Who do you think you’ll be in a year? Five years? Twenty years?
One of the big problems with setting goals, especially financial ones, is that we’re really bad at imagining our future selves. Just remember what you imagined you’d be as an adult when you were a kid. I’m guessing there are some gaps between that dream and your current reality.
When we talk about financial goals, we’re often talking about long timeframes. Consider retirement, for example. That could be upwards of 20 or 30 years from now. You can’t even imagine yourself at that age, let alone plan for it. That’s your parents, not you!
We do the same thing with our children. When your kid was born, uni was probably the last thing on your mind.
When we start talking about our distant future selves, it’s easy to rationalize the decision to not do anything. In fact, our future selves can actually often feel like some other annoying person constantly stealing heaps of fun from our current selves.
And yet, while our future selves may feel like a big old pain in the neck, it’s important to realize that appeasing that person is still very much in our best interest.
So what’s the solution?
To start with, we need to get really clear on our goals. And I’m talking broadly. You don’t have to know exactly what college your first-grader is going to go to and exactly what the tuition is going to be. Just don’t pretend that 18 is a long way off. It’s not. So you better start saving now.
You may feel like you’re still 30, but if you just celebrated (or mourned) turning 40, it’s time to get real. Our future selves will be here faster than we think. Remember all the stupid stuff you did as a teenager? Don’t be the 60-year-old that wants to hit your 30-something self over the head for doing stupid adult stuff, like not getting clear on your financial goals.