A princely retirement

Though it may have been sarcastic, we think British parliament member Chi Onmurah’s controversial reaction to Prince Phillip’s retirement announcement effectively sums up our goal for every client we meet. “Congratulations to Prince Philip on retiring in financial security at the time of his choosing from a job he enjoys,” Onwurah, a member of the British Labor Party, said in a now-deleted tweet. She meant for the tweet to draw attention to the contrast between the 95-year old prince’s royal retirement and the struggles of less fortunate Britons, who face pension cuts and other financial stress. It received some harsh responses from the media and Onmurah’s political opponents, who called it shameful and in poor taste. Politics aside, though, isn’t that the idea? In our industry, retiring in financial security at a time of one’s choosing means a job well done. It means that, working together, we’ve managed a disciplined budget, set realistic goals, protected ourselves from unforeseen events, maintained a healthy lifestyle and followed a well thought-out retirement plan. Of course, not everyone has the good fortune to retire by choice. Health troubles and unexpected job loss loom as universal threats. That’s also why we’re here. We have tools to protect against the negative effects of these developments and ideas to mitigate their consequences. And, even the lucky ones have to put in the work. Prince Philip made more than 22,000 appearances in his career, gave more than 5,000 speeches, and headed up or participated in 785 organizations. Prior to that, he enjoyed a successful naval career, and he solidified his place as one of the greatest husband’s in history by saying that his job, “first, second and last” was never to let his wife down. You don’t have to be a prince to retire on your own terms. The trick is to start planning now.