I always thought retirement was a million dollars, until recently...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gYG3opqoOvmQdtwAUE_3_Ae32AykcG1i/view?fbclid=IwAR1b0mzrkMz5bkKJ5_xD9y6BMzNqZDfJWNfCwgbCjFdRpsaS2hx43bunWqg

Click on the image above to the article where I got my inspiration from regarding the topic of retirement.

Retirement, to me when I just entered the industry 8 years ago, was a very far fetched r subject. Something that will probably happen in a long long time. Afterall, 8 years ago, I was so young, just starting out in my career, not married, no kids, in the prime of my teen still... It meant having a million dollars. It meant travelling around the world.

Today, I belong to the season where people call us "the hamburger generation". Means we have our parents and children that depends on us or our income for a living. (thankfully my parents and parents in law are still independent) Still, having to plan for our own retirement really seemed like a huge financial commitment on top of our current needs yet very necessary because it is one of the best gift we can have for our children. (I wrote an article about this too earlier you can read it here)

However, many clients we spoke to these days have a different set of thinking. Instead of striving hard for 30 years now and wait to relax in the next 20 years, they take a different approach towards retirement. A different perspective it is. Something I personally agree with too. After all, time is money.

We recognise that spending time with our children is actually more important than buying them stuffs (money). I mean they can be very happy just going to swimming pools everyday!

Instead of waiting to retire at age x, we recreate the meaning of retirement by living our retirement lifestyle now. Our retirement lifestyle probably includes travelling once a year, taking a course that we love and simply just spending time with our loved ones. At the same time, we also create multiple income streams that generates passive income on top of being employed to support our current expenses.

Some people also takes mini retirement pitstop. Such as taking a year long holiday every 5 years just for travelling and then coming back to work after that.

Afterall, retirement is a lifestyle, retirement is a perspective, retirement is your own definition. It does not necessary meant a million dollars and it does not necessary begins only after you achieve all your life's achievements.

Honestly, from a spiritual perspective, as a Christian, we start from the finished line, where we do not need to work to be accepted in heaven based on our good deeds (which is impossible since even the best of us fails). We are already accepted while receiving Christ and receive the gift of righteousness through His finished work at the cross.