What does your ideal life after retirement look like? Do you envision sipping cocktails on a sun-drenched beach, or would you rather spend your golden years hunting and fishing in the remote wilderness? Do you picture yourself volunteering to help others, or traveling to exotic locations?
No matter what you’re dreaming of doing when you retire, there are several essential steps that you need to take if you want to make it a reality when the time comes. A successful post-work life hinges upon careful planning and preparation. If you take the time to research your options and set aside money, it will be that much easier to enjoy your life once you leave the working world behind.
Here are six things you need to do to create an effective retirement plan.
1. Decide what kind of life you want to lead
This might sound silly, but you need to first envision the kind of life you want to lead before you can start to plan for your golden years. What does the home you want to live in look like? In what kind of neighborhood? Do you want to travel or spend more time with your family?
You must have a clear picture in your head of the kind of life you’d like to have in your later years so you can make a decisive plan for it. You’ll need to take travel, healthcare, childcare, and other living expenses into account, and make sure your savings are enough to allow you to live comfortably when it’s time for you to retire.
2. Determine how much you’ll need
Financial planning comes into play here. You’ll first need to determine the amount of money you’ll need to be able to live in retirement—and that figure might surprise you. While some people choose to live on as little as possible, others prefer to use it as an opportunity to splurge and treat themselves. Also remember to factor in the cost of your lifestyle once you retire; the cost of eating out, going to the movies, and other pastimes can also add up quickly, so you’ll need to account for that too.
One easy way to determine how much you need is to use an online retirement calculator. There are lots of different ones out there, but they all do the same thing: they take your current income and expenses and factor in how much they’ll increase when you retire to determine how much you’ll need to live each month.\
3. Ensure that your savings are in order
This is another important step in retirement planning—one that many people tend to forget about. You’ll have to make sure that you accumulated enough savings for it to last you throughout your later years.
Will you be using your current work pension, or do you plan on investing? It’s important to think about which accounts you’ll be looking to use for your savings. You’ll also need to consider the risk level you’re comfortable with and make sure you’re diversifying your investments to reduce them.
4. Review your pension options
You’ll want to consider the amount you’ll be contributing to your workplace pension to make sure that it will be enough to provide you with a sufficient income in the coming years. If you have not been contributing to your workplace pension, now is a good time to start. You’ll most likely have a decent amount of time before you have to retire to put a significant amount of money away, so it shouldn’t be too hard to do.
However, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan just in case your pension isn’t enough. You’ll want to make sure that you have other savings plans in place.
5. Manage your income
Once you know how much you’ll need, it’s time to decide how you’ll earn your income. You can choose to work part-time, do freelance work and side gigs, or even start your own business. You can also choose to invest in rental properties or other investments that can provide you with a steady source of income.
You might not want to rely on your work pension alone, and that’s okay. It is advisable to have multiple income sources to provide you with a decent amount for your retirement. This is an important part of financial planning as it will help you plan your career path, future, and investments accordingly.
6. Decide how you’ll protect your wealth
Retirement is a time when you’ll have more free time on your hands than ever before—which means it’s a critical time to protect your wealth. What happens if something happens to you and you aren’t able to earn an income? You might want to consider putting a will in place or making sure that you have life insurance just in case.
It’s also important to make sure that your assets are protected so that they are passed down to your loved ones in the way you want them to receive them upon your passing. You’ll want to consider how to protect assets from being misused—particularly if you have a lot of money saved up.
Conclusion
Retirement is definitely a big change, and you want to make sure that you’re prepared for it. There’s no real secret to retirement planning—it’s just a matter of getting your financial planning in order and making sure that you have enough money saved up to last you throughout your post-work years.