Your life really changes as you get further in your career and you start to contemplate retirement. Suddenly, instead of planning how you will climb the corporate ladder, you start to dream about what you’d like to do when you have all that free time. Perhaps you’ll take up that interest or hobby that you had to put on the back burner years ago because you were working so many hours. Maybe travel will move front and center and you’ll get an RV or go on a couple of amazing cruises each year.
Retirement opens up new possibilities in your life. It gives you the time and opportunity to create an entirely new world for you and your loved ones. Before you reach retirement age, though, you’ll want to take key steps to make sure that you are creating a life that is going to be comfortable during your golden years. Here are some tips to keep you on track.
Take the Time to Downsize
Once you sketch out what you imagine doing during retirement, it’s time to see how your current lifestyle maps to your new dreams. Many find that they are living in a big home filled with a lot of possessions in a city or suburb. The huge house and all the things they own were great earlier in life and certainly bring back memories, but it may not match the new them that is going to emerge during retirement. It takes a lot of time and effort to care for a big space that’s full of things. If you want to reduce your burden in life and save money too, you might consider downsizing and selling your existing home. It’s really helpful to go through everything you own and ask if each item still serves you and makes you happy. If you are able to downsize to a smaller dwelling, you’ll have less maintenance and fewer home responsibilities, and a big savings on monthly rent or mortgage costs.
Invest in Long-term Care Insurance
As you get older, you have to pay even more attention to your health and the potential care you might need. One of the most important aspects to consider is how you would pay for the expense of an assisted living facility or nursing home if you or your spouse or partner need a level of ongoing attention and medical care. It can cost thousands of dollars a month for long-term care, so having a solution that protects you both health-wise and financially is a top priority. With long-term care insurance you’ll get the coverage you need. To learn more about the best options, you can go online and review a guide that walks you through the pro and cons of LTC.
Create a Retirement Budget
When you retire, you face a new set of financial challenges. Instead of you and your partner getting regular paychecks from your employers, you are going to be relying on Social Security, your investment income, and your employer’s pension plan. In general, it will often be the case that you’ll have less money coming in each month that you did before. If you want to get a true handle on how to adjust to the reality of cash flow during retirement, you’ll need to create a budget. By creating a spreadsheet you’ll be able to see the exactly what funds you will have coming in and look at how to manage your expenses. You’ll also be able to model what if scenarios that show you the effects and benefits of downsizing, delaying the age when you take your Social Security withdrawals and more.
