What does successful financial planning mean to you?
“Minimizing debt and maximizing savings by making smart investments in funds and assets that can be leveraged when needed. I was taught that changes in the market are no need for panic if long-term savings is the goal, so I have seen market downswings as an opportunity rather than a setback. I’ve always been very careful to choose diversified funds and to choose a company I trust to stay on top of those things.
I have friends that try and play the stock market. That’s a full-time job [that] I’m just not interested in. I work really hard and I love the work that I do, but I wouldn’t want to mess up my retirement planning. So, I just try to make sure that I automatically set aside funds before I can touch them. To do so, I work with a reputable company that’s going to manage those [funds for me].”
What are your financial priorities?
“I’m planning for retirement, continuing to save with my day job as I prepare to spend more of my time developing a new inclusive school in Algeria at my own expense. It’s my prime objective to build up retirement savings then try to zero out debt, and then save for [my son] Sammy’s education. Since I work abroad, I’ve got the bonus that [my income] is tax fee, so I’m maximizing my contribution towards retirement.”
Who or what inspires your vision of retirement?
"My parents. They went from being university administrators in their professional lives to my father experimenting with organic dying and wool felting on his sheep farm in Maine, and my mother supervising prop design for opera productions in Alaska—when she isn't camping on the side of a glacier.
I have at least 25 years to go, but I put a sizeable percentage [of my income] towards retirement, as I don’t earn a high salary as an educator, and know from my parents example that I’ll want to have a dependable long-term source of income to allow me to continue to live my dreams through retirement."
