Are you On Track For Retirement?

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX among other companies, recently stated on a podcast that saving for retirement will soon be pointless due to the abundance AI and robotics will bring. An interesting perspective, to be sure, from the world’s wealthiest individual and someone heavily invested in the future of Artificial Intelligence. But before you decide to follow advice based on dreams of a utopian future, let’s consider what goes into prudent retirement planning…just in case.

Our first step is a complete review of where you stand today, financially. Together, we’ll look at each aspect of your personal balance sheet to determine a snapshot of your net worth (assets you own less liabilities). We’ll look at income sources and expenses to determine cash flow needed to support your lifestyle now versus what can be set aside for the future. Once we have a clear picture of your current finances we can move on to shaping your future goals and priorities. Going to Mars, anyone?

In retirement planning, one of the things I like to communicate is that long-term planning creates a framework of trade-offs. For example, if you want to target an earlier retirement date it often involves trade-offs such as saving more now or planning to spend less in retirement. This is where online retirement calculators or generic advice like “save 15% of your salary” fall short. Each household has different priorities and unique situations; therefore, it’s only logical that goals planning should involve unique solutions and recommendations. Understanding which trade-offs are acceptable and which are not is crucial for developing a plan that can be carried out to the end. Think of it as an “All roads lead to Rome” approach (with Rome being retirement).

The biggest takeaway here is that it’s not helpful to compare the progress of your track to retirement with Mr. Roboto next door or anyone else for that matter. Your individual goals, priorities and situation will help map out the right path for you. So whether your retirement goals include going to Mars or Rome, let’s build a retirement plan designed for you…just in case.