Retirement isn’t what it used to be.

Our grandparents might have gotten by on a cozy pension

and a gold watch after 40 years at the same job.

But today? The game has changed.

Pensions are rare.

Inflation eats away at savings.

People are living longer (which is wonderful — but also expensive).

If you want a retirement that feels like freedom,

not financial stress, investing isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.

At the very basic, you need money to survive -
don't talk about 'living life' yet.

Who is going to take care of you when you retire?

Your kids are not your plan B.

You should be self sufficient.

And more so if you don't plan to have kids.

Most people don't know how much they need when they retire,

and end up draining their retirement funds to zero -

while they are still alive with many years to go.

Life is a blessing - but if you don't plan for your future,
you won't be able to enjoy the fruits.

I don't want to see you forcing yourself to go back to work

when you already 'officially retired'.

I want you to have a clear plan so that you can

truly enjoy your retirement, no matter how long it is.

Inflation is a silent killer that is destroying your

purchasing power - every day, every year.

Schools don't even teach you this term and what it really means,

unless you have been in an Economics class

(that was where I learnt about inflation and investments,
only during college because I chose that course).

Here is the scary thing about inflation:

If you haven't notice, the prices of goods and services
keep getting more expensive every year.

That is the case for most countries, except for

a few rare ones that suffer from deflation (eg. Japan).

Because of inflation, your $1 today will

have a value lesser than $1 next year.

Put it another way, if an item that you buy today costs you $100,

next year you will need to spend more than $100 to buy the same item.

So what should you do?

The sad thing is - your salary may not grow at the same rate as inflation.

This means your purchasing power effectively decreases.

And if you put money in the bank in a regular savings account?

Sure, it feels safe — but it's slowly losing value.

Think about it:

if your savings account earns 1% interest (on a good day)

and inflation runs at 4%, you’re actually

losing purchasing power every year (eg. 1% - 4% = -3%).

Banks never tell you this right?

That $100,000 you save today might make you feel rich -

but it might only be like $70,000 or less in the future.

For example, say you are 40 now, and you plan to retire at 65.

Your expenses 25 years from now will already

be higher due to inflation.

You think you need $1 million to retire.

But in 25 years time, you actually need more than just $1 million,

because things keep getting more expensive every year.

Using an inflation rate of 3% every year, you will actually need to

accumulate a sum of $2 million to retire, in order to still enjoy
the same things that you can purchase for $1 million in today's terms.

So the your monthly expenses during retirement

need to be adjusted for inflation.

Then, during retirement, inflation rate

keeps growing annually too!

So while you start to run down your retirement savings,
your finances also keep decreasing in value every year -

if you don't invest to fight inflation.

On the flip side, historically, the US stock market has returned

around +7%–10% per year after inflation over the long term.

If you invest in individual stocks that have good fundamentals,

or if you invest in cryptocurrencies with proper risk management ,

you will earn so much more than just 10% per year.

That's the magic of investing: it’s not just about saving more,

it’s about making your money work harder than you do.