Preparing for retirement is one of the toughest and most important challenges that a person will face in their lifetime, so if you are wondering when to start planning for your retirement years, the sooner you start, the better. The following takes a brief look at how to go about preparing yourself for retirement.
ORGANISE YOUR FINANCES
One of the most challenging things about retiring is ensuring that you will have enough money to live on, so you should be organising your finances well before you even think about handing in your resignation.
If you can, it is wise to build up a portfolio of diverse investments to fund your retirement, but regardless of what you do, make sure that you have some sort of plan for your finances before you go ahead and announce that you are calling it a day.
GET HEALTHY
A lot of people put their work ahead of everything, including their health, so if you are one of these people and are looking to slowly get ready to retire, start by getting yourself intoa bitbetter shape, so that you can actually enjoy your retirement.
Whether you start going for walks after dinner each night, swimming laps at the local pool, or going to the gym, if you are ever going to prioritise your health above everything else, there is no better time than in preparation for retirement.
DO SOME RESEARCH
Retirement is a time of a lot of change and flux, and is unlike any other time of your life, so don’t underestimate how big a deal it will be, and make sure you do some research into what lies ahead for you. Retiring can affect everything from your house insurance to your mental health, so take this important stage of life seriously, and be sure that you are entering it fully prepared.
Reading books on retirement, talking to retired friends, or scanning online blogs can all offer a lot of useful support and advice, especially when it comes to making an investment plan for your retirement, so get clued in, in any way that you can.
MAKE A PLAN
A lot of people have a hard time getting used to being retired, as they are unaccustomed to having so much time on their hands, but if you make a plan for your retirement before you retire, you will be able to spend less time feeling lost, and spend more time loving your new lifestyle.
You don’t necessarily need to have a detailed plan, but even just thinking about a few things that you want to do – such as taking a course or travelling somewhere – can help offer a little bit of direction in those early days of retirement, when you are most at risk of feeling a little lost.
SEMI-RETIRE FIRST
A smart way to get used to the idea of being retired is to semi-retire first before calling a more permanent end to your working life. This way, you can gradually get used to spending less time at work and having more time on your hands, and you will be able to slowly make the transition into full retirement (
Preparing for retirement), while avoiding the shock of going from full-time employment to suddenly being done with work.
