more land, so we can have a decent size veggie garden, chickens and an orchard, and enough land to have a couple of house cows for our milk. If we can stretch the funds we'd really like enough land to run livestock for meat too. We'll have to see how far those funds will stretch when the time comes.
We know what we'll be doing in retirement. Apart from not working every day in paid employment, we pretty much have our time filled with the things we enjoy: gardening, caring for our home and travelling.
Boredom won't be a problem for either of us, unlike Pat and John who found retirement horrible. They had planned to pay off the mortgage, update their cars and renovate their home, and they spent the two years before John retired working steadily at their projects, getting ready for the big day. When it came they had a big party to celebrate. And then promptly discovered they had nothing else to do. They had planned and worked so hard and
carefully for John's last day at work, but they hadn't planned for the day after. Or any of the days after that one. They were bored.
So don't forget to include the future in your retirement plans. How will you fill your days? How close are family members? If you are moving house, do you already have friends in the new area? How will the weather affect you? Is it something you will enjoy or will it isolate you? These are all things you need to consider as part of your retirement plans.
Use a dream board to map out your dreams and goals for retirement. It may not be for everyone, but if you're not a visual person and have trouble picturing things in your mind, it may be the best tool you'll ever have.
Get a poster sized sheet of card (about $2.50 at the newsagent) and a glue stick. Then call all your friends and relatives who love magazines and ask them to keep the old copies for you. When you have a stack of magazines go through them and tear out pictures of all the things that represent your hobbies, dreams, goals and desires. Include all those things you'd want to have or do when you are debt free and have a fully funded Emergency Fund and Peace of Mind account. (Get the mags from friends and family, yes, I know you could go to Pinterest and download and print images, but you're getting ready for retirement living, so every cent counts, and those magazines are free, printing isn't!)
Only include pictures of the things that make you smile.
The choices will be personal, and no two dream boards will be the same. Some may have pictures of cars or furniture, others may have pictures of gadgets and gizmos, or travel destinations, caravans or motor homes, new houses, gardens and anything else that relates to
you and your life.
Put your Dream Board in a prominent place. It doesn't matter where, as long as you can see it regularly. It will help you when dream-snatchers threaten to undermine your journey to living debt free and cashed up.
It's alright to dream a little, so go ahead. It's good for the mind, body and soul.
Lesson 32 Challenge: Save your pocket change. OK, it may be purse or wallet change, either way save it. See how much money you can save by emptying your pocket, purse or wallet of all change every night. Get a piggy bank, or make one from an old jar or box. Try and get the whole family involved. At the end of the week add the total. Now multiply that by 52. At the end of the year how much do you project you will have? Set a goal for yourself (or the family).
Is there something special you'd like to save for as a special year-end treat? And don't be surprised if you find you'd rather just add this money to your savings instead of spending it.
Wayne and I have a plan; we've been working on it for about 15 years. We love our current home but we know that it will just be too big for us when the kids have moved out. We also know that it just doesn't have enough land to suit our plans.
So we are looking for our retirement property. We (or rather I) would like a smaller, easier to care for house. I don't want to spend all my time cleaning and maintaining a big house just for the sake of having a big house, especially as I get older. And we would like a little more land, so we can have a decent size veggie garden, chickens and an orchard, and enough land to have a couple of house cows for our milk. If we can stretch the funds we'd really like enough land to run livestock for meat too. We'll have to see how far those funds will stretch when the time comes.
We know what we'll be doing in retirement. Apart from not working every day in paid employment, we pretty much have our time filled with the things we enjoy: gardening, caring for our home and travelling.
Boredom won't be a problem for either of us, unlike Pat and John who found retirement horrible. They had planned to pay off the mortgage, update their cars and renovate their home, and they spent the two years before John retired working steadily at their projects, getting ready for the big day. When it came they had a big party to celebrate. And then promptly discovered they had nothing else to do. They had planned and worked so hard and
carefully for John's last day at work, but they hadn't planned for the day after. Or any of the days after that one. They were bored.
So don't forget to include the future in your retirement plans. How will you fill your days? How close are family members? If you are moving house, do you already have friends in the new area? How will the weather affect you? Is it something you will enjoy or will it isolate you? These are all things you need to consider as part of your retirement plans.
Use a dream board to map out your dreams and goals for retirement. It may not be for everyone, but if you're not a visual person and have trouble picturing things in your mind, it may be the best tool you'll ever have.
Get a poster sized sheet of card (about $2.50 at the newsagent) and a glue stick. Then call all your friends and relatives who love magazines and ask them to keep the old copies for you. When you have a stack of magazines go through them and tear out pictures of all the things that represent your hobbies, dreams, goals and desires. Include all those things you'd want to have or do when you are debt free and have a fully funded Emergency Fund and Peace of Mind account. (Get the mags from friends and family, yes, I know you could go to Pinterest and download and print images, but you're getting ready for retirement living, so every cent counts, and those magazines are free, printing isn't!)
Only include pictures of the things that make you smile.
The choices will be personal, and no two dream boards will be the same. Some may have pictures of cars or furniture, others may have pictures of gadgets and gizmos, or travel destinations, caravans or motor homes, new houses, gardens and anything else that relates to
you and your life.
Put your Dream Board in a prominent place. It doesn't matter where, as long as you can see it regularly. It will help you when dream-snatchers threaten to undermine your journey to living debt free and cashed up.
It's alright to dream a little, so go ahead. It's good for the mind, body and soul.
Lesson 32 Challenge: Save your pocket change. OK, it may be purse or wallet change, either way save it. See how much money you can save by emptying your pocket, purse or wallet of all change every night. Get a piggy bank, or make one from an old jar or box. Try and get the whole family involved. At the end of the week add the total. Now multiply that by 52. At the end of the year how much do you project you will have? Set a goal for yourself (or the family).
Is there something special you'd like to save for as a special year-end treat? And don't be surprised if you find you'd rather just add this money to your savings instead of spending it.