You were young and you just started your career a couple of years ago. You still have many years of work ahead of you. But then, someone talked to you about retirement planning. While he passionately shared his excitement about his plans, you pretended to listen when your mind was wandering around.

“Retirement plan is so not sexy”, you think.

When the person left, you happily shrugged everything he just talked about and moved on with your life.

Now, fast forward to your mid-thirties. Your career is booming and your family is expanding. Your expense is increasing and it seemed like despite the increase in your salary, your family’s demand is increasing as well. Somehow, your income is never enough to cover every need.

A thought of retirement plan crossed your mind, but it’s not a good time. You have a lot of important things to spend your money on.

Speed up to your mid-forties. Your kids are in high school or college. You didn’t know they would need that much money for tuition, clothes, prom clothes, studying tools and other countless things.

You started to worry about your retirement. You looked into some retirement plans and were amazed at how compound interest worked. Now, you wish you started it a long time ago.

If you saved $1,000 a month, when you retire, you could have around $500,000. But how in the world could you save $1,000 a month?

Then you thought about the medical bills when you age and the mortgage you are still paying. No way you could save more than $200 a month. You thought you were too late.

The truth is, the sooner you started your retirement savings, the better. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t start when you’re in your mid-forty, mid-fifty or even mid-seventy. No matter how late you start, an effective retirement plan could help you a lot in your future years.

Here are 6 secrets to effective retirement planning:

Never run out of money

The first thing to remember is to make sure you never run out of money.

If you start your retirement savings early, that’s great. If you start late, don’t get stressed out and try to make up for the past years by saving the highest amount of money you can.
Don’t confuse retirement money with emergency money. You always need emergency money. That comes first and retirement comes second.

Don’t be fooled by the big fat juicy yield

When deciding your portfolio, don’t go straight to the highest yield possible. Higher yield means higher risk. Be careful as all the stocks and bonds in the market try to emphasize their high yields with a little or no talk about the risks associated with them. That’s what they do to capture you.

Don’t be fooled by their lip-deep promises. Do your own research about the companies you want to invest in and diversify your portfolio. You will be much safer if you put your eggs in different baskets.

Watch out all hidden fees

This is an area that you need to put an eye on as those fees can take a bite out of your returns.

Think of all the scenarios that can happen and find out if there is any fee applied to them- from registration fee, investing fee, transaction fee to cancellation fee. You don’t want to find out you have to pay a penalty fee if you sell your preference bonds at the very last-minute.

Automate your retirement saving

Many people prefer to set up their retirement savings on autopilot. This way, you can’t touch that money and you also don’t have to worry about how much you should put into your pension plan.

If your employer offers a pension plan such as 401(k), make sure you register for it. If not, you can ask your bank to automatically transfer a sum from your account every month to your savings account.

Assess your retirement plan every year

Once you find your retirement plan, don’t abandon it. The market goes up and down and so does your portfolio.

Revisit your portfolio often or make sure to read notifications from your portfolio manager to assess how well your retirement saving performs. Make adjustments if needed. This way, you’ll be able to stay on track for a better retirement.

Increase your retirement savings every year

At the beginning, when you see a drop in your net salary, you would struggle to make it fit all your family’s expenses. However, once you are in a place that your net salary must work, things will work out. You would no longer pay for something you never use, like some cool gadgets or a gym membership.

Once you cut down all the unnecessary things you normally spend money on, you would save a bit more from your salary. Don’t use this leftover money to buy something fancy as a reward. Put it into your retirement plan and set a goal to increase it by 1% every year.

See Also: Retirement Activities that are Financially Viable 

Over to you

Creating an effective retirement plan requires hard work and commitment. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. But, the hard work is definitely worth it.

Imagine your last working day before saying goodbye to 30 years of hard work. Your last paycheck is in your wallet. You drive home after a fancy farewell dinner and you have an exact plan on what to do next.

You come home to your spouse to start packing luggage for a vacation. Only this time, you don’t have to worry about getting back to work. Your vacation can last as long as you want to. You can totally afford it without a second thought because you have a great retirement plan to back you up.

And it really can. It is never too early or too late to start your retirement so start today.

See Also: 10 Amazing Business Ideas For Stay-At-Home Retirees

 

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Setting life goals is generally considered as a positive thing. I disagree with this. In my view, setting goals provides motivation in life but kills happiness

Relation between setting goal and happiness

There seems to be no relationship between happiness, wealth and prosperity.

