Let me guess: you know you should be saving more for retirement. You’ve read the articles, done the calculations, maybe even started a pension or ISA. But somehow, you’re still not doing nearly enough.
Here’s why that’s not actually your fault.
The entire retirement system is built on a fundamental psychological impossibility: asking you to sacrifice today for a stranger you’ll become in 40 years. And then acting shook when you choose the holiday over the pension top-up.
Your Brain Treats Future You Like a Random Person
Brain imaging studies show something wild: when you think about yourself in 30 years, the same neural regions light up as when you think about a complete stranger. Literally. Your future self registers as “some other person’s problem.”
So when you’re choosing between a business course today and adding £200 to your SIPP, you’re not choosing between present and future you. You’re choosing between yourself and a stranger you’ve never met who might need money someday.
Of course the stranger loses.
This isn’t laziness or short-sightedness. It’s evolutionary wiring. For most of human history, “long-term planning” meant surviving winter, not funding a 30-year retirement that didn’t exist.
The System Is Designed to Fail You
You’re the first generation expected to self-fund decades of retirement while also building businesses, paying mortgages, and raising kids.
Previous generations had company pensions that handled the heavy lifting. You get auto-enrolment into a workplace scheme that’ll give you £8,000 a year if you’re lucky, and a financial system that shrugs and says “figure it out.”
Translation: you’re flying blind with everyone else’s expectations on your shoulders.
The financial industry loves to blame “financial literacy,” but that’s bollocks. You don’t need to understand compound interest theory to know £50 a month won’t fund your dream retirement. The problem isn’t knowledge, it’s that the system asks you to be a financial planner, investment manager, and fortune teller all at once.
Why Standard Advice Falls Flat
Most retirement advice treats you like a spreadsheet instead of a human being. “Save 15% of your income!” Great. What if your income swings wildly because you’re self-employed? What if 15% means choosing between retirement savings and keeping your business afloat?
“Start earlier!” Brilliant. What if you didn’t have money to save in your twenties because you were building your career, paying off student loans, or just trying to survive?
“Just automate it!” Sure, until your business has a bad month and you’re cancelling direct debits to cover rent.
The advice isn’t wrong, it’s just designed for employees with steady salaries and predictable futures. That’s not your reality.
What Actually Works for Business Owners
The solution isn’t to become a different person who naturally prioritises future strangers. It’s to build retirement strategy around how your actual life works.
First, stop thinking retirement, start thinking freedom fund. Your goal isn’t to hit some arbitrary number at 65. It’s to build enough wealth that work becomes optional. Maybe that’s at 50, maybe it’s at 70. But framing it as “buying back your time” instead of “funding old age” makes it feel real.
Second, tie it to your business strategy. Instead of fighting for scraps after everyone else gets paid, make retirement contributions part of your business model. Price your services to include not just your current lifestyle, but your future freedom. This isn’t selfish — it’s sustainable.
Third, use your existing money psychology. If you’re someone who needs to see progress immediately, put retirement savings in a visible account and check it monthly. If you’re better with “set it and forget it,” automate everything and review quarterly. Work with your patterns, not against them.
The Real Retirement Strategy
If you’ve been beating yourself up about retirement savings while building a business, paying yourself inconsistently, and trying to figure out what the hell a SIPP actually does — stop.
You don’t need more guilt or generic advice. You need a retirement strategy built for your actual life.
That’s why I don’t separate retirement planning from business strategy in my work. Your future freedom and your current cash flow are part of the same equation. When we work together, we’re not just building emergency funds and monthly budgets, we’re designing a wealth plan that makes sense for someone whose income varies, whose business comes first, and who wants financial security without sacrificing their entire present life.
Because the real retirement flex isn’t just having the money. It’s knowing you built it without burning out, compromising your business, or spending decades feeling guilty about every purchase.
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