5 Steps BEFORE You Retire
Are you thinking about your future, your retirement? Are you wishing that you could retire sooner rather than later? Are you wondering how it will even be possible to retire?
Well here are five steps to consider before you retire – five things that will help get you there sooner…
1. Get Out Of Debt BEFORE you retire
2. Downsize your expenses BEFORE you retire
3. Understand the tax implications of where you retire
4. Save and/or invest as much as you can before you retire
5. Acquire unique skills for supplemental income ‘after’ you retire
Get Out Of Debt BEFORE You Retire
This is one of the biggest issues these days. Too many (most) people ‘live large’ while having burdened themselves with excessive debt relative to their income. This debt often shackles the ability to advance in any real way. It will be exceedingly difficult to transition into retirement if you are carrying debt. Do what you need to do, and get rid of it. Live BELOW your means…
Downsize BEFORE You Retire
Your income WILL be greatly reduced during retirement. That means you will need to be living a lifestyle that already matches a reduced income level for after retirement. That may require you downsize your way of life. Look around you and look at your own lifestyle. Can you eliminate things or reduce things or live smaller such that it will have a lesser impact on your budget?
Understand The Tax Implications Of WHERE You Retire
There are tremendous differences between one state and other states and one region or another with regards to taxes. Especially pay very close attention to property taxes because property taxes will never go down. They will always go higher. Throughout your retirement you will be required to pay those taxes. You might seriously consider moving…
Save And Invest As Much As You Can BEFORE You Retire
This sounds obvious and simplistic, however many, many people do not save enough money and/or invest enough for their future retirement. Even presuming that ‘social security’ benefits will be available to you, the fact is that the money you receive is going to be a lot less than you’re used to – and you will still have expenses. So the more you have squirreled away, the easier it will be to adapt to a much lower income.
Note: ‘Investing’ may be VERY risky today depending what you do, so be VERY careful.
Acquire Unique Skills For Supplemental Income
This category is huge. Unfortunately there are many people who simply cannot retire because they have not prepared. They will need to continue working until the dirt nap. That said, there may be a very good opportunity for you to do ‘something’ that will add a bit of income after you retire. Some part time work that you can handle. Depending on where you live and the services that may be of value there, you might consider acquiring whatever those skills happen to be, so that you can do some part time work to supplement your retirement.
CONCLUSION: There are LOTS of things to consider and to do correctly and beneficially BEFORE you retire, and hopefully these ideas presented above will get you to thinking about it…
For those of you who have already retired, or retired in the sense that you’ve left your previous career and are at ‘retirement age’, what are some of your own suggestions for those who have not yet retired??