Are You Ready to Retire?
Are you ready to retire? A lot of people respond quickly with an affirmative answer while adding that they can’t wait to leave their job behind. But the question deserves some serious thought and your answers to a few basic questions will give you a very good idea of whether you’re ready to leave your job behind and get along with your own savings, social security and any other income you may have. These are serious questions and deserve a complete analysis before you cut the “supply line” to a steady income.
The first question that comes to mind for most people has to do with financial considerations and there are two ways to approach getting a complete answer. The first is to be very sure about the amount of income you’ll have coming in and how well-positioned you are if your income is market based and stocks take a downturn. A good financial advisor is essential here because they can propose different alternatives to safeguard your investments and help you calculate an annual amount that you can count on from your investments no matter what the market does. You should be fully engaged in any decisions and make an effort to understand the basics of the markets and investing. It can be a great hobby and will be a great asset in any conversation you have with your advisor. Keep in mind that no matter how good your financial advisor is, they are going to rely on you for the next key ingredient to a complete answer to the question: are you ready to retire? That, of course, will depend on comparing your retirement income to your expenses and having an accurate retirement budget is critical and you’re the only one who can do it. Only you and your spouse, if you’re married, know what you want your retirement lifestyle to be and the more accurate and complete you can make it, the better your outcome will be. A couple who are facing retirement need to be fully aligned with how they see the rest of their lives unfolding and that conversation cannot take place too early or too often. It’s fun to dream and plan and making sure that you’re both looking forward to the same things is essential for a happy and fulfilling life. We’ll come back to that in a minute but there’s one area that needs to be addressed first.
Are you ready to retire?
How you answer that question is very important.
Health and medical coverage is a big concern for any retiree and, although Medicare is a great program, it doesn’t cover everything. Many retirees rely on supplemental health insurance and that is a critical part of any retirement planning. Are you ready to retire? If your answer is yes, then make sure all the critical boxes are checked off and taken care of. Making sure that you have adequate health and medical coverage should be an important part of your checklist. A good health assessment by a doctor can set your mind at ease and let you know if you’re ready to tackle all of the activities you were planning to do when your working days are behind you. Skydiving, anyone? Why not? Go hike to the tallest mountain near you if you can handle it. Anything you ever wanted to do is fair game in retirement and people don’t think enough about how they want to spend their time and that’s the part I referred to before: your retirement lifestyle and how you’re going to spend all of that free time.
While the financial adjustments are pretty clear to most people, the way they intend to live their life may not be. Too many people don’t think about how their life changes once they don’t have to be at a job for eight, ten or twelve hours a day when you count commuting time. On your first day of retirement, you’ll have a blank calendar. What are you going to do every day? How many days in a row can you play golf or read? For some people, those activities are enough but, for most people, they realize the wisdom of the saying that too much of a good thing isn’t as good as it might seem. If you browse through these pages, you’ll find that having a purpose in life is something I believe is essential to a fulfilling life and there are many ways to do that. Constantly learning new things is a great way to keep engaged in life and a challenging hobby or learning a new skill can certainly be a way to bring a sense of purpose to your existence. Volunteering and helping other people is another excellent way to feel that you still have something “left in the tank” and it’s amazing how rewarding and fulfilling it can be. Are you ready to retire? Answering that question as completely as you can might lead you into a whole new existence with activities and experiences you never imagined. That’s what retirement is all about. Don’t let anyone tell you that your golden years are for memories and a rocking chair on the porch. It can be about creating new memories and traveling the world if that’s what you’d like to do. When you’re finally ready to close the door to your working career, the retirement portal should be something that you look forward to. Your best days can be ahead of you if you plan it that way because the possibilities are endless. Sit down and make your plan. It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!
Thanks for visiting. If you like what you see here, please tell your friends. If you haven’t done so already, be sure you take The Self Discovery Challenge for Retirement! It’s designed to help you make the most of this wonderful time of your life. You’re never too old to discover something new about yourself!
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