The driver of a financial plan is time, income and wealth provide the engine – but time is the key.

Time continues forward in a linear motion, but our perception of it is exponential. The older we get the more it seems to speed up, and so the importance of time becomes ever clearer as we age. If anyone has the secret to making time slow down, please let me know.

Time and how best to use it, is the main topic of conversation in client meetings.

The recent retirees

Recently retired and enjoying their time this couple wanted to know how many years they could afford a holiday home in Gran Canaria. Beyond the purchase price, we factored in maintenance costs, service charges, furnishing, and the monthly bills. We then discussed how this might affect their life in the UK, and what effect it could have on their financial security down the line.

In our discussions it became apparent that the freedom to holiday more, without the feeling of guilt that they were spending too much, was their actual desire. Our financial modelling suggested that they could enjoy more years of lavish holidays if they didn’t buy a holiday home but instead continued renting. We committed that they’d spend more time holidaying, and the planning demonstrated that the cost was easily in their retirement budget.

Planning for the future

Another client wanted to know how long she needed to work to build up the wealth to sustain her retirement. We initially started with a 10-year timeframe based on current spending, and her assumption about how much time she should continue working. But her current spending didn’t reflect the changes in her life once her children left University and her mortgage was paid off.

Once we adjusted these costs and added further spending in retirement, we settled on a more accurate retirement spend and faster timeframe for retirement. We expect her to be ready in 5 years or fewer.

Calendars and how we use our time

For the past couple years in our house, we have adopted a shared written calendar approach that hangs in our kitchen. We’ve found the physical calendar helps us see how much time we have between events and helps us better understand how much we have on. As someone who says ‘yes’ to a lot of things, it’s helped me pause and think about we have enough time to relax and take life slowly. If you don’t have a written calendar in the house, I strongly recommend it.

We don’t put minutiae in there as you don’t have the space, but still, it really helps.

After coming off social media I found myself consistently forgetting my friends’ birthdays. The one calendar I check daily is my work calendar so starting this year I’ve put in my friends’ birthdays as recurring events. One moment of effort, and then I don’t forget going forwards.

My current book — the picture at the top of this blog. 

An inspired choice by my Mum, a devotee of slow living.