Today (August 21st) is Senior Citizens Day. A day that provides an opportunity to show appreciation for the dedication, accomplishments, and services they give throughout their lives. But are you looking out for your financial future as you near retirement?
Approximately 47 million seniors live in the United States. By 2060, that number will nearly double. From those huge numbers, how many Americans are truly ready for retirement and ageing?
Financial Matters to Consider
In terms of finances, seniors are at the end of their working career. In most instances, seniors retire from work once they turn 65. However, as people are aging more effectively, living longer and maintaining active lifestyles, there is the opportunity to continue working.
Working longer also stems from one’s financial situation. If you’ve planned adequately by saving for retirement throughout your working years, then you should have the funds available for retiring. If you did not plan ahead, then working is likely a necessity.
There are the options for taking Social Security benefits and getting Medicare health insurance as a senior, both of which help with senior finances. However, most of the time the SS benefits are not enough to live off. In addition, Medicare coverage does cost money each month; it is not free health care coverage.
It’s All in the Calculations
To assist you in determining how much money you will need to retire comfortably, you may wish to access any number of helpful retirement calculators that are readily available free of charge online. For example:
- The Social Security Administration offers a Life Expectancy Calculator to let you know approximately how many more years you can expect to live. It doesn’t take into consideration health, family history or marital status, but it’s a good starting point when planning for retirement.
- The Bloomberg Personal Finance Retirement Calculator lets you create your own retirement plan. With the use of a chart, it plans your current retirement (including savings and withdrawals) through the end of your retirement. Social Security payments are also calculated based on your annual income.
- CKS Summit Group’s Financial Calculators includes eight different categories, including five retirement subcategories to choose from:
Physical and Emotional Matters to Consider
Retirement can be stressful. You’re trading the familiarity and stimulation of a job for an unstructured life of redefinition. The more you plan your transition, the easier it will be. By asking yourself the following questions, (and thoughtfully writing down the answers) you’ll be able to judge how emotionally prepared you are and figure out what steps you need to take to help prepare your transition.
- What will you miss from work? Feeling vital? The social life? Authority?
- What will you fill your time doing?
- What will get you excited in the mornings?
- Wat ambitions do you want to fulfill?
- Will being home affect you and your partner’s relationship?
- What percent of your time will be helping friends/family/volunteering?
- Do you have a cut off as to how much time you spend on others so you can spend time on yourself?
Take your time revising these questions and answers so you and your loved ones know the expectations and implications of your retirement goals moving forward.
Professional Portfolio Advice
Retirement is a huge financial and lifestyle decision. To retire successfully you need an end-to-end plan that will get you through a time period during which you’ll no longer be drawing a paycheck (or have the other benefits associated with working).
If you need to rely on your portfolio for a portion of your retirement income, you need to ensure that you have at least some of your money in bonds or other higher-certainty assets than stocks. That’s where professional retirement planning advice can give you a better shot of providing the growth you need while achieving safe, healthy growth of your savings and preservation of your principal balance.
The experts at CKS Summit Group design plans which are specifically structured to limit downside stock market risk. This allows us to protect our client’s assets while providing them with strategies for achieving effective tax reduction and inflation protection.
Final Thoughts
With a solid plan in place, retirement can be a wonderful time of life; and the process doesn’t have to be intimidating. Get your ducks in a row regarding the financial, health, and activity aspects of your plan, and you’ll have a solid foundation upon which to launch the next chapter of your life.
Wishing everyone a happy National Senior Citizens Day from CKS Summit Group!
