Plan Now - Buy Later

My butcher, who faithful followers of this blog will have already met, is currently inviting customers to join his Christmas Club. Now!

With the barometer threatening to climb above the 30 mark and that area between the shoulder blades sticking irritatingly, it's hard to imagine temperature values dipping within a month or two among frost and snow.  But the butcher is thinking strategically, if optimistically, ahead.

After all, in an era of savage but necessary spending cuts, with the promise of worse to follow, who knows how we'll be keeping the feast.  Scenes of Dickensian squalor matched perhaps by Dickensian charity come to mind, with the seasonal rescue of needy families by reconstructed Scrooges.

So embracing much-maligned prudence and  putting away a regular little sum with the butcher - confidently expected to withstand the advances of supermarket promises to shop lest we drop - is an assurance that preparation for an inevitable future event should be its own reward.  And offers a relatively painless solution to what might otherwise be less than comfortable.

A bit like retirement, really.

Now that most of us face the prospect of working longer, at the same time being forced to consider how best to employ our enforced leisure when retirement comes around, needs careful preparation and planning.

Focus for Change www.focus4change.co.uk helps all kinds of workers within a few years of retirement to make plans designed to make those years of freedom - years of choice - everything they hope for.

Finance has never been more important when it comes to considering the next phase of life and one of our independent financial advisers - we use a number who explain the issues clearly making no attempt at the hard-sell - takes time to provide ongoing support for individuals attending our interactive pre-retirement workshops.

Whether delivered in-house among the universities, local authorities, the NHS, manufacturing companies, professional practices or our open senior executive courses in London or at an Essex mansion, the emphasis is on an holistic approach.  Our experienced course leaders are keen to identify and address delegates' hopes and concerns raised by the prospect of this major life-change.

Delegate couples often admit they have learned things about each other they can exploit in the best possible way in their shared new life and the discussion which is an important part of the process opens the door to challenges and opportunities ensuring what could still be 20 or more years in retirement - we prefer the word 'freelancing' - fulfilling and exciting.

I think a couple of pounds each week should be sufficient to make sure of that Christmas chicken ...And with interest rates what they are, can you think of a better way of saving?