This column is for all who are thinking along these lines…
My parents lived into their 90s. But I also lost a sibling in her 50s. I’m haunted by the thought of spending my best years working, then dying before I get to enjoy my retirement years. But I also don’t want to be broke at 85. Where’s the balance?
The balance comes from planning for both endings. Protect the people who depend on you in case your clock runs out early, and save like you’ll make it to 95. And in the meantime, stop parking every important goal in the “someday” category.
I recently read about Harvard’s football coach, Andrew Aurich.
He has his own special brand of the “two-minute drill.” Except his is one minute.
He puts 60 seconds on the clock, tells his players they have no timeouts left – and coaches them to drive the length of the field to score a touchdown.
“We want to get lost in the process,” Aurich told The Wall Street Journal. “When you go over those situations in practice, it allows it to happen naturally on the field on game day.”
In football, the clock is ever present. It’s big and bold on both ends of the field, and it dominates every aspect of the game. In certain situations, you can stop the clock.
In life, the clock doesn’t stop for any reason at all. There’s no two-minute, two-month, or two-year warning. For most, the clock stops before age 100. For others, it ticks down to zero much sooner.
In the biblical book of James, the author writes, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring – what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes” (James 4:14).
Maybe I’ll live to be 95. Maybe I’ll be dead by 9:05 a.m. tomorrow. Who knows?
Perhaps the first thing such a stark reminder should do is prompt us toward some serious spiritual introspection. That’s a worthy use of your time, but not the point of this column.
From a financial point of view, the uncertainty of the clock suggests two things to me: pursue priority and efficacy.
- Priorities over promises
You have limited time. No one knows exactly how limited. So don’t put important stuff off. Go beyond telling yourself you’ll do something “one day.”
If there’s an important personal life goal, try to reach it now, not later. If you’re waiting until retirement to take a certain trip or make a move, ask, “Does it really need to wait?” Of course, there are limits to such thinking, but some never even consider their options.
What have you been putting off until “one day” when “the time is right”? Is it a conversation, a cause, a trip, a mission, an endeavor, a career change, or a move? What can you do to turn “later” into “now”?
- Efficacy over efficiency
Efficacy is your power to get a desired result. Efficiency is different – it’s using the least amount of resources to get that result.
I want efficacy. I want the desired result. Sure, I may need to be more efficient in my effort to reach big life goals. But within a life limited by the clock, I’d rather focus on my “big rocks,” as Stephen Covey used to call critical priorities.
- Plan for a short life and a long one
Financially, you can’t ignore either possibility. You may only have a few more days, or find that your clock is still ticking long after most of your friends are gone.
On the “life might be brief” side, that means protecting anyone depending on you with life insurance. Pretty simple, but profoundly necessary.
On the “life might be long” side, that means being a diligent and disciplined saver and investor. The life expectancy tables say most people end up on this side of the equation. Social Security estimates that about one in three of today’s 65-year-olds will live past 90. So don’t skip this step.
That’s the idea behind Coach Aurich’s one-minute drill. Practice the hard situations often enough, and they come naturally on game day. Since you don’t know how much time is on your clock, spend time now planning for both.
P.S. I help family-oriented, legacy-minded people plan for a retirement that works whether the clock runs short or long. If that sounds interesting, give me a call (318-251-5858). I’ll do my best to help you figure out what it will take to get there.
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