Do dreams come true? – I believe they can but some dreams have to be planned.

Everybody will have something that they dream about, but not everybody’s dream is the same.  I am unaware of anyone that does not now and again slip into a dreaming world. 

My dream is to build my own home, I want to dig the first hole, lay the first brick, lift the first roof trus, hang the front door on the home that I will have helped to build.  Now this to most people would be their worst nightmare, but for me it is what helps me wonder off to sleep at night.  However this will very much remain a dream if I cannot find a piece of land to build my house on. This element of my dream is completely out of my control but there are some dreams that can be achieved if we just plan ahead for them. 

I often think of the song ‘Dignity’ by Deacon Blue, part of the word of this song talk about a man who is a road sweeper and his dream of buying a boat, they say “He let me know a secret about the money in his kitty, He's gonna buy a dinghy, Gonna call her dignity” “They'll ask me how I got her I'll say "I saved my money", They'll say isn't she pretty that ship called dignity. 

This type of job will not have provided him with a large income, but the word in this song is “saved”.  Sadly in our modern world this word ‘save’ has become unfashionable. As the cost of living increases we are going to see that our incomes are going to be stretched even further, but what happens when you no longer have an income because you have reach a point in your life that due to your age you are physically unable to do your job.  The next generation and the one to come are going to be in a completely different world with regards to available money once they reach retirement. 

What will retirement look like? What age do you see yourself stopping work? Twenty years ago people dreamt at retiring at 50 or 55, but managed to retire at 60. They thought they had missed their dream target. Now when I speak to people, they dream at retiring at 60 or 62 and may manage 65.  The harsh truth is that people are going to have to work longer as the State Pension age is being stretched further and further, 66, 67 and 68 as the money coming in is reduced by less people working and more demands for a longer period is being placed on the State Pension due to an increase in longevity.

Having your own personal pension in the future will not be to create you with a high amount of cash to live on, it might just be to support the gap between the age you stop working and when your State Pension begins.  The pension may not make you a richer person, it might however mean that you have some quality of life to enjoy it before your burn out. 

So if you are a young woman reading this, the sooner you start saving the better and the easier it will be to achieve your dream or if you’re a grandparent who is wondering what to buy your own child or grandchild for birthday or Christmas, think about a pension. Now this will not get the same reaction as cash in a card or a large box to open, but when they gain an extra 5 years of their life without having to work, they will look back in awe of the love and wisdom that you showed as the term a wise old women had to come from somewhere.