Hi! I’m Paul – a retired IT professional who cares about helping others through my life’s array of experiences. To learn more about me, read my bio. Thanks! retirement retire
How to Know Retirement is Right for You
Everyone needs to be able to retire. Whether you are starting your career or have been working for years, everyone will face retirement. If you have not done so yet please read my other posts especially in the Health category. The items I discuss there would be more challenging if I was still working. There are many reasons people retire when they do. In this post I will discuss these reasons in general and provide you my reasons for my retirement.
What is Retirement?
Retirement refers to the time of life when one chooses to leave the workforce behind for good. The age at which someone decides to stop working is somewhat subjective. So, with that there are many reasons why people make their decision when they do. Some of these include:
- Health issues
- Mandatory or reached retirement age
- Dissatisfaction with career
- Stress from workload
- Family care
- Burnout
The above are common reasons why people stop working. There are others including the reason why I stopped working early. In my case, my section in the company was being outsourced. I could have stayed in the company. But, I would have had to apply for jobs, even in my current department. I have been working there for 27 years. I was a couple of years away from retirement. The difference in my pension was not significant, so I left early.
How to Know Retirement is the Right Plan
In the previous section, I told you the reason why I stopped working. It was a no brainer for me. Since leaving was approaching for me anyway, I had been thinking and planning for it for a while.
When is the right time to leave? Two websites can help answer questions like this. They are NewRetirement and Approach Financial. Questions you may have and should try to answer are:
- Do I have enough money?
- Can I afford it?
- Should I move?
- Am I retiring for the right reason (not out of spite or something similar)?
- Do I find another job?
- When do I get social security?
- What type of benefits do I need (health, dental, life ins.)?
- How do I spend and invest my money?
- What will taxes look like?
You should not make the decision lightly. Make it with your family and not on your own. If I had made it on my own, my marriage would have ended, but that’s a story for another time.
What Makes People Happy in Retirement?
Non-financial questions might be as important or more important for some than financial issues. Some of these include:
- What are you retiring to? It is important to know what you will be doing.
- What will your life look like? This needs an answer, especially if you find meaning through your work.
- Who will you be spending your time with? Think about this, especially if the people you usually spend your time with will still be working.
- What will be your sense of identity such as the way you think others view you? Will it change from what it was while working?
Being retired allows you to have more time for what you love, who you love, and to be less stressed resulting in being happier for this chapter of your life.
Two Types of Planning: Pre and Post Retirement
Pre-retirement
It is important to plan for the next phase of your life. As identified above, there are many things to consider when deciding to retire. You should start this pre-planning as soon as you enter the workforce if possible. Open a retirement savings account especially if your job does not have one like a 401K plan. Make use of company matching options and start saving a little out of each paycheck which will eventually add up. You will quickly adjust to the reduced spending money. As your income goes up, try to save a part of those increases. Think about when you may want to stop working. You can adjust this as you go along. If you do not have a plan, you will not be prepared for that eventual time when it comes.
Post-retirement
Once you are closing in on that day to stop working, you need to have your post-planning in full swing. Have most of the questions identified above answered. When you are very close to or actually retired, know what you want to do with the rest of your life. What do you want to do every day? Think about what hobbies you want to get involved with. Some people know exactly what they want to do. But, others don’t have a clue, like me. I knew I immediately wanted to address some medical concerns. After that, it has been a work in progress. The time to start answering those questions is really not after you retire. Take it from me!
Estate Planning
Not to depress you but you should also consider your estate plan. Decide for yourself what you want to happen with your assets if something should happen to you. If you die or need to move to an assisted living arrangement, you can plan how to address the expenses related to these situations. You should sit down with your attorney and accountant to figure out the details. This article discusses it.
10 Tips for a Successful Retirement
You can find many tips for success here. 10 of these that stand out to me include:
- Have a sense of purpose and meaning
- Create the most complete plan possible
- Overcome the terror of spending your nest egg
- Think health not wealth
- Volunteer and feel great
- Think income not investments
- Don’t overlook taxes
- Make your travel dreams a reality
- Spend time with the grandkids
- Make sure your planning includes your spouse and loved ones
My Guidance, or Not
Usually in my posts this is where I provide my guidance. In this case, I will only say that I could have done better myself in preparing for retirement. I always knew the day would come but for me it came a few years early. Not that I am in horrible shape but I could be in a much better position. A few bad decisions and challenges that life threw put me behind. This is why I wanted to share the questions and tips I have laid out in this post. You should take some of this to heart and plan for your retirement. If you are already retired, it is not too late to take a long hard look at your situation. It is important to me and of course you that you are happy and as comfortable as you can be. There are enough stresses and challenges while we are working. Now is the time to reward our efforts. I hope the information I provided you helps in some way. Happy retirement!
2 Responses
How nice that you could retire early! Very helpful information. Sounds like planning is key. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Mary Anne for your feedback. It is much appreciated.