You’ve heard it before.
Cancel your magazine subscriptions.
Eat meatless meals once a week.
Pickle your own beets.
Do this, and you could save – I dunno – $50 a month. Invest the extra cash in the stock market, and in forty years, you could be sitting on tens of thousands of dollars.
Yeah, that’s right. In FORTY years, you’re gonna live it up.
How absurd.
Can you even picture what the world will look like four decades from now?
Be honest. Are you itching to give up the joys of today for a tomorrow that might not come? I’m certainly not.
However, there’s a fair chance you’ll live to see a couple more generations.
And like it or not, you need a financial plan for the day you peacefully retire or opt for a more colorful resignation like flipping your boss’s desk over, parachuting out of the nearest window, and giving onlookers the finger on the way down. Do whatever suits you.
The problem with planning for the distant future is that it’s not real.
The past is real. The present is real. But the future doesn’t exist.
As a result, it’s easy to serve your current desires without a thought for what you’ll need later in life.
Instead of rehashing the details on what you need to do in order to prepare for retirement, I want to motivate you to do what you already know is good for you.
So, I had the brilliant idea to put a face on the future – to bring life to later. (Even if you think my idea is stupid, please, just let me have this.)
Here’s what I’m supposed to look like in 35 years.
On the left, you have me at 30 years old: Shawanda 3.0. On the right, you have me at 65 years old: Shawanda 6.5.
Age progression done using AgingBooth iPhone app
Maybe later someone can explain why Shawanda 6.5 hides walnuts in her cheeks.
Either way, there I am. There she is. And I’ve got to take care of her, i.e., me.
The point I’m trying to make by sharing a hideous (and hopefully inaccurate) depiction of my future self, is that growing “old” is real. It’s inevitable assuming you, er, um, you know…don’t die first.
For whatever reason, women tend to earn less than men, live longer, and leave the workforce for prolonged periods of time. On average, we accumulate less financial wealth. Because our life expectancy exceeds that of our male counterparts, our money has to work harder. Which makes us particularly vulnerable to financial challenges toward the tail end of life.
I don’t know how they do things in Canada, but in the United States, our social safety net is in tatters.
Social Security is crumbling, pension plans are disappearing, health care is ridiculously pricey and getting pricier. We’re kinda screwed.
Surely, happy times are ahead. But, one thing is certain, the government shouldn’t be your primary provider.
Come to think of it, when it comes to your financial future, trust NO ONE.
Okay, maybe I don’t have to be so dramatic. But still, it doesn’t matter what your husband told you or what your son promised he’d do for you when you’re a grizzly old woman. The fact remains, you have to seize control of your finances.
When [Enter Name Here] 6.5 looks back on the actions [Enter Name Here] 6.4 and prior versions made on her behalf, will she look at your work and say, “Well done”?
On the other hand, there’s more to life than money.
You have to strike a balance between pleasing yourself today and not disappointing yourself tomorrow.
Of course Shawanda 6.5 wants Shawanda 3.0 to make prudent decisions with her money. But Shawanda 6.5 also wants Shawanda 3.0 to build lasting memories and to take advantage of vanishing opportunities while she has the chance.
Audrey Hepburn once said, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”
Y’all better not listen to Audrey. It is definitely impossible to turn back time.
Although you shouldn’t frivolously spend your money on meaningless trinkets, you also shouldn’t spend your time on meaningless tasks.
Maybe you can’t think of anything more fun than canning peaches or rationing out squares of toilet paper to your house guests right this second, but there’s gotta be something. Or maybe there isn’t. I won’t judge how you get your jollies.
Being busy makes time pass by quickly, even if you’re busy with absolute nonsense. Once you’re done wasting time, will you look up and regret having squandered it on trivial matters?
What’s your strategy?
How do you motivate yourself to live for both today and tomorrow?
Shawanda Greene is a free thinking, frugal gal whose only vices are boxed wine, lip balm and money grubbing. You can find more of Shawanda's musings at 
Thank you for this post, it was a breath of fresh air. I tell this to people all the time and frankly I don’t want to be rich when I’m old, it was always either now or never for me. What am I gonna do with millions of dollars when my body is failing huh?
“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy s***, what a ride!’” ~ Mavis Leyrer
Hehehe. I love that quote. I hope I’m a spry, young woman when I’m officially old. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to be irresponsible, but the reality for a lot of people is that things start to really break down as they age. In case I’m one of those people, I’d better live it up while I have the chance (just a little).
Kudos to you for using that app – I don’t think I’d be so brave! But you raise a good point – it’s important to face our future and plan accordingly, scary as it may be. The balance between being frugal but still enjoying your life (without going crazy over-spending, of course) can be tough, but I think as long as you stay financially conscious, it’s all good 🙂
Aging myself was terrifying! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I look more like my mother when I’m older.
That’s a pretty awesome app.
I keep wanting to save for my retirement but then I get tempted to save for my dreams today – not in the future so it’s hard. I’m pretty good about saving money right now but that’s only because I want to save it for my short-term dreams, not my longer retirement ones.
Isn’t it cool?!
Although you should also set aside money for retirement, the good thing is, at least you’re already accustomed to saving something. I think the habit of saving will eventually lead you to investing for your golden years.
Ah, I struggle with this because I am awful with foresight. The future seems so scary and daunting–so I am willing to make tons of sacrifices right now in order to secure the best possible outcome.
This isn’t a great plan though, I do realize, because I am really restricting my enjoyment now. Of course, I hope this changes after we get married in July and have some funds to play around with–but you can’t count on that.
I think I need to take time to smell the roses, so to speak.
I think being able to make sacrifices now in order to have an enjoyable future is a sign of maturity. And for the most part, it’s a good thing. However, try to have some fun with your money in the very short-term, the short-term and the intermediate term too. You’ve earned it.
pretty picture.
Thanks, Virginia!
I’m glad to see that you see the Shawanda 6.5 still with that pretty smile on her face. To be uncertain of the future, but still be able to imagine your future self all smiles is a good way to look at the future. It’s like saying — you should be happy now, and you should also be happy in the future.
Good article 🙂
Thanks! I don’t want Shawanda 6.5 to be an angry, old woman. She deserves to be as happy as I am. 🙂
I like this line, “You have to strike a balance between pleasing yourself today and not disappointing yourself tomorrow.” that’s true. I’m not going to scrutinize if I decide to not pass up a normal cup of coffee at a starbucks, and if I’m really in need of a massage, I’m going to use my weekly cash for this purpose guilt free. I may have to sacrifice something else that week, but at least I’m more in control of my choices. Because you can’t NOT enjoy life too!
So true. The trick is understanding you have a finite amount of income. I don’t feel guilty about spending my money on what others may deem silly or wasteful as long as I can afford it. It’s all about trade offs.
Thinking about my future is such a far away thing! Exciting to think about though, but it’s hard to imagine what kind of money I’ll make and what I’ll be doing.
It is tough. I start with the assumption that, when I retire, I’ll want to enjoy a similar standard of living to what I have now and that prices will be much higher. From there, I estimate how much I need to save and factor in a modest return on investment. Anything could happen that will cause me to revise my assumptions, but I have to start somewhere.