Thank you. Retirement（退休）. It's a word. It's a dream. It's the epitome（ 典型） of living the good life. Yet（但是） for many, it's an enigma（谜） wrapped（裹） inside a maze of financial obscurity.

  We live in a world that perpetuates（ 使长存） the idea of more. More gadgets（小器具）, more trips, more experiences. But rarely does it tell us to think about later. But what if we shift（替换） our lens（透镜）? What if we shift our focus from all of this intentionally living for today to also intentionally planning for tomorrow? Today, I want to talk to you about that shift.

  The shift towards understanding, managing, and reimagining your financial future. First, a brief（简短的） background on me. I've worked in the financial services sector（部门） for the past 20 years, spending the first half of my career at two of the world's largest asset（资产） managers. And today, I lead my own financial planning firm（商行） where we help successful professionals（专业人员） across the UK reduce taxes, invest smarter, and retire on their terms. Now, with that context in mind, let me assure（使确信） you that I've observed（遵守） the ramifications of inadequate（不充分的） preparation for retirement（退休） many, many times. The impact is often understated（少说）, not necessarily disastrous（灾难性的）, but invariably（总是） disheartening.

  For example, did you know that in the UK, the average income（收入） for pensioner couples is around £2,200 per month? Now, I can almost hear your thoughts. Average. But Amir, I'm attending a TEDx talk. I'm not an average person. Point taken.

  But when we delve into the specifics（特性）, it becomes glaringly clear that a substantial（大量的） number of people are underprepared for retirement（退休）. Let's crunch（嘎吱嘎吱地响(声)） some numbers. According（使一致） to a recent survey by the Pensions and Lifetime（一生） Savings（储蓄） Association, to live comfortably（舒服地） in retirement（退休）, a couple would need an income of approximately £3,500 per month, assuming（假定） no lingering（逗留） housing（房屋） costs, such as a mortgage（抵押） or rent. So while the average income for pensioner couples of £2,200 per month is no pittance, it's far removed from the £3,500 per month figure you would need to live the good life. But numbers can be faceless. So let's hear some stories.

  You might have come across an elderly（上了年纪的） neighbour who is still working part-time, driven by necessity（需要） rather than choice. Or maybe you know someone who has had to downsize（裁员） their comfortable family home for a smaller, more affordable（负担得起的） space, losing cherished memories in the process. To bring this closer to home, let me share with you a story about Sarah, one of the individuals I have the privilege（特权） to advise in my financial planning practice. Sarah has recently found herself facing a financially（ 财政上） challenging（ 具有挑战性的） position due to her parents' lack of planning. When her father passed away, he left behind Sarah's mother with minimal（最低的） financial resources and just a small income（收入） from a couple of inherited（继承(传统等)） pensions. This has necessitated（使成为必需） a drastic（激烈的） change in my client's lifestyle, forcing her to accommodate（容纳） her mother in her home and take over her financial support.

  These aren't mere（仅仅） anecdotes. They're stark（刻板的） reminders（ 提醒物）. They highlight the very real consequences of taking a backseat in your own financial planning. Now, as someone who dedicates his professional life to helping successful professionals plan for their retirement, I've realized that as long as people have enough money to sustain（支撑） their day-to-day life, they often adopt（采用） a rather unconscious（无意识的） attitude towards money. So I invite you all to stand（站立） up for a moment and participate in an exercise with me. And if you can't stand up for any reason, please feel free to join in by raising your hand.