It’s not uncommon for me to have conversations with people, typically in their mid to late 40s, facing a rude awakening.

While they were busy focusing on that next bonus to clear the credit card or pay for their mid-winter family Fiji escape, they spot something they never noticed before.

It’s about this time when they can see a faint silhouette of their future ‘retirement’, or that date when they stop working because they have to.

As we’re not good with understanding how exponential growth occurs, it’s common to see people feeling anxious that they may not have enough. Sometimes yes, they don’t have enough. They may have to make some changes they don’t want to, in order to get enough also.

Other times, they know what they need to do. They need to make a bold, and unconventional move.

The Problem

Like any high-risk activity, the desire to engage in it diminishes, along with our ability to recover from mistakes, the older we get. Unfortunately, our vision around what’s coming next is so poor that it takes time before things like ‘retirement’ become real. As we have the realization that we really need to do more to prepare, we also have an awakening that we really don’t want to!

The Common Solution

The best (actually the safest!) answer an adviser like me provides to people is often diversification. Put your eggs in a few different baskets and then over time, you’ll get what you need through the power of compounding.

What if you either have limited time, or you want far more?

The Unconventional Solution

In the book, The Richest Man in Babylon, “Opportunity is the haughty goddess that waits for no man who is unprepared.”

If you have your personal finances sorted, you own your own home, and you have some leftover income to work with, why not make a bold and unconventional move?

– Invest in a start-up?
– Buy another property when there’s blood on the streets?
– Go contracting?
– Become ‘irresponsibly long’ in crypto?*

When we’re unwilling to do what it takes to have an above-average future, we have no right to complain when we arrive at ‘average’.

The Challenge

Maybe you see the world is changing, and you know what’s going to be of value in the future, and maybe when you think about it you feel ashamed because you know all your friends would laugh (trust me, I feel your pain!). At some stage, you need to stop listening to those incentivized to keep you safe.

After all, it is your retirement we’re talking about.

*Of course, this is not financial advice.