Chess and Finances – The Retirement Planning “Game”

Have you ever played chess? Were you any good at it? Even if you were not good at the game, you must have noticed that it taught you a thing or two about learning to plan ahead, didn’t it?

Well, that’s what the game of chess is all about. It is about using mental energy to strategize moves well in advance as a means to corner the king and leave no room for him to run. It is about securing your position and being able to constantly form new strategies to stay on top of the game, given that the opponent moves unexpectedly.

This is exactly the same thought process that you can use to go about securing your financial future, i.e. by one, planning ahead, and two, being flexible enough to maneuver your next moves during market fluctuations.

Hence, it’s fair to say that the strategies involved in playing chess also apply to retirement planning, where the end game is a secure financial future. This very streak of chess players can be adopted by those planning their retirement.

How Can You Apply Chess Strategies to Retirement Planning?

A point of similarity to consider between chess and retirement planning is that of entitlement. When you are younger and as your income steadily rises, you need to be more aggressive in terms of saving for the future, and become a conservative saver as you near retirement.

In chess, the same rule applies, as in the beginning of the game it’s all aggressive moves to checkmate the opponent king, and once you come close enough, then it’s time to sit back and watch the king run till the game ends.

For those looking to set up the game right, the two strategies that are absolutely essential in order to save for retirement are:

1. The Obvious Emergency Fund

   The importance of an emergency fund cannot be stressed enough, as unexpected events can occur at almost any time. Hence, it becomes essential to save up an emergency fund by setting aside money in an easily accessible format, as per your preference and of course level of income, for which the need could arise at any moment.

2. Support in the Form of Life Insurance

   Investing in any type of life insurance is a sure-shot assurance that the financial needs and requirements of your family will be taken care of in case something bad happens to you unexpectedly, leaving you disabled or worse, dead. It is also one of the best ways to leave a legacy behind for family and other loved ones.

   Life has a way of never moving according to plan, so provisioning for an unexpected future is integral to living a comfortable and financially secure life with the family. When it comes to finances, concentrating on a comfortable retirement is necessary, since all plans yield good returns only in the long term, just like the trap you set for the opponent’s king in chess!