Bec Wilson answers: I feel like everyone else has retirement sorted 

How do you do that?   

1. Get clearer on your own definition of a good retirement  

Think about the things that matter most to you. How do you want to spend your time? Who do you want to have around you? What experiences are you looking forward to? How much do you want to work? And how much income each year would make you feel financially secure? Your answers don’t need to look anything like your friends’ answers. This is your retirement after all. 

2. Compare your progress with your own plan  

Once you know what you’re aiming for, you’ll be able to benchmark yourself against your own goals - and make sure you’re moving in the right direction. Are you taking progressive actions towards the life you want?  Will you be able to get to that level of income from the sources at your disposal? What still needs some work and what can you do next?   

That’s a far more useful comparison than wondering whether you should have the same super balance as the bloke at the barbecue.   

3. Remember, nobody shows the whole picture   

We tend to see other people’s holidays, retirement parties and big plans as something we want. And we don’t necessarily see their mortgages, their health worries, the arguments they have about money or the compromises they’ve made to get where they are. We also don’t know what they’re worrying about at 2:00 a.m. So be very careful comparing the inside of your retirement planning with the outside of someone else's.   

So, where do you start?

Build your own retirement scorecard and an action plan to go with it. Write down five things that would make your retirement plans feel like they’re on track, these might be:   

• Setting an income target and knowing when you have enough to get to it 
• Having enough saved in your experience fund to afford the big epic holidays on your bucket list for the first 10 years of your retirement
• Understanding what your ideal pathway out of the workforce might look like
• Building the fitness and health you want to take with you into retirement
• Having enough interests, people and plans outside your work that you find yourself getting excited about what’s to come.  

Give yourself a score out of 10 for each one.  Anything that’s at eight or above - stop worrying about it. Anything that’s a four, five or below - that’s where your attention goes next. Suddenly, instead of worrying about whether everyone else has their retirement sorted, you’re working on getting your retirement sorted.