No matter how much you try not to think about it, retirement is part of your life. This is why you should stop for a moment and think about this important stage, regardless of your age. Think about how you picture yourself after retirement, your hobbies, and daily activities, try to map out a financial plan based on those ideas and keep in mind that the unexpected could always be around the corner. Although it might seem blurry now, try to focus on that stage of your life and make the best of it.

 

Postponing the moment, you start investing in retirement

This is probably the biggest mistake one can do retirement-related: not thinking about it in time. This is the exact reason why I wrote this article, for you to understand the urgency of this matter. Do not fall into the trap of waiting! With retirement, you should not take your time, you should take action instead, and as soon as possible. If you want to take into consideration this idea of thinking about retirement from an early age, here’s an article on ways of preparing for a longer retirement, you should read.

 

You are only 20? Stay tuned and keep reading! That is the exact age when you should be starting to think about retirement and retirement plans. When we’re dealing with this problem, there’s no such thing as too early, really. It might sound like a crazy idea, but cautious parents would create a retirement bank account for their child to use in the future.

Ok, it might be used for college before retirement, but the child would, in this way, become accustomed to the sheer idea of saving and do it himself/herself later in life. There’s no better way of showing an example than taking an action towards solving a problem.

 

 

Retiring without a clear (financial) plan in your mind 

You shouldn’t let the important stages of your life come and take you by surprise. By creating a clear plan, it will be easier for you to deal with problems, regardless of their nature. In this way, you won’t be put in the darkness of the unknown, but have the necessary tools to solve problems. You can check if you are ready for retirement right here: retirementinvestments.com.

 

If you’ve taken the quiz, it’s time you thought about a real plan. Because it’s a new stage in your life, you have to think clearly about retirement. Trying to picture the way you will be living your life day by day is the best. Really! Just sit down, take a piece of paper and a pencil and start taking notes: When I am 70, I will be traveling/teaching/reading/tending the garden all day long.

Think about all the activities you will be doing at retirement and write them down. Try to mention as many details as possible, so your plan is as accurate as possible.

 

Once you’ve written down all the activities, it’s time you correlated them with the needed sum of money. If you want to take a trip to another continent twice a year, calculate all the expenses. If you will, instead, earn money, because you will be teaching French to children, take that into consideration. It’s important that you do not forget about the retirement taxes you will be paying each month.

 

Ignoring the idea of the unexpected 

Just thinking about the fact that you will be retiring at some point in life is not enough. It is, of course, better than nothing, but it’s just the starting point of a bigger plan. And a big, safer plan, would be considering the unexpected as well.

 

What does the unexpected mean? Anything you can think of, anything you wouldn’t normally think about – starting with car accidents and ending with hospitalization or home care. Medication, doctors and all the rest turn financially into bills you will eventually have to pay. So, a good piece of advice would be to consider all these risk-factors. Do you want to be cautious about retirement? Give this post a read!

Time is money, especially if we are talking about retirement. So, the sooner you think about it and take action, the better. Make a clear plan of your wants and needs, include a sketch of your daily life and calculate all the financial aspects in the equation. Take into consideration the unexpected and you are all set!

 

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March 1st, 2020 by financetwitter

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