The latest figures released recently by World Bank recently show that global poverty level has reduced by half over the last 30 years. This implies that the poverty level has now dropped below 10%. A report presented by CNBC Money on March 24, 2017 shows that the wealth and purchasing capacity of American people at present is stronger than ever before.

However, all the reports and statistics indicate that American people have been less happy. United Nations Happiness Report 2017 suggests that happiness in the United States is declining. In the article ‘Why Americans Have Gotten a Lot Less Happy’ by Martha C. White published in Time Magazine on March 16, 2016, Jeffrey Sachs, the head of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, asserted that “the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier.”

This is likely to be the picture too in other countries around the globe.

Despite having increasing wealth, people are not becoming happier because the source of their unhappiness remains. There is no way to measure how wealth can make a person happy as it will depend on one’s expectation or goal. If a goal is not reached, people can’t be happy- even if they’re billionaires. Goals always exceed achievements.

Setting goal is never ending

Take, for example, a floating ball. No matter how high the water level increases, the ball on the water will remain afloat. Our goals float always on our achievements.

The process of setting life goals is never ending because people keep on setting new goals. We set mainly result-oriented goals and we take them so hard that we are always in anxiety and tension.

I agree that pursuing a goal gives motivation. It could be possible to be happier if attaining the goal is possible.

When we reach our goal, we instinctively seek another goal to make us happier. This way, we are caught in the habit of setting goals continuously in our lives. The process of achieving goals no longer becomes fun; it becomes a burden on our shoulders

Why happiness is on the wane

All the statistics regarding the level of happiness are done by surveys. The results vary depending on how the survey is conducted. And because there is no other way to measure these statistics, we simply accept them as the truth.

Wealth is often associated with satisfaction in life. However, it does not have the same impact on happiness. Happiness is a psychosomatic, matter which cannot be improved by material things alone. We can explain that by the old proverb, “the more you get, the more you want”.

Not many reach the goal

Some researchers have identified ten things that make us unhappy while others have identified five things. However, I find only one thing that hinders happiness and this is setting a goal in life.

Setting a goal is seen as a positive thing by the majority of people. However, I do not see that in the same way.

According to a research conducted by the University of Scranton, only 8% could achieve the new year goals they set while the other 92% could not and, thus are left feeling frustrated and unhappy.

See Also: How to Set Personal SMART Goals To Succeed

Aiming high cause unhappiness

As human beings, we are naturally driven by ambition. My primary school teacher once asked us about our aim in life. Every boy and girl in my class had an aim in life. Some wanted to become billionaires, some had the ambition to become doctors, and some wanted to become famous singers.

However, none of us seemed to evaluate the possibility of achieving those aims. In other words, we did not evaluate if we are capable of reaching our ambitions or not. As a result, we realize with time that we may not reach those goals and that realization makes us sad and frustrated. If we take that seriously and if we focus too much on achieving those goals, we become constantly worried. This can make us extremely unhappy.

Goal setting theory and my own experience

Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory suggests that what you want to do and how you execute strategies to achieve a goal is applicable for companies that set strategies to accomplish that. I have not seen that many people set process goal in their lives. Even if they do, it would make their lives boring as they’ll behave like machines following their daily routine.

Even all successful companies are careful to guide their outlooks. If the target is not achieved, then share price tumbles.

Such high aims or target setting upset our lives. Last year, I was working for Danish Refugee Council among the Syrian refugees who were crossing the Danish border. I counseled many of them who clearly expressed their unhappiness in Denmark. Their target was to be accepted as refugees in Sweden, but they were unfortunately stuck in Denmark. They escaped from Syria where thousands of people were being brutally killed every day.

They arrived in one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries but they remained unhappy because they could not reach their target destination. It crossed my mind that even in a desperate situation, the refugees were not happy.

Goal gives motivation but not happiness

It is possible to attain a goal for material gains, but attaining a goal cannot bring about happiness. According to a professor of Psychology at Denver University, Iris Mauss, wanting to be happy can make you less and, if you explicitly and purposely focus on happiness, that can have a self-defeating effect.

More often than not, we do not set our goals based on our own desires. Instead, we set goals in our early lives based on the desires of our parents and social pressure. In other words, we set our goals to compete with others.

However, it is important to note that when we set goals based on desires that are not our own, it makes us frustrated and unhappy. It makes us undermine our own desires.

