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Also look at your companies medical insurnace in retirement. Plan on increased cost if they pay half and know what changes retirement benefits brings.Remember that for most as you get older medical cost normally go up;so have moeny just in case set aside for this.MKedical cost is one of the hardest to plan for.
if you will be using your assets to draw income off of.i would suggest that you start to start to move them from the its all about getting richer mode to the i dont want to grow poorer mode.
you should have enough cash ,bonds and safe money set up years before you pull the plug. you dont want to risk a market downturn right before you retire.
you should have an amount in growth vehicles your comfortable with and lets you meet your income goals.
look into immeadiate annuities to bolster your income if need be...
all the ground work should be finished before its crunch time.....
This was exactly my reaction. No offense, but "asleep at the wheel" is what I see.
Wills and POA are a must at any age.
Like I said in an earlier post, we do have wills and POA's, need to update them.
Please, this is about suggestions in general if one has about a 5-8 year time horizon, not about analyzing my particular situation, which I'm not about to disclose on a public forum.
So, appreciate more suggestions about what one would consider in general when facing retirement. Thanks!
We do have a will, just not updated. and our pension plan is a new situation, so excuse me if we're not familiar with it. We're not as behind the curve as you may think!
Ok, now, just asking for suggestions, sort of a check list. But thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming, we're doing a list and checking it twice!
We have an appointment tomorrow with Fidelity to fine tune our investments (yes, indeed, we really do have investments!). Time to re balance our portfolio for the time frame. Also, although we have wills and POA's, also have an appt with an attorney to fine tune them.
We've had a tough past few years. We both had jobs with 401k and pension, then were both laid off, had contract positions, but Cobra ate through a lot of our savings (and we still have a lot left, so give us credit for over saving). Now we both have new jobs, with excellent benefits, however, we need to re plan our path with the new benefits, etc. Guess you could say we're still on the same route, just switched trains!
I'm giving myself a big atta girl for NOT overdoing it for Christmas. We had a budget and stuck with it, that's it, we each exchanged one gift, and got our kids 3 gifts each, no more of the overbuying just for the sake of having something to wrap up. We did have one extravagence, a new kitty, but he was in a shelter, long story, we were volunteering and I spied a kitty on death row, well.........another mouth to feed! But he's my sweetie, keeps me warm on cold nights (he's a Maine Coon!)
I really like the suggestion of figuring our projected retirement income, then trying to live on it. We've already cut out a lot of fluff, and quality of life hasn't changed one bit, actually, we're happier with a simpler lifestyle!
We are looking to retire, relocate and then travel starting in about 6-9 months. We have completed a few of the initial steps. Completed wills, power of attorney, and healthcare proxies. Started looking for retirement locations and have pretty much settled on a part of the country. Finances and old retirement plans are being consolidated. We expect to pay Cobra for several months and then switch to Medicare and supplement plans when we qualify. We will face those choices and decisions after relocating. We are preparing by completing as much medical and dental as possible in advance of retirement. We are working on downsizing and preparing the house for sale. This has already included some major stuff like a new roof, new driveway, and new interior doors. There is still a lot left to do including interior and exterior painting. I have done some basic research on options for household moving and storage. We are watching the real estate prices locally and at the new location. I have looked at options for different types of RVs and we will be very prepared when it comes time to shop and buy. I look at finances quite a bit, since I will "retire" but not draw social security or 401k money for at least a couple of years. We will be living off the money we gain from selling a house in an expensive area and moving to an average cost area. I think my list makes the usual retirement seem pretty simple.
Location: Prescott Valley,az summer/east valley Az winter
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Haven't seen long term care insurance mentioned yet but I considered it a big part of my retirement planning~ as far as the suggestion about trying to live within what I would live on in retirement I planned on living on more income retired than working because I would have more time to spend it!
Glad I did~ I find that I do spend that 120% of my highest working wage.
And I'm really enjoying spending life in Az winter~ colorado summer and a couple months of vacation time a year seeing the things I always dreamed of seeing!
Haven't seen long term care insurance mentioned yet but I considered it a big part of my retirement planning~ as far as the suggestion about trying to live within what I would live on in retirement I planned on living on more income retired than working because I would have more time to spend it!
Glad I did~ I find that I do spend that 120% of my highest working wage.
And I'm really enjoying spending life in Az winter~ colorado summer and a couple months of vacation time a year seeing the things I always dreamed of seeing!
LT care insurance is a must---thanks for mentioning it. We do get it through work. also, disability insurance to cover us through the remaining 5 years, there again, we do get through work, but as a general checklist item, its something no one can afford to be without.
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