With your senior years on the horizon, there’s one question that’s probably uppermost in your mind: “Will I have enough money to retire?” You’re aware that Americans are living longer than ever, and that living through your retirement years is more expensive than ever before. How will you determine whether or not you’ve saved enough for retirement? Start by asking yourself these questions.
What type of lifestyle do you want to lead?
When many people think of retirement, they think of all the things that they want to do: trips that they want to take, things that they want to buy, and changes that they want to make around the house. If you have expensive plans for your retirement, you’ll want to make sure that you have the finances available to cover those plans. Take a moment to sit down and budget out expenses that you’re expecting for your retirement years, and make sure that money will be there when the time comes for you to retire. You can’t take a weekend trip to visit your children or grandchildren every few months if the money isn’t there to do it, so make sure that you have the money you need to enjoy the plans you have for retirement.
How much money do you spend each month? Each year?
Take a look at your current expenses. By now, you’ve probably paid for your house, and the odds are good that you’re driving a car that’s been paid for. Those reduced expenses are useful as you enter retirement because they will decrease the amount of money you need to withdraw from your savings or investment accounts each month. Take a close look at the money that you’re really spending each month so that you’ll know how much money you need to have saved. In addition, consider yearly expenses: your homeowner’s insurance, oil changes and routine maintenance to your car, and any routine maintenance costs you have around your home. This process will help you take a more realistic look at what you’re actually spending every year, which will tell you what you need to have in savings.
What are your plans for long-term care?
When your health starts to deteriorate and you’re no longer capable of living at home by yourself, what are your plans? Do you want to use in-home care to allow you to live in your home for as long as possible? Do you prefer to choose an assisted living facility based on the criteria that will make it most like home for you, rather than based on what your insurance will allow? All of those solutions require you to have the money saved up to make it possible. The later years of your retirement, when you require more help and care, will likely be much more expensive than the early years, when you’ll be relatively independent. Make sure that you take this into consideration when you’re planning out your retirement.
Planning for retirement means taking a lot of things into consideration that you’ve never had to think about before. Throughout your adult years, money has come in each month. While the numbers in your accounts decreased during hard times, there was still a job on the horizon to help raise the again. In your retirement years, however, you’ll be reliant on your investments to see you through. Looking for more investment advice to make your retirement easier and to ensure that you have the money you need to make it through those years of your life? Contact us today to see how we can help you plan for the retirement you deserve.
