Life Changing Advice from Retirees About Retirement Planning
One of the best ways to learn about retirement is by listening to someone who’s already retired what major mistakes can you avoid and what behavior can you implement today to ensure you reach your retirement goals will retirement really be as enjoyable as it’s made out to be you might be surprised by this advice coming from retirees pay attention to the last tip
Because if you don’t it could be nearly impossible to have an enjoyable retirement my name is chris and i help teach people about money personal finance and investing if you’re interested in improving your financial future make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the like button if this video is helpful structure your savings one of the most common mistakes
Is failing to direct money to savings on a regular basis a typical mentality is i’ll save when i have a little extra in reality money should be directed towards savings regularly every week bi-weekly or monthly a common misconception and one that scares people away from beginning to save is that you need to save a lot of money it absolutely doesn’t need to be a
Large percentage of your income starting to save 10 of your pay on a regular basis is sometimes all that’s needed it can always be increased over time even if you can only afford to save five percent of your income that’s fine too as increases can be made down the road many retirees regret not implementing a structure for their savings early on in their career
Don’t retire as soon as possible most people trying to achieve financial freedom make it their primary goal to retire as soon as they possibly can it seems like the end goal to lounge around all day with very few obligations and no need to go to work many people who retire end up going back to work and not because they need the money retiring early can be boring
For a variety of reasons there will be many recreational opportunities during retirement but after a few months of going to the park meeting with your book club and even traveling things will get boring also it’s worth considering that most of your friends and family could still be working will you really get sick of retirement maybe not but many retirees do find
It boring consider staying at a job that you find fulfilling you’ll also receive a financial benefit from letting your money grow for a little longer a couple more years on the job can make a big difference in your budget when you do retire working part-time is also an excellent alternative that can allow you to enjoy the best of both retirement and work focus
On growing your money saving a portion of your income should be a priority but you need to go a step further than that instead of focusing on just saving cash you should be focusing on how you can invest that money so it will grow when you have a substantial amount of money saved up further wealth building will be the result of the returns you’re able to achieve
And less about how much you’re able to save for example a one million dollar nest egg could grow an average of one hundred thousand dollars annually in the s p five hundred chances are that one hundred thousand dollars is much more than you could save from your paycheck select the best investments based on the amount of work you’re willing to do in addition to
Your risk tolerance and time horizon don’t underestimate the importance of selecting the investments that best align with your goals realize that retiring won’t make you happy if you’re working a toxic job and can’t wait to quit retiring might be a relief retiring could solve some of your problems but it won’t change your baseline level of happiness a common
Misconception is that once you can finally retire you’ll be much happier and you’ll finally be able to enjoy life on your own time the freedom that can come from retirement can certainly provide a level of happiness because you’ll no longer feel forced to go to work however there are new issues that can arise during retirement such as finding ways to fill up your
Days and reach a point of fulfillment essentially you’re trading in the worries of a worker for the worries of a retiree they may or may not be as significant but they’re still worth considering don’t see retirement is the end goal that will provide ultimate happiness instead have realistic expectations so it will be easier to adapt to a more relaxed lifestyle
Know that your life will change dramatically it’s underestimated how much of our life revolves around working and not necessarily in a bad way retirees often feel lonely especially when they spend the majority of their life working in a team setting you might take the days of casually chatting with your co-workers for granted and miss those relationships after
Retiring you can still have fun meeting with friends and family for lunch or around a golf but nothing quite matches that of a casual co-worker’s relationship furthermore it can be hard to relate to others when you retire early many people your age can have a life that looks much different than yours and it can be harder to find common ground their free time may
Be spent running errands and doing chores and they won’t have as much time for recreation scale down your housing this might not seem like that big of a deal but housing is the largest expense of the average household and its cost can have a big impact on your finances about one third of people’s total spending goes to their housing living in a more economical
Property or house hacking can reduce or even eliminate this expense entirely it’s much easier to do things such as travel when a smaller percentage of your income is being spent on a mortgage taxes maintenance utilities and so on according to bank of america the average total monthly cost for housing is one thousand seven hundred and nine dollars that’s how much it
Costs for an average home now consider someone who wants to keep up with the joneses buy a bigger and better home and double their monthly housing expense you might have a nicer house with better curb appeal but will spending three thousand four hundred and eighteen dollars per month really make you twice as happy you’ll be surprised how little money you actually
Need when you’re wise with these large spending categories know that your retirement will be personal a typical retirement might sound something like downsizing your home decreasing your spending and watching every penny but that doesn’t have to be the case retirement particularly early retirement looks different for everyone some people might decide to sell most
Of what they own and live in an rv full time others might spend their time abroad while others might continue working on a small scale some want retirement to be a time where they can spend as much money as they want without a tight budget the good part about being able to retire is that you can decide exactly how you want it to look and adjust it as you learn and
Your preferences change want to go back to work you can do that want to travel for a few years and then settle down in one area that’s an option too keep in mind that while you might think that you know exactly how your retirement will look you’ll likely want to make changes along the way and it might end up looking unlike anything you’d imagined invest in your
Health it’s easy to get caught up working overtime stressing over your job and putting your health on the back burner but wealth doesn’t exist without good health paying attention to your health is perhaps the most important thing that will allow you to enjoy your retirement think of a time when you were sick probably the only thing you wanted was to feel better
And nothing else seemed to matter retirement will be hard to enjoy if you’re not healthy poor health can restrict your ability to do and enjoy daily activities and hobbies and can also require frequent doctors visits appointments medications and other less than exciting things it’s much more difficult to enjoy traveling relaxing and spending time with those who
Are important to you with those things getting in the way on top of that poor health can ruin your financial plan make your health a priority throughout your lifetime so you’re able to do the things you enjoy later on this includes exercising regularly eating properly and avoiding unhealthy habits while every retirement journey is unique it can be beneficial to
Take advice from those who have the experience taking note of these tips will allow you to enjoy your retirement and time before to the fullest
Transcribed from video
Life Changing Advice from Retirees About Retirement Planning By Chris Invests