See Also: 4 Powerful Ways To Stay Motivated And Reach Your Goals Through Tough Times

How to eliminate problems of goal setting

The main drawback of goal setting is that there are many unknown factors that can come into play. In a fast-changing society like the one we are living in now, long-term goals often fail. If we persistently stick to such goals, it creates a constant mental burden.

Instead of setting long-term goals, we can set a number of short-terms goals. These goals are easily achievable and do not involve a lot of uncertainties. We just have to know ourselves, so that we can have an idea of what and how much we can accomplish.

Goal setting is not the only thing that determines our happiness. Happiness has many elements, like positive emotions, relationships, accomplishments and gratefulness. Eliminating goal setting alone will not make us happy. You also need to have positive emotions and a deep sense of appreciation in life.

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Like many girls, I have a passion for beautiful things and that includes luxury bags, especially the holy grail of handbags, the Birkin. I am neither a VIP at Hermes nor celebrity but I have brought back a total of five Birkin bags from the Hermes boutiques (New York and Paris) within three years. Some were obtained as a walk-in while others required certain purchase history.

With this, many people have asked me to share my experiences and tips on how to get a Birkin.

Here goes:

Try your luck as a walk-in at Hermes boutiques

It is rare to get a Birkin as a walk-in, but it doesn’t hurt to try your luck. I have successfully obtained two Birkins as a walk-in.

In my experience, dressing up nicely or wearing Hermes products do not guarantee you get offered a Birkin. Dressing up casually or not wearing Hermes products do not lower your chance of getting offered one, either. How you ask and when to ask for it matters.

Tips:

• Do not ask for a Birkin right away but show your knowledge of their products and slowly bring up the idea that you’re looking for a Birkin.

My first Birkin was bamboo 35 in palladium hardware (as shown below) and I obtained it from a Hermes boutique near my home as a walk-in in 2014. I remember wearing casual clothes and carrying a non-designer bag when I walked into the store.

The store wasn’t crowded that afternoon. I just walked into a friendly sales associate and told her that I wanted to buy a bag but not sure what to get.  Then, I looked at the garden bags and commented that the colors and leathers seemed nice but it would be nicer if they were Birkins or Kellys. That sales associate responded that she knew what I meant but they didn’t have any.

After chatting more about the new colors and designs they had for the season, she eventually opened up and asked me to wait. Then, she came back with a big orange box. She took me to a private room and showed me a 35 Birkin in bamboo color. It was an amazing feeling to get an offer and I happily bought it. Of course, I was extremely lucky then.

• Ask your husband/boyfriend to get it for you.

I have seen well-dressed men taken into private rooms and came out with big orange boxes. I know what those boxes have!

Sales associates know that men who walk into the store are ready to spend $$$. This means you’ll have a higher chance of getting one when your husband/boyfriend buys them as special gifts for you.

My husband walked into the same boutique that offered me the bamboo Birkin and told a lovely SA that he wanted to get something special for my birthday. That SA just walked back to the stockroom and returned with a beautiful blue electric Birkin in size 30 (as shown below).

• Try your luck at the mothership store in Paris.

The mothership store in Paris located on 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré definitely has the widest inventory of the bags. There, you have a higher chance of getting a bag without previous purchase history.

Of course, it depends on the SA, the timing, the manager who will approve the bags and how open-minded you are with the colors/leathers/hardware. It seems that bright colors and seasonal colors are offered more often to tourists.

• Shop on weekdays and avoid the month of August

Based on most people’s experiences, boutiques receive shipments mostly during the weekdays and rarely on Saturdays. Also, the artisans like to take vacations in the summer, especially the month of August. Thus, the inventory is the lowest then.

Build up purchase history at boutiques

In general, Hermes likes to offer bags to customers who enjoy all products of the brand and not just their bags. Buying other non-Birkin/Kelly items is a way to show them that. However, what you buy and who you buy it from matters.

Tips:

• Stick to the same sales associate in one store.

If you have multiple purchases from different stores, you need to spend a lot more from both stores to get offered a bag. Also, you need to build up a relationship with the sales associate in a store if you want to get a Birkin.

After getting one bag, it is important to maintain good relationships with the SA. You can try bringing some desserts during holidays or introducing your friends to the same sales associate.

• Build up purchase history by making small purchases over a long period of time.

