“Oh, the weather outside is frightful. But the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…”
Very apt I thought, with me having been caught up in a snow storm in London yesterday. Here is the view from the LGT Vestra building looking towards the Royal Exchange on Cornhill by the Bank of England. By the way, it was sunny in Bournemouth and Poole (isn’t it always?)!
Bear with me, we are on a musical theme this week.
You might recognise the words above as being from a song widely remembered as Dean Martin’s. The words, however, were by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne from July 1945. It was actually written in Hollywood, California during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions.
The contrast between hot and cold couldn’t be more marked and you know how my mind works by now… it got me thinking about our clients. Some can imagine different conditions and some can’t. In the context of what we do here at Blue Sky, for many, the hard thing is imagining what life would be like in retirement. It can be too big a contrast and so they remain anchored in the present and carry on working.
Let’s have a bit of fun. I started off with a few lines from the ‘let it snow’ song, imagining a different scene entirely. If you are anywhere near close to retirement, what song would you choose when imagining your retirement? Give it a go.
Would it be…
‘Money’s to tight to mention’ by Simply Red?
Or
‘I’ve got the whole world in my hands’ by Bo Carter?
I personally prefer the song ‘Freedom’ by Jason Mraz. It goes like this:
Picture something, it’s beautiful
It’s full of life, and it is all blue
I see the sunset on the beach, yeah
It makes me feel calm
When I’m calm, I feel good
‘Cause it brings me freedom
Got to get you some of that freedom
It’s a smile you can feel in your heart beat.
That’s what retirement does, it gives you more choice. If you like, a sense of freedom. It allows you to do what you want, when you want to do it.
So, are you going into retirement with the right song in your head? If not, it’s time to get your finances organised so that you can resonate to the rhythm of a more relaxed tune.
… “but the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”.
Retirement: doing what you want, when you want to do it!
Kind regards,
Gary
Gary Neild B.Sc.Hons. DipIP PFA
Managing Director
