Most people live their life with a vague idea of where they will be years into the future like when they are age 65 or so. In fact, I suspect many people give little thought to the long-term future, if any.
Oh, they may save, and around age 50 they may start asking about the income needed in retirement…and then they may panic trying to figure out how to catch up.

But along they way the focus is more on spending than saving and investing, on the desired car, or vacation or even that huge TV on the wall.
In short, we tend to see life as two distinct stages, working and retired … that’s a mistake. The spending and saving decisions made while young have consequences throughout life.
Better to view life, income, spending and saving as one journey so that along the way important financial decisions are consistent and consider not two stages of life, but life in total.