Whether retirement is more than a decade away or just around the corner, you may face significant challenges that will impact your desired lifestyle. Learning more about these potential stumbling blocks and taking steps to mitigate their impact now could make the transition to retirement go more smoothly.
One potential benefit of moving after retirement is the ability to sell an expensive home, buy a less costly one, and pocket the difference between the two. Besides, you never know if that course of action won’t be more lucrative than you first anticipated.
Remarrying and other life changes can add layers of complexity to the process of determining Social Security spousal benefits. Let’s look at a few illustrations.
Retirees and those close to retirement age felt the pandemic’s effects acutely during its initial stages. Stock market losses devastated families that had saved and invested properly. Older people in frontline occupations were driven to abandon their employment out of dread of Covid, and those planning to stay for a few more years may have lost their jobs due to business closures or reductions in force. Millions of elderly Americans had their retirement security threatened almost overnight despite government aid.
Inflation will eventually cool off, giving you a window of opportunity to increase your contributions to your retirement plan. However, you might be worried that you can’t make the necessary contributions to your retirement account right now. Although inflation may reduce the amount you can save from each paycheck, there is a way to grow your savings.
After the chaos of the previous year, a financial review in January is even more critical than usual.
Early retirement is a dream of many individuals. Perhaps you can achieve this goal if you commit to saving regularly. What if recent difficulties have compelled you to temporarily halt your retirement savings? Many consumers have had trouble keeping up with the cost of living increases caused by inflation this year. As a result, you might have had to cease making payments to your IRA or 401(k) plan so that you could maintain paying your rent or buying groceries.
You would not be alone in entertaining the thought of continuing to work after retirement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by the time we reach 2030, the percentage of adults aged 75 and more who are employed will have increased by 96.5 percent.
How would you like your retirement to look? Travel? Golf? Getting together as a family? You’ve worked hard and earned the right to do as you want after a long and successful career. Okay, but can you afford it?
The initial period of retirement is not called the go-go days for anything. In the early years of retirement, it is usual for retirees to purchase vacation houses, classic automobiles, and luxury toys. For many older folks, though, buyer’s remorse creeps in quickly.