- What Does Retirement Mean to You? ➞
- Calculate How Much Money You’ll Need ➞
- Eliminate All Debts ➞
- Max Out Your Retirement Accounts ➞
- Invest Wisely ➞
- Understand How Social Security Works ➞
- Learn How to Reduce Your Taxes ➞
- Ensure You Have Good Health Insurance ➞
- Create a Side Income ➞
- Estate Planning ➞
- In Conclusion ➞
(Photo by Mihály Köles/Unsplash)
Research has shown that millions of seniors are inadequately prepared for retirement. This means having to work well into their golden years just to support themselves.
It’s an unfortunate situation, especially for those not in the best of health and feeling weary. Financial stress should not be a part of any senior’s retirement years.
The good news is that you can avoid a lot of financial problems with good planning ahead of time. By planning your retirement early, you’ll know exactly how much money you’ll need to support your lifestyle.
The earlier you begin, the easier it will be to attain your retirement goals. You’ll spend wisely, save more, and retire on your own terms without being a burden to anyone.
In this short report, you’ll discover 10 tips on retirement planning. Bear them in mind when planning out your finances for retirement.
What Does Retirement Mean to You?
This is the most important question you’ll need to ask yourself because it affects every other decision you’ll make.
At what age do you wish to retire? 62? 65? 72?
Some people may decide to retire earlier while others prefer to work and stay busy. If you retire earlier, that will mean your monthly income will stop, unless you’ve invested wisely before.
If you carry on working because you enjoy having purpose in life, you’ll still have an income coming in and will not be as worried about your finances.
Besides this, you’ll need to decide on the lifestyle you want. Some people may prefer to spend their golden years at home gardening, reading, watching TV, and playing with their grandchildren.
Other seniors may prefer to spend time at the golf course or go on vacations and live the life they always wanted to when they were younger.
Speak to your spouse and discuss how both of you wish to spend your retirement years.
Once you know the lifestyle you desire, it’ll be time for the next step…
Calculate How Much Money You’ll Need
If you’re just planning to spend your golden years at home and reading books, relaxing with family, or going fishing on the weekends, you won’t need to save up too much.
However, if you plan to spend your days golfing or traveling to different countries, you’ll definitely need more spending money.
There’s no right or wrong answer here. Decide what you want and do the math. Add up your household expenses, insurance payments, projected expenses for what you wish to do, etc., and come up with a generous estimate on how much you’ll need.
It’s better to overestimate than underestimate. Remember to factor inflation into your calculations. You might estimate set a life expectancy for yourself at 82-85 and calculate based on the age you decide.
Once you have a number, start saving towards it. Look at your income and decide how much you’ll need to save each month to hit this number.
You may need to trim your expenses or earn more to hit the monthly target. This is why it’s best to plan early. You’ll be able to do more and save more.
Eliminate All Debts
The best thing anyone can do for their finances will be to eliminate debt as soon as they can from an early age. If you’re debt-free by 40, you’ll have a good 25-30 years to save a chunk of money for your retirement.
Debt here refers to personal loans, credit card balances, and so on. Ideally, you want to pay for your car with cash so that you don’t waste money paying interest on car loans.
If you have student loan debt, aim to pay it off as soon as you can. The same applies for your house. Frugality when young will mean that you have more money to pay off debt and become financially free.
Since debt robs you of your future and makes everything more expensive than it needs to be, getting clear of it will open up a lot more options for yourself.
Whatever you earn can either be saved or invested. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to save for retirement when you don’t have debts eating away at your earnings.
Strive to pay off all debts as soon as possible.
Max Out Your Retirement Accounts
If your employer offers a 401(k) match, you’ll definitely want to contribute to your 401(k) so that your employer contributes to your account too. While you’re limited to a certain amount of contributions each year, it still helps to contribute just so that you qualify for the employer’s contribution.
You should also open a traditional IRA account and contribute there, too. Later on, you can open a Roth IRA when you’re older.
Having different retirement accounts and saving in each will mean that you enjoy different types of tax advantages. You’ll also be able to invest the money in these accounts in safer vehicles of investment and grow your money.
This definitely beats keeping your money in a savings account which pays a low interest rate that doesn’t even keep up with inflation.
Ideally, you should hire a financial advisor to draw up a plan for you. Tell them your retirement goals and they’ll guide you on how much to save in your different retirement accounts and so on.
Make sure the financial advisor you hire is fee-based and not working for a commission. They should be advising you based on what’s best for you.
Navigating the different types of retirement accounts can be confusing for most people. So while you’ll need to pay for a financial advisor, this will be a one-time investment that yields benefits for years.
Every 7-10 years, you may hire an advisor again to review your finances and see if you need to make any changes and so on.
Invest Wisely
There’s no better way to grow your money than to invest it in promising companies that will grow with time. That’s basically what buying stocks is all about.
You’re investing in a company and holding on to the shares for years. Over time, as the company becomes bigger and more profitable, the share prices will rise and your investment will appreciate. When you cash out, you’ll stand to make a tidy profit.
There are many different types of investment vehicles such as bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, stocks, and more. Each has its pros and cons. What matters here is that you study the investment method well before plunging into it.
You must be aware of your risk tolerance and the different types of fees, rules, etc., associated with the investment. Do not haphazardly invest. The slow and cautious investor is the one who makes the best decisions.
