{"id":665,"date":"2018-03-15T04:59:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T04:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gainingground.in\/insights\/index.php\/2018\/03\/15\/http-ggindia-com-p597\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:09:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:09:30","slug":"live-life-today-or-plan-for-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gainingground.in\/insights\/live-life-today-or-plan-for-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Live life today or Plan for Retirement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is struggle between, \u2018Enjoy now or save for the future\u2019. We constantly endevour to find the balance between enjoying life now and ensuring we have the resources to live well later, during our retirement years.<\/p>\n

There is no ideal balance for everyone because we all have different goals, needs, resources, expectations, and desires. The hardest part about planning for your financial future is the simple fact that we don\u2019t know for certain what\u2019s going to happen in the years to come. No one has things all figured out because no one knows the various twists and turns that life has in store for us.<\/p>\n

What is the way to solve this conundrum of spend now or save for tomorrow? Ben Carlson of \u2018A wealth of common sense’ provides us with simple ways to strike the balance. We invite you to discover them for yourself. Welcome.<\/p>\n

This week I came across this new cartoon from Randy Glassbergen<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is deep.<\/p>\n

It perfectly encapsulates the conflict that occupies nearly every financial decision you make in your life (whether you want to admit it or not).<\/p>\n

There are people that take this inner struggle to the extreme. There are those people who save nothing, live paycheck-to-paycheck and never plan ahead for their future financial well-being. And then there are those people who are frugal to a fault and never spend any money or enjoy themselves.<\/p>\n

For the rest of us, we are constantly trying to strike a balance between enjoying life now and ensuring we have the resources to enjoy life later.<\/p>\n

There is no ideal balance for everyone because we all have different goals, needs, resources, expectations, and desires. The hardest part about planning for your financial future is the simple fact that we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. No one has things all figured out because no one knows the various curve balls life is going to throw at them.<\/p>\n

My thoughts about this have changed over the years. I\u2019ve been a saver for as long as I can remember. So balance for me has been reminding myself that it\u2019s okay to spend money now and enjoy myself. A life with a full bank account but no experiences or enjoyment is pointless.<\/p>\n

Since there is no perfect way to figure out how much to save versus how much to spend for everyone, here\u2019s how I think about this conundrum:<\/p>\n