Have you ever thought about your retirement? What age would you like to retire? Have you made your retirement plans yet? Do you have an strategy that will give you enough passive income to sustain yourself in your sunset years?

Well, Rhina Namsia, the founder and chief executive officer of The Acemt Consulting, a training and consultation company that provides financial planning and investment advisory, explains why the 35 years that precede your retirement age are the most critical in your financial life:

Standard One (as Class One was called before the primary school class naming system changed) to Standard Eight was one of the longest periods in life. All you worried about at that point was scoring good marks and doing well enough to go to a good secondary school.

Then came the 4-year period of high school. This period moved so slow, especially in the first weeks of opening school for those in boarding schools. However,  before you knew it, four years were over and KCSE results were being announced. In those four years of high school, what many worried about was on teen-hood changes and challenges, performing in school, quarrels with parents, discovering likes, preferences, and dislikes, and food in school. Very few of us knew what they were doing over this period.

Then came the period after high school and just before college. Up until now, this remains one of the most challenging times between parents and their children. One finally feels or thinks that they have now found freedom, while parents on the other hand worry about their kids’ new-found freedom and what it will mean for their lives and development into adulthood.

There’s also the thinking of what next, college, university, career-choosing, relationships and so much more going on. This time moves so fast; it is like it just disappears. College life is another roller coaster period and it’s after that the saying ‘you either went through school or you went to school’ becomes clear!

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In all these stages, no one really worries about their future and their finances as much. Even in college while pursuing those ‘cool’ degrees in order to earn more money like those we seemingly admired, no one actually thinks of RETIREMENT.

I mean, who thinks about life at 60 when they are just 25 years old. Even though this age is only another 25+10 years away. Funny enough, from that age, one is engaging in activities that will either slow down or increase their earning power. Becoming parents, career growth, entrepreneurship, moving countries, moving towns, marriages and divorces. And before you finish sneezing, the years are over, and all of these activities deteriorated your savings or your growth towards a better retirement in various ways.

It is in these 25+10 years that you need to start preparing for your retirement. It is not an easy thing to put your mind to especially if you’re an informal employee, but you can start thinking about it and follow it up with investment decisions that will put something aside for your retirement.

Retirement is not defined by age, especially in current times. It is defined by your readiness towards chasing and attaining your life’s aspirations.