Do This Before You Retire

So you’re fortunate. You’re getting ready to retire. You’re leading up to that big day where you walk out of your office for the last time or your workplace and you don’t have to come back, right? You get to sleep in on Monday, Tuesday. And you’re one of those people, maybe your friends are like, they don’t even know what day of the week it is anymore, right? You get to retire. So what should you do leading up to that point? Well one thing, I’m going to give you four main things, but a big topic at the beginning that’s not one of the four. If you’re one of the folks that have watched us over these last 11 years, you probably know what’s going to come out of my mouth, but have a plan. We talk about this all the time on this show. Have a retirement plan. We don’t want to just all of a sudden walk out of the workplace one last time and say, now what do I do? That plan has got to be detailed and organized. But four little tidbits to take away from this here to kind of maybe what you have or haven’t thought about. One, retirement budget. What are you going to need to live on in retirement? What do your expenses look like? Maybe for some folks in retirement, expenses might drop a little bit. For some folks, they actually might go up. You got more time. There’s maybe some projects you want to do, some travel. Some more time with grandkids, hobbies, stuff like that. So really think about that budget. The second thing, where is my income going to come from that’s going to pay for these things on my budget? You know am I going to get Social Security? Do I have a Pension? How am I going to turn my retirement savings, 401Ks, 403Bs, IRAs, the likes into a paycheck? Have all those things planned out. The other thing is know when you’re, let’s call them benefits are going to expire. So when you’re still working, you know how long is your company health insurance as an example, going to last? Sometimes it’s the day you retire. Other times maybe they keep you through the end of that month. So you know when you think about expensive health plans and health costs, stuff like that, if you have a procedure or stuff, then get some of that stuff done in advance why you still maybe have good insurance. You know depending upon that dental cleaning, stuff like that. Eye exams, all the likes there. Also Life Insurance, some companies carry life insurance on you. Are you going to have an expiration of that and do you need to consider picking something else up on your own privately? And then also maybe company perks, maybe like a flexible spending account. Other people paid time off or some other thing. So go through all those things that maybe are specific to your company and make sure that you’re taking advantage of those and not letting something expire or go unused. And lastly, think about your retirement accounts. What are you going to do when you retire or prior to retirement? You know, are you going to move that to something else? Some of that may be dependent upon your age of retirement and looking at the advantages and disadvantages of that. Other times, what is the availability? Some companies allow you to keep it there. Some companies want you to. Do you want a professional Advisor to take care of that and all the likes? So heading into retirement, lots to think about out there, exciting time. But don’t miss some of these crucial things that can make sure your retirement is a success. Give us a call at the number on the screen. We’d love to walk through this journey with you and help you plan to retire well.