It’s a frightening financial fact that the world’s baby boomers are going to eat up what little is left of state retirement funding and the rest of us (who have a few years ahead of us before we can quit the commute) will be left to fend for ourselves financially in retirement.

We all know this because politicians around the world are warning us about it ad nauseum and because financial advisers and bank managers are trying to scare us into complicated and costly retirement savings plans with their unique brand of fear marketing.

However, did you know that by simply utilizing a few clever planning, budgeting and saving techniques you can forget fearing for your financial future and instead build up secure wealth, create peace of mind and ultimately look forward to a future of financial freedom?

One of the main aspects of securing your financial future is creating a realistic plan for that future and staying focused on achieving your goals.

If you don’t know where you want to be in retirement how on earth will you get there?

Do you want to be a finance-free home owner? Would you like to be in a position to make a down payment on your children’s homes? Will you be sailing the seven seas in a yacht (cue pop-up of corny picture with happy smiley retired people on a boat as used by many financial advisers trying to sell you a pension) or would you like to be living exactly the same lifestyle but in an alternative location?

You have to have something more tangible to work towards than simply ‘retirement’ - so create a picture in your head of where you would like to be and how you would like to be when you come to retire and let this image be your plan and let it guide you.

Next up the majority of us need to budget to create a surplus of wealth that we can put towards achieving our long term aims. Few of us are lucky enough to receive substantial bonuses, inheritance windfalls or lottery payouts therefore by examining closely that which we spend a month we can see where money is being wasted!

I can guarantee that if you save all of your receipts for a month and then sit down and go through them you’ll be shocked at how much the inessentials cost in life! How much for that morning coffee and cake, how much for that service you no longer require but which is debited from your credit card automatically each month, how much for the cab rides you could avoid if only you set your alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning?

Look at what can be stripped out of your life without negatively affecting it – I am not one to advocate living a thrifty and bare life today so that you can buy a Ferrari when you retire – but I am one who believes a little in looking after the pennies…

Set a figure that you can comfortably avoid spending each month and then do something useful with it!

It’s at this point that financial advisers will try and shove it in a pension, your bank manager will try and tie you up into a long term investment and your dad will suggest you shove it under your mattress. I say – whatever works for you!

There are a wealth of alternatives available to suit your attitude to risk, the length of time before you retire, the amount you have available to save, whether you are resident in the country in which you were born or you live overseas, whether you are in a position to boost your savings with tax free investment vehicles etc., etc. By keeping an open mind, subscribing to some tried and tested sources of wealth management information and trusting only those who take the independent approach to financial advice through focusing on the individual saver or investor you will find the right path for your wealth management.