I ran across this quote today when I was eating lunch at Jimmy John’s hanging on their wall. I had never heard this quote before, but I don’t know that there is another quote that so accurately sums up the concept of saving for retirement.

If you do the things you have to do when you have to do them SOMEDAY you will be able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them.

We all know that getting up for work each day and isn’t necessarily the most enjoyable thing in the world. Then tack on the fact that in order to save for retirement you have to give up something now for something in the future that is hard for people to grasp. Saving for retirement for some people is almost the equivalent of throwing their money away. They just can’t see the big picture of what that savings is actually buying them and end up putting off saving for retirement. The longer you put off what you have to do (Save for Retirement) the later that SOMEDAY (financial freedom) will come.

See the thing is, people think they are giving up so much by saving money. They can’t purchase as much stuff now or get a bigger house or better car so they feel like it’s not worth it. However in my book they are giving up way more down the road than they are giving up now.

When you are 70-80 years old and are looking back at your life, what do you think is going to be more important to you? That new Chevy Escalade you drove for 4 years when you were in your early 30s or the fact that you got to retire 15-20 years before anyone else your age and got to spend time with your family/grandkids and whatever else was important to you in your life and made you happy.

To me that freedom to do what I want when I want to do it is priceless and if I have to work a little harder now to make that day come sooner then I’m going to roll up my sleeves and do it. Freedom is what I really WANT not a fancy house, car, social status, etc.