In the fast-paced environment of Asia, many would say it’s essential to go on holiday from time to time in order to recharge and get a well-deserved break from the office. Here in China, we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy more than a week of public holidays recently – the Mid Autumn Festival and Golden Week, a break that most expats plan ahead to take advantage of!

Now when it comes to Mulder family holidays, nothing is left to chance, particularly now that we have six month old mini-Mulder in tow, who appears to require more forward planning and luggage than Melania Trump on tour! And this got me thinking that we may not be alone in spending a disproportionate amount of time on arrangements for a brief trip away. I’ll bet that most expats are in the same boat, spending more time planning their holidays than for their retirement. This is a worrying statistic, especially for people in this age bracket for whom retirement is imminent.

I’m a financial adviser and I do actually enjoy planning for retirement, which makes me a rarity akin to people who like estate agents, but even I recognise that arranging fun stuff like an upcoming holiday will always be a more attractive prospect than mulling over your pension, a task that most consider dull and others too far away to worry about.

But while you may have the greatest time ever on your holiday, it is, by definition, short-lived at one, two or perhaps even three weeks, compared to a retirement of one, two or, if you’re lucky, three decades. So perhaps it is a good idea to spend a bit more time thinking and planning to make sure that those are decades of delight rather than disaster.

In fact there is no ‘perhaps’ about it, pension planning is essential for all of us, however far away retirement seems. Not to mention other financial planning tasks which need addressing from time to time such as insurance to protect your family against the unexpected and estate planning. Big life changes may require a little extra time and effort. For example having a baby this year has meant we have had to take the time to nominate a guardian for our son in case something happens to my wife and I.

The potential consequences of failing to do that are just unthinkable and omitting to tackle other elements of a financial plan could be just as disastrous. If you’re happy to leave your family financially vulnerable should you die or become seriously ill or if you are not bothered about scrimping and saving your way through retirement then keep on procrastinating over your finances. If, however, you want to make sure that whatever comes your way in life you will have the resources to deal with it and that your golden years are, well, golden, then take some time now to get your financial planning sorted.

For assistance with any or all of the financial planning tasks mentioned in this post, please do get in touch. Whether you need life insurance to protect your loved ones, expert advice on estate planning or an assessment of where you are at with making provision for your retirement needs, I can help and I’d love to hear from you at bmulder@infinitysolutions.com.

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