If you only buy non-Birkin/Kelly items, it may take you longer to get a bag offer, especially as a new client. An SA has many clients and it is hard for her/him to remember each one’s spending and wishlist. You can visit the store often so your SA will remember you. You do not need to make purchases each time.

• Buy big-ticket items that have high sales commissions.

My third Birkin was purchased in 2016. It was a 35 black birkin in gold hardware (as shown below). That was offered by the same sales associate who sold me the bamboo Birkin a few years back. I waited for two months for that.

 

During these two months, I made few purchases of non-Birkin/Kelly items, such as cashmere shawls, silk scarves and fashion jewelries before I was finally offered a black Birkin in gold hardware. This one took a long time because the items I bought were popular Hermes products that had lower sales commissions. It would have been much quicker if I bought less popular products that had higher commissions, such as fine jewelry, clothing, and home products.

While different stores have different requirements, the current general standard in the States is:

• Spending $4,000 to $8,000 on non-Birkin/Kelly items to receive an offer for a basic leather Birkin/Kelly.
• Spending over $20,000 on non-bags to get offered a special order (where you can design your own bag).
• Spend a lot more and become a big client for an offer for a crocodile or ostrich Birkin/Kelly/Constance.

Whichever you prefer, you can buy many smaller items at different times (which will take longer) or buy one big item to get offered a bag relatively faster.

Paris FSH Store Experiences/Tips

I had great experiences shopping at this mothership store in Paris. As many of you are aware, this store requires an appointment to see a leather sales specialist. I have been to this store twice and received an offer for Birkin bag each time.

This is how I did it:

Day 1

The first time I went to FSH store was last Thanksgiving. My friend and I didn’t line up outside in the morning the first day. We arrived at the store around 5 pm when the store was about to close.

There, I went directly to the second floor to check out fine pieces of jewelry. I bought a gold ring and the jewelry SA immediately brought an SA from the leather department to help me with the bags. I wanted a neutral colored Birkin, but they only had bright colors left for the day. So, they asked me to come back the next day.

Day 2

I lined up outside of the store around 8:30 am and got an appointment to see a leather specialist at 11:30 am. During the wait time, I checked out the different departments of the store and bought a few belts and scarves.

Around 11:25 am, I went to see the jewelry SA who helped me the day before and he brought the assigned leather specialist to meet me at the fine jewelry area. The leather specialist asked me about my wishlist and went to check her inventory. She came back and told me that she had bright colors, but no neutral colors. She then asked me to come back the next day and directly ask for her.

Day 3

I lined up outside again around 8:30 am. I asked for an appointment specifically with the leather specialist who helped me on Day 2. This time, my appointment moved up very quickly and I met with her around 10:15 am. Again, no new shipments yet and she asked me to try again in the afternoon (no need for an appointment). I came back in the afternoon and directly went to see her in the leather department. Still, no shipments.

But, this time, she felt really bad and offered me a special order. I was able to select the exterior/interior leather/colors, the stitching and hardware. All the pain I suffered was totally worth it! Here is a picture of my SO.

 

The second time I went to FSH store was this summer. My mom and I arrived Paris in the morning and went to FSH around 11:30 am. The store was not full that time as most Parisians went to the south for vacation. The store has fewer visitors because the stocks were low, too.

We didn’t have to line up outside to get an appointment. The greeting team just assigned one leather specialist to see us immediately. We met with the leather specialist in the leather department. We chatted a little bit. I told him that it was a trip for my mom’s birthday and it would be lovely if I could get her a gift (a Birkin or garden party).

He took down our wishlist and my passport and came back with a big orange box! It was a black Birkin in size 35! We knew that stock was really low and we were so happy to get an offer.

I don’t know if my strategies will work again under FSH store’s new appointment system, but they are definitely worth trying. Here are some tips:

1. Try to buy fine jewelry, clothing or home products and have the sales associate in these departments to introduce you a leather specialist without an appointment.
2. Show up later in the day and see if there is one leather specialist available to help you without an appointment.
3. If you have an appointment with one leather specialist in the morning, ask her/him if you can come back to see her/him again in the afternoon.
4. Utilize all of your networks and get to know Michael Coste. He is the head of client relations at Hermes and works in the FSH store. He spends a lot of time with celebrities and important people and has the best bags to offer. You will be in good hands if you get into his circle :).

Good luck on your first Birkin. I hope you find these tips helpful.

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