Preparing for Retirement

The importance of saving for retirement can’t be overstated. How you spend your retirement income is important, but so is how you spend the rest of your life. Whether your retirement is near or years away, it is important to plan for this huge life change.

Test Drive

Don’t chance it. Rather than jumping into retirement cold turkey, consider the factors that will make your retired life either enjoyable or difficult. If you plan to become a snowbird, check out prospective landing spots while you’re working. This can help take the unfamiliarity out of a big move, but it won’t help you get over leaving friends, family and familiar surroundings. Make sure any move you make is right for you long term.

If you’ll stay in or near your current community, consider whether you’ll downsize, move into a retirement community or stay put. There are pros and cons to each option. If you downsize, mull over how you’ll rid yourself of excess belongings you’ve collected over the years and whether children, friends or charities will get what you leave behind. If you plan to live out your life in the same home, plan to update it prior to retirement.

Life Changes

Think about how leaving work behind will affect you. If you can’t wait to get back to the job while on vacation, you could have trouble leaving your career. If that’s true for you, consider keeping active in your career at least parttime, whether for pay or as a volunteer.

Also consider how to occupy your newly free time. Will you travel and take up new hobbies or will you devote more time to others, including family and those in need?

These are some of the changes you might consider before your big day approaches but not the only ones. Will you want to leave a legacy, financial or otherwise? Are you prepared for potential failing health or long-term care, two facts of life for which insurance can offer financial protection? Do you have enough money to support potentially longer lives (see Retirement Lessons From a Fairytale article)? Answer these and other questons and you're on your way to happy retirement.