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What do you think someone in their 40s is thinking about right now?  

I can think of a few things, and I bet it’s not retirement. Even though we’re being told today that that’s what someone in their 40s should be thinking about. 

But I bet they’re not. 

I reckon if someone is in their 40s and they’re a parent with kids at school, they’ll be cursing about all the back-to-school costs. But they’ll probably also be loving the fact that the holidays are pretty much over. 

What else might people in their 40s be thinking about right now? 

Maybe, with it being January, they might be thinking about trying to get a new job this year. Some of them will be thinking about getting a job full-stop.  

If they’re in their 40s and they run a business, they’ll probably be hoping they can get through this year just like they got through last year. They might even be looking at their mates who have a job and get paid a salary and be thinking that working for someone else doesn’t actually look that bad after all. 

There will be people in their 40s dealing with relationship break-ups. Some will be moving on to the next one, blending families and all of that. 

They’re just some of the things that a person in their 40s might be thinking about right now. 

But do you think anyone in their 40s is thinking about their retirement? In fact, not just thinking about it, actually planning for it. How likely do you reckon that is? Very unlikely. 

But apparently they should be.   

That’s according to the author of a new report out today which says “oh you know how we’ve been telling you that you need to have a million bucks in the bank if you want to have a comfortable retirement? Well, you might not need that much after all.”  

In fact, you might even get away with having just $120,000 in the bank.  

That’s the “no frills” version of retirement, by the way. If you want the frills, you’re going to need a million.  

So where’s this thing today about young people proactively planning and preparing for their golden years coming from?  

It’s coming from Massey University’s financial education and research centre, which has looked at spending by people who are retired now, and they've worked out that $120,000 in the bank could be enough for a comfortable “no frills” retirement.  

They’ve found that retirees in urban areas spend less than retirees in provincial areas. But they pretty much put that down to things being more expensive in provincial areas and people having to drive more in provincial areas.  

But even though they’re saying that $120,000 might do it instead of a million, they say that some other form of income after the age of 65 is needed for a really comfortable retirement.  

And this is what Associate Professor Claire Matthews wants people in their 40s to be thinking about right now.  

She says the standard of living most people hope to have when they retire requires more than just NZ Super, and that requires long-term thinking and planning.  

But I think that kind of talk is unrealistic for the reasons I mentioned earlier. People in their 40s have got enough on their plate without thinking about retirement.  

Granted, we are light years ahead from where we were when I began my working life, now that we have KiwiSaver.  

In fact, I reckon people closer to my age —I’m 56— I reckon a lot of us are pretty distracted with life too and retirement isn’t really on our radar.  

Sure, I’m doing the KiwiSaver contributions each fortnight, but that’s it.  

And I’ll be totally honest with you, when it comes to my retirement, I’m probably preferring not to think about it.  

Which I know is pretty reckless.   

But it’s for the exact same reasons why I think someone in their 40s today won’t be giving too much thought to how life is going to be once they hit 65.  

It’s called life. And doing what you have to do in the here and now.