Sure you like your job but if you had the chance to retire early, would you? Most people say “yes”, but when it comes down to actually retiring, most people have second or third thoughts about leaving their job.
For most people, retiring is a huge step and can cause a lot of stress. It’s kind of like going on vacation. You have to decide when, where to go and can you afford it. All good reasons to really think before you decide.
Should You Even Retire?
There are a lot of reasons to stay on the job. Maybe you have an emotional attachment to your office chair or perhaps you think your work is just too important to leave behind.
The truth is that there are many reasons to leave a job and just as many not to leave. For most people, a career that spans 30 years quite enough. In a career, you get personal attachments, a sense of belonging and a sense of security that’s hard to give up.
Is an early retirement realistic for you? Let’s take a look at some stuff.
When you’re 50, government actuaries says you’ll live about another 33 years (that’s from Social Security’s Actuarial tables). That 33 year retirement may be longer than your entire working career and you need an income that will last at least as long as you do.
Life expectancy is increasing by leaps and bounds with advances in medicine and technology and you might want to think in terms of a 40 or even 50 year retirement. Maybe you should ask another question.
Should you retire in the first place? Is retirement a viable option, or is a change in career more appropriate? Luckily, it’s your choice.
Rising costs and political uncertainty is causing a lot of people to have questions about the future. This alone makes it extremely important to figure out how to finance a successful and long term retirement and how to get the most out of what we have.
What Will Retirement Cost?
Besides travel, golf, fishing, and classes in macrame, what else would you like to have on the agenda? How much will your retirement cost? Will you have enough income to do it all? If you’re still saving for retirement, how much more has to come out of each paycheck to raise that much stash? Good question! Lets get the answer!
One thing I didn’t think about was inflation and how much stuff will cost in 15 or 20 years. After all, if you look 20 years into the future you can bet that the $50K that looks like a good annual income now will certainly have to be larger to buy the same things then as it does today.
But what’s inflation going to be through the years? Any figure you come up with is probably good enough to get you through the first year of retirement. We can guess what inflation will be and estimate what impact will it have over the 40 years after that?
Where To Retire?
Where are you going to live? With luck, the mortgage will be paid off so all you have to worry about for housing is property taxes and maintenance. Maybe you can sell out and downsize into a smaller place in a warmer climate. Sure beats having to shovel snow when you’re 70 years old, even if it is further away from family and friends. Besides, you don’t see the kids that much any more and they can always come for a visit.
You should probably think about insurance, too. You’re probably insured under group policies through work for disability, life, and health coverage right now. In fact, your employer probably kicks in part of or maybe even the entire premium for that wonderful insurance.
If you retire, you might lose that insurance coverage. Then what happens to your spouse and family if you’re inconsiderate enough to die at a young age? How will you pay for a major illness or hospitalization and all of the attendant physician’s bills if (heaven forbid) you should become permanently disabled?
You can probably forget about getting government help if you haven’t reached full retirement age. You may be too young to apply for Social Security or Medicare. And even if you do qualify, government assistance may not be enough for all the bills? If that’s the case, what are your alternatives for additional money? What about long-term care costs if you need it?
About now you’re probably thinking: “Hmmm, perhaps I should have had a few more children to help support me in my old age.” Don’t worry, you don’t need more children. But you might not be able to leave your job. I’m just kidding about that. I’m positive you can retire at any age without having to increase the population or stay chained to a desk.
Freedom is gained through careful planning. A free copy of “Easy Retirement Planning” can help take you through a step-by-step retirement planning process.
Retirement planning entails a lot more than just picking an age to retire and a beach to do it on. It requires taking a hard look at your lifestyle, your financial resources, and a bunch of other factors that we often take for granted.
Most of the concerns we have in retirement, but not all, deal with money or the lack of money. As responsible people, we have to face them head on and get all our ducks in a row. Otherwise, we’re setting ourselves up to just getting by.