One thing you may not know about me is that for the last eight years my wife and I have had a goal to visit all 63 US National Parks.
I've been thinking a lot about those past trips and what made them so special. And that got me thinking about one of the best, but also most challenging, trips I've ever taken.
Hiking the Grand Canyon
In July of 2019 my wife and I hiked to the bottom of and camped in the Grand Canyon. It was an amazing experience. Hiking before sunrise, beautiful views, reaching the Colorado river below.
I swear the pictures don't do it justice. But of all the things this trip had I can tell you one thing for certain...it was not easy!
When I started planning the trip months earlier the amount of preparation I realized we needed was pretty daunting.
After all hiking a total of 17 miles and camping with only what you can carry on your back, in mid-summer 100+ degree heat, could easily get you killed if you're not ready for it.
We did all of the research - what gear we would need, the best foods to have, how much water to carry, the best routes to hike. And as a result of all that planning, once we got there, the hike itself didn't seem all that bad.
Don't get me wrong it was still a challenge, but compared to the many horror stories I had heard we actually had a really great time. I would honestly love to go back and do it again someday.
(Can you believe I took this picture with my phone!)
My Best Advice
Now the best advice I can give you if you're ever considering your own hike into the Grand Canyon is this - plan, plan, and plan early.
It truly made all the difference for our trip, and I can't imagine how things would have gone differently had we not done our homework prior to the journey.
This realization got me thinking, not just about the Grand Canyon but how important planning is in every aspect of our lives.
I help Pharmaceutical employees every day and talking about retirement, college, or investment planning might seem really overwhelming at first. But if you do your planning, and if you do it early, reaching that goal becomes a lot less scary and a lot more feasible.
What blows my mind is the fact there are some people that will do more planning for their summer vacation each year then they do for retirement planning!
I've had tons of conversations with people who haven't even thought about planning for retirement.
You're "Nowhere Near" Retirement?
One of my favorite excuses from people who don't want to work with an advisor is how they are "nowhere near retirement" so they'll "reach out" when they're closer.
As if that extra time making sounds financial decisions isn't likely to improve their potential to reach their end goal?
One of the first things I found out when researching our trip to the Grand Canyon is that we couldn't just go camping there if we didn't have a permit.
Permits were awarded by a lottery system months in advance and applications had to be submitted during a specific timeframe.
I ended up sending an application in February for a trip I was taking in July. Now if I had not done my planning early and instead started looking in June, there's a pretty good chance my trip would have never happened.
And yet when I meet someone who wants to retire at age 60 but would rather wait to do financial planning when they're in their late 50's I simply wish them luck.
Hopefully they are making the right decisions with that extra time. If they aren't, by the time they're a few years away all they can do is try and play catch up.
Start Planning ASAP
On the flip side if you're planning for your goals early, and you know the destination you're working towards your retirement might be a great experience.
In terms of the Grand Canyon it's the difference between a beautiful journey, and a life threatening hike.
Speaking of life threatening...can you imagine if your company stock plummeted? How would that change your retirement plans?
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