So, you’ve already reached retirement age or are already financially set for the rest of your life that you’re now seriously considering the idea of retiring in a few months’ or years’ time. Who can blame you? The idea of spending your day waking up whenever you wish and doing things as you please is just a tempting one no matter how you view it.
But, before you call it quits and entire retirement, you should first do some important things to ensure that you won’t have any regrets later on. These things include leisure activities, financial, as well as personal matters. By ticking all of them off, you can be sure that you’ve made the most out of life and are fully ready to embrace the retirement phase.
Here are the top things you must do and experience before retiring:
1. Devise a retirement plan.
You can’t just wake up one day and declare that you’re retiring the following month. Not only is it absurd but it’s also quite irresponsible to do. Instead, you have to meticulously plan things out with the help of a licensed retirement financial service provider. Such a professional knows everything related to retirement: from tax and estate plans to risk management and pre-retirement financial investments. By having a well-thought-out plan before retirement, you can be sure that you’re financially and personally secure throughout your retirement days.
2. Carry out the necessary improvements and repairs to your home.
You don’t want to spend the first few months and years of your retirement getting all stressed by the things that you have to repair or renovate in your home. Knowing this, the best time to accomplish them is right now. By doing so, you’ll spare yourself the trouble of getting all worked up by the hassles of managing the home repairs and improvements to make your private residence more conducive for your retirement.
3. Settle all your debts and save up.
You should not consider retirement unless you have fully paid off all your financial obligations, as your creditors could go after you when you should’ve been relaxing instead. Additionally, you should only retire once you have saved up enough money to last you throughout your retirement. These are two things that are considered non-negotiable if you want to enjoy a debt-free and peaceful retirement.
4. Embark on a much-deserved long vacation, preferably out of the country.
While retirement is considered by many as the longest vacation there is, there is still something different about a formally planned vacation. Before you go on your retirement, consider first enjoying a week-long or month-long vacation in a relaxing tourist spot, preferably in a foreign country. You deserve such leisure for all your hard work and you should make the trip worthwhile by planning it down to the smallest detail. With proper planning, you’ll surely have a vacation that you’ll remember forever.
5. Mind your insurance coverage.
Post-retirement healthcare and other insurance requirements are things that you have to consider before your actual retirement. On average, 65-year-old retirees spend around $280,000 throughout their retirement years, which is easily a sizable figure that not all retirees can afford with ease.
With this in mind, you should get insurance policies that would cover practically all your retirement needs, given that Medicare cannot cover everything. You must cover long-term care, disability, and life, among other things. You might one or two insurance policies for all of them, so be sure to do your research to find the perfect insurance policies to cover your needs.
6. Map out your retirement activities and routine.
Do you intend to spend your retirement traveling across the world or you prefer to stay at home and look after your grandchildren? Knowing what you’ll do once you’re retired is another thing that you must settle before the fact. While a bit of spontaneity now and then is good, it’s still important to properly layout your retirement activities for good measure. By mapping out what you’ll do upon retirement, you’ll be properly guided on how you’ll spend your days instead of running around totally clueless about what to do.
7. Decide when you’ll begin availing of your Social Security benefits.
At age 62, you can start enjoying your Social Security benefits and live a considerably comfortable life. But delaying the time when you’ll start collecting payments could make your monthly payouts considerably larger. Additionally, collecting payments before the full retirement age would do the exact opposite: make the payments smaller. With these considerations, you must carefully weigh your options before starting your first payment.
By taking care of these important things first, you can look forward to an enjoyable and comfortable retirement.
