My financial planner got me 10 extra wealth-producing years. Woo-Hoo!

Today I had a random thought about my future income. Immediately, I remembered a quick and otherwise uneventful moment in a conversation I had with my financial planner the other day. We were nearly talking over one another when I said something like “When I am 65” and he said at the same time, “When you are 75.” While the front part of my brain continued with our conversation, the back of my brain was going, “Hey! I just gained 10 wealth-producing years.”

Maybe it’s having grown up with a generation whose parents retired at 65 to live off their savings, pensions, and social security income, that planted the notion about 65 being a production-reduction turning point. That notion became a belief I wasn’t paying much attention to.

In my work as a personal coach, I talk about the power of thought and belief. Realizing now that I was subconsciously shortening the length of my income-producing years with my beliefs astounds me.

These thoughts are top of mind now as I grab an opportunity to go into business for myself, while sending my youngest child off to college, two acts that encourage me to reflect on the choices I have made throughout the course of my adult life.

75? I’m going for 85, maybe 95. The point is, I now have an open door before me that allows me to be a little more patient with myself and a little more creative in my financial management.

I love doing the math.