September: possibly the most miserable month of all. Back to work after the holidays, the kids starting a new term, and those memories of lazy sunny lunchtimes enjoying a bottle of ice-cold rosé are fading fast.
Having spent a wonderful fortnight in Provence myself, I know only too well the temptation to daydream about how life could be different.
A study reported by The Times showed that nearly 75% or employees experience a noticeable slump in morale after their summer break. This feeling can last from three days to several weeks – certainly long enough to reevaluate your goals.
It is surprisingly common for an idyllic holiday to be the catalyst for a complete reassessment of our lives, and in particular our longer-term futures. Yes, financial necessity might force us back into the office after those precious two weeks in the sunshine, but with work-life balance now much more to the forefront of many people’s minds, the post-holiday period is frequently a time which leads to some serious thinking about what life is all about.
While a few will take the plunge and immediately abandon their lives for a new start in a foreign land, for most the reality is that the focus will fall on retirement, or at least slowing down on the work front to bring a bit more balance into our lives.
As so often with dreams and aspirations, achieving them requires rather more than the simple desire to do so. The feeling that our lives could be different draws hugely on the emotional side of our brains; getting there requires us to flex the rational side.
If retiring early or semi-retiring to live a more leisurely life is the outcome of your post-holiday thinking, there are some practical considerations to take into account. First, of course, is to assess how much you will need to have saved in order to achieve that ambition, and review your current pension savings to see what the gap is.
Included in this is checking you have a complete national insurance record which will eventually entitle you to the full state pension. Although you won’t receive this until the age of 67 (and this could rise still further), knowing it is coming allows you to use more of your personal pension to fund early retirement.
Secondly, you will need to look at your current outgoings to see where you can release money to save for that future you are dreaming about. This might not be as painful as you think: perhaps you are prepared to forego that daily flat white from the coffee shop, something which on its own could give you £1,000 a year to put into your pension pot. Do that for ten years, and with compounding it could make a difference. Similarly, do you need all of those streaming services which you don’t really watch?
Psychologically, foregoing treats now to save for the future is much easier when you have a firm idea what that future might look like.
It is important to discuss your new priorities with family. Perhaps you had such a conversation sitting in the sunshine and agreed to change your life; it may be that you still feel the same while your partner has more easily settled back into the reality of daily life. Even if you both still feel that things need to change, it is important to take off the rose-tinted holiday specs.
But, if you have a dream, then follow it; life is too short to trudge on accepting a life which could be better. But don’t just dream; take some steps towards achieving it, including talking to your financial advisor about your new priorities so that they can ensure your finances will be able to deliver them.