Life In Retirement

 
 

The end of WWII (1946) began a generation of booming birth rates! As the wealthiest social cohort, Baby Boomers held nearly $59 trillion in household wealth in 2020, according to PRNewswire. Their wealth doubles that of gen X and outnumbers that of millennials. By 2030, people aged 60 and above are expected to outnumber children under age 10 by 60 million. Approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day reaching retirement age while facing financial and economical uncertainty. Survival of the Pandemic and the impact of recent Global Politics require society to embrace “new ways” of shopping, banking, attending school, seeing Doctors, working, socializing, and even new ways of retiring!!! As you transition to retirement, you will make a lot of critical decisions that can have a dramatic impact on your quality of life in retirement. Be thoughtful about your choices and try out different scenarios, especially if you do not have significant savings.

Get the Big Universal Decisions Right

  • Delaying the start of Social Security can add almost $100,000 to your bottom line. You can use NewRetirement Planner, an accurate, useful, and free retirement calculator to compare different Social Security start ages.

  • Working a little longer is a triple treat:

    • You earn more income for a longer period of time.

    • You can save more.

    • You can delay tapping existing savings.

  • Making sure you can live on the budget you need to stick to in retirement.

  • Where will you retire? If you own a home, it could save your retirement. Consider if and how you might tap into your home equity.

Tiptoe into Retirement

  • These days more and more people are switching to retirement jobs or working part-time before they quit the labor force entirely.

  • Think About Passive Income income that you earn without very much effort. The most popular (and perhaps profitable) form of passive income is a real estate investment. However, you don’t necessarily have to be able to afford an apartment building to benefit from passive income.

  • Taking a long vacation or sabbatical to recharge instead of retiring. Consider spending some time or renting a place to stay for a short time period in a retirement destination rather than selling everything, packing up, and off into the unknown!

Consolidate and Simplify Accounts

The transition to retirement is a good time to consolidate your savings and banking accounts to simplify your money management.Having multiple accounts can be difficult to manage, and it may increase the fees you are paying.

A few tips for consolidating your accounts:

  • Ask a lot of questions about fees.

  • Consider your investment options.

  • Do rollovers VERY carefully to avoid withdrawal penalties.

Don’t Be Afraid to Have Fun and Be Happy. Get creative if necessary. There's a lot to worry about as you transition to retirement.

Research from Merrill Lynch, “Leisure in Retirement, Beyond the Bucket List,” finds that most people have anxiety leading up to retirement, but find that once they take the plunge, they are very happy. If you are worried about finances, dig deep and prioritize what is important to you. Keep your focus on your priorities and make sure you can do those things.

Just make sure that you are enjoying your time now, not only looking forward to the future.

OMNICOMMANDER