Possible Motivations for A Large Retirement Fund Goal
Looking at the number I set for my goal (here) you might think that I’m greedy or an over achiever. That is certainly not the case. I put in some numbers into a retirement calculator and it suggested an amount. Not an amount I would have dreamed of, but one it suggested as ’safe’ for my needs. Lets take a look at some other motivators that might be less valuable.
Greed
Greed is not a great motivator. Simply put its goal is not satisfied, there is never enough and it can motivate people to operate in a selfish or wrongful manner. I don’t need to explain to you how it makes most of us feel when we feel shafted, mistreated or ripped off because someone was greedy and we paid the price for that greed. The number of my goal is based on the concept that I will be able to live of less per month than I do currently now because I will have my house paid off and our children will no longer be in the house with us (more than likely at least).
Ignorance
The worst motivator for thoughts is ignorance. My goal is based on probability and assumptions about how things will continue in the future - I am uncertain about the future because it is unknown, but I am not ignorant of what it has a plausible chance of holding. Don’t set a goal based on ignorance (for example, “Inflation, what inflation?”).
Naivete
I am setting the goal higher because I don’t expect the cost of living to go down. There is very little in our current world that is decreasing in price except for maybe certain types of technology. Gas prices continue to grow as demad increases (hopefully that will plateau or decline soon), the cost of food continues to ascend as various elements play into that, and you’ve probably noticed that the price of transportation isn’t dropping either. The cost of housing is declining, but since I’m in a house and I feel comfortable here its not my highest priority to find cheaper housing. One of my motivations for choosing this house was that it would fit into our budget comfortably and leave room for other financial expenditures and savings.
Conclusion
Ask yourself why you’re saving for what you’re saving for! Determie your motivations and make sure that the motivation is a good one - your goals need to not change on a whim, and having strong foundations and motivations for them will keep things healthy and your goals easier to focus on.
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