You can learn from TV, movie plots
They can teach you how to save for retirement.
Retirement saving is vital – and easy to put off. Distractions abound, especially this time of year.
People regularly cop to prioritizing holiday spending over saving. Gifts are tangible. It’s easy to see the return on your investment! Short-term splurges can easily win out if you don’t feel your retirement needs and wants in your bones.
Happily, Hollywood can help. You can learn loads from comedy characters. Such as Jack Colton, hero of 1984’s romantic comedy-adventure “Romancing the Stone,” with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
He had a lifelong dream of owning a sailboat. Never wavered. Even while hiding from a hostile foreign army and getting entangled in a crazy criminal treasure hunt, he never lost sight of his dream. Spoiler alert: He achieved it.
Retirement savers need their own inner Jack Colton: a purpose they can’t be distracted from. Only when you have your personal “why” for retirement will you actually execute a saving-and-investment strategy to get there. To divine your purpose for saving, you need a clear vision of yourself in retirement. I don’t mean envisioning yourself with more gray, wrinkles and extra paunch. Rather, imagine your future life through three questions.
What’s on your ‘bucket list’?
In 2007’s poignant buddy comedy, “The Bucket List,” Carter (Morgan Freeman) and Edward (Jack Nicholson) share a hospital room after receiving cancer diagnoses. Carter makes a “bucket list” of things to do before he dies, then throws it away, deeming his goals unattainable. But wealthy Edward finds the list, offers to finance a trip for them both to complete it, and off they go.
Carter has goals but no savings. Edward is the opposite – wealth, but no goals. The ideal retirement spot is smack in between. Goals in mind, money in hand. To get there, write your bucket list. Get your goals on paper. Then prioritize them. Visualize what steps you must take to get there – and how satisfying reaching those goals will be. Building this connection with your future self helps you stay dedicated.
Where do you want to live?
Netflix’s “Fuller House” wasn’t just a sitcom reboot. It also showed how mapping goals can clinch a retirement planning strategy.
In the pilot, sitcom dad Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) moves to Los Angeles, giving his San Francisco home to his daughter. Danny isn’t retiring just yet – he got a gig hosting a morning TV show. But he did so after planning for years to be able to afford to live where he wants while giving his home to his daughter and her kids.
To keep your eye on the prize, you must know what that prize is. Focusing on how and where you want to live your golden years is one way to visualize the prize. It also helps you keep perspective throughout the ups and downs of the stock market and economy.
Who do you want to spend time with?
Fans of “Everybody Loves Raymond” might envy Ray’s parents, Frank and Marie, who live so close to their son and grandkids. They were always involved – including always raiding the fridge. Other folks might connect more with the 2012 Dustin Hoffman-directed comedy “Quartet,” about a retirement community for stage performers. Whether your goal is living near family or finding a new community, setting goals to spend your retirement in good company helps inspire you to save.
The more relevant and realistic your retirement dreams feel today, the more they’ll drive you to save for tomorrow. So find your why. Then talk to your investment adviser about how to turn your dreams into reality.
Ken Fisher is founder and executive chairman of Fisher Investments, author of 11 books, four of which were New York Times bestsellers, and is No. 200 on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. Follow him on Twitter @KennethLFisher. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.