If you are over 35, you’ve probably noticed some little lines forming on your face. Maybe your skin isn’t as smooth as it once was and your hair takes a little more work to look shiny and full. Of course, maybe you look better than you did at twenty and you have no idea what I’m talking about. I fall into the former category… I’m aging at a rate that continues to surprise me and I notice it when I look in the mirror and at my retirement savings, and I know I’m not ready for retirement.
The Best Laid Plans
It isn’t that I never thought about retirement. I knew I would need to save for it and always planned to get something decent in place, but early on I was a single mom who had to worry about paying bills, student loans and saving to buy a house – And I had a retirement plan through work. I got myself into a comfortable position and then I got married. We bought the house, we had babies and I started working for myself. Our financial goals revolved around the house and the kids, and my husband’s job provided him with some retirement income.
Then his plant closed, and there was no more pension plan.
With a huge drop in our income, four kids (one was about to head to college) and very little savings to speak of… my husband embarked on a new career in the trades. After a year of trade school and another year of working contracts and odd jobs, he landed his first electrical apprenticeship. Over the last five years he has dealt with lay-offs, experienced a devastating workplace injury and worked with no benefits or pension plan, but he has still trudged along. Today he is finishing his apprenticeship with a company he loves, and it includes a pension plan. Great news, right? Of course it is, but if there’s one thing we have learned over the last decade, it’s that we need to take our future into our own hands.
Changing Course
I feel like I need to have my own retirement plan in place, because you never know what will happen in the future. Ideally, I also want my husband to have his own personal retirement plan and not just rely on his work pension. Sometimes I worry that we waited much too long (and I have no idea where to start) so we are turning to the experts at TD to help us get #RetireReady.
Then I had instant peace of mind when I read this on TD’s website:
“Even just 15 years before retirement, it’s not too late to plan for your future.”
Since I am 15 to 20 years away from retirement, it is reassuring to know that it isn’t too late to plan for retirement or for some of the other plans for the future that we may have, like traveling or buying an RV.
TD Assessment
Our free TD goals-based assessment will focus on our unique family experiences and dreams. In today’s fast paced digital world, I appreciate it when a business takes the time to know who I am as a person in order to serve me better. We don’t see enough of that these days and I feel it is especially important when planning for retirement (and when looking for a good wrinkle cream).
You can have your own free TD goals-based assessment and begin your path to becoming #RetireReady by speaking to a TD Advisor.
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