Just know that the earlier you start investing, the easier it will be to grow your money. The stock market and other investments (despite the risks) have always delivered better returns than just leaving your money in the bank.
Understand How Social Security Works
Millions of seniors believe that social security is enough to tide them through retirement. This is NOT true. Social security is merely a safety net for seniors who don’t adequately prepare for retirement.
ALWAYS plan for retirement by saving in your own bank account, maxing out your 401(k) and IRAs, and investing your own money and growing it. That’s the best way to ensure a comfortable retirement.
While you shouldn’t rely on it, you’ll still need to understand how it works. The full retirement age (FRA) for social security is currently 67 years old. Generally, you want to wait as long as possible to withdraw your social security money.
The earlier you take it out, the less money you’ll get. It’s best to wait until you reach the FRA age. This will ensure that you don’t need to go through earnings reviews which end up getting your benefits withheld.
Do consult a financial advisor so that you can plan in advance how to reduce the taxes on your social security benefits.
Learn How to Reduce Your Taxes
Knowing how to legally reduce your tax burden will help you have more money which can be used to invest or save. One may even be led to believe that tax code is intentionally complicated.
If everyone was asked to pay a flat tax rate, things would not only seem simpler, but also more equitable. Yet, there are tons of clauses and loopholes within the tax code which causes individuals to pay higher tax rates than corporations and so on.
Maybe now you can see why taxes are overly complicated. The best thing you can do is study this topic in detail or hire a tax expert to advice you here.
You may want to move to another state when you’re retiring so that you pay lower taxes. Or you may wish to move your assets to your spouse’s name because they’re in a lower income bracket and will pay less taxes.
If you have a Roth IRA account, then you can contribute to it tax-free. You’ll only need to pay taxes upon withdrawal. So, if you’re in a lower income bracket when you retire, you’ll pay considerably less taxes when you withdraw from your Roth IRA.
Ensure You Have Good Health Insurance
Generally, as people age, they need more medical care. Having a good health insurance plan with solid coverage will ensure that you don’t end up with massive medical bills.
Furthermore, you may wish to get a Health Savings Account (HSA). With this account, you’ll enjoy tax advantages because you won’t need to pay taxes if you withdraw the money for approved medical expenses. This is unlike a 401(k) or IRA where you incur a penalty for early withdrawal.
The money in your HSA can be rolled over into the next year and the year after that, if the money is not used. This is different from most insurance plans (that have no maturity date) where you lose the money if you don’t use it.
So the HSA can be used as a way to save for retirement too.
Besides health insurance and HSA, you’ll want to think of long term care and other healthcare costs.
Create a Side Income
One of the best ways to ensure financial security will be to create a side income. The good news is that the internet has opened up opportunities to millions of seniors to generate a very good income online from the comfort of their own home.
Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, spending 4 hours a day on your online business will allow you to earn a 4 or even 5-figure monthly income. There are seniors earning 6-figure incomes too!
All it takes is some learning, application, and effort. Once you’re making money online regularly, you’ll have more financial stability and won’t need to constantly worry about your income running out.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to keep yourself occupied and this is an important part of retiring. You’ll have a sense of purpose and can make new friends with other marketers in social media groups and so on.
If you build a profitable online business, that will also be a legacy that you can pass on to your children so that they can manage and profit from it too.
Alternatively, if you wish to get out of the house and mingle with others, you may choose to work part-time at places where you meet lots of other people. Many seniors feel lonely and enjoy meeting others… and then there are those who would rather be by themselves.
Do what’s right for you… but look out for ways to make more money for yourself. Just because you retire, it doesn’t mean that you need to force yourself to be unemployed.
Estate Planning
Estate planning is not just for the rich and famous. If you’re a senior and you have assets like a home, bank accounts, retirement accounts, etc., you do have assets… and these assets will need to be distributed to your family members upon your passing.
The best way to go about this will be to hire a qualified lawyer who specializes in wills, trusts, elder law, etc., to guide you here. Even if you have no family to distribute your assets to, you may wish to donate your money to charities of your choice.
Estate planning will help you to decide what to do with your assets in advance. If you don’t have a will, your assets will be divided and distributed according to state law and this may not be what you actually want.
So ensure that your wishes are clearly stipulated in your will and do it all legally so that the will holds up in court should family members try and contest it in the future.
In Conclusion…
Always remember that it’s NEVER too early to plan for retirement. In fact, the 25-year-old who plans for it is already way ahead of the game, and if he/she sticks to the plan, they could even retire a millionaire.
The longer you wait, the more effort is required. If you start planning for it in your fifties, you’ll not only need to catch up on your retirement contributions, but you may need to save even more because you’ve not saved enough.
You also won’t have that much time to leverage the power of compound interest.
So, start planning for retirement early. Do your research and study this topic well. Hire a financial advisor to draw up a plan for you. You might even want to hire another one to get a ‘second opinion’.
Then create a retirement plan that works and stick to it. Every 10 years, look at your plan and see if it’s in alignment with your goals. You might want to rebalance your portfolio or sell off a few stocks to buy a rental property and so on.
Whatever the case, manage your finances wisely so that when you retire, you’ll be comfortable and have the freedom to live life the way you want to without money being an issue.
That’s the best way to retire. Start planning today.