Ushering in the golden years takes a lot more than just fantasizing about spending more time with grandchildren or maybe seeing a bit more of the world. Your plans for retirement should be detailed and, most importantly, they must be attached to a price tag. Age is not the only factor that determines readiness for retirement.
Take a look at some of the factors listed below for a hint about if you are ready for retirement or not.
You Have No Idea What You Would Do All Day
Some people daydream about the day they can kick back and spend their days relaxing on the porch or maybe pursuing a hobby that got shoved aside for more practical pursuits. Others think that the idea of having no structure for your day is totally abhorrent and they just can’t imagine what would fill the time! If you are a busy body, you love to stay active and you find purpose and fulfillment in your job then you may not be ready to retire. There are alternate things you can do if you would prefer to stop working full time but you don’t want to quit entirely. All you need to do is explore your options.
You Haven’t Started Calculating the Costs
If you have yet to start thinking about how much money you will need to cover your day to day expenses during retirement, much less set out some goals for your golden years complete with what they are likely to cost, then you are not ready to retire. Stepping into retirement in a state of unpreparedness can result in a financial shock and you might end up using up a lot of your savings in a relatively short space of time. Transitioning into retirement is a mindset that requires acceptance that your income has come to either a trickle or a halt and you must now live on what you have managed to accumulate.
Your Retirement Plan Just Took a Nose Dive
If the value of your retirement plan has dipped severely it might not be a good idea to start withdrawing at the moment. Your financial planner would most likely advise you to continue working for a few more years, continuing your contributions while also giving your portfolio a little more time to recover.
You Still Have a Lot of Debt
Ideally you should not take any debt into your retirement because the interest you pay on your loans will deplete your retirement funds even faster. The stress of having a debt obligation with no income is also an unnecessary worry. It is better to lengthen your working years while you try to pay off your debts instead of going into retirement saddled with large loans.
Not everyone is ready to retire when they come of age. These factors all play a part in assessing your readiness for taking on retirement and can indicate if you will have a stress-free experience or a retirement that is less than the perfect picture.