Things To Consider When You Want To Retire
Want to retire? Me too!
The thought of retirement has been at the foreground of my thoughts for about 5 years. There are so many things I would like to do besides go to work…
…that is why I have started online marketing. It gives me different opportunities and I can work from home. I have looked at the financial statistics for baby boomers in retirement and, to be perfectly honest, they are scary.
(I did this in Animoto, a video making program that I love working with. They have great templates to use that help organize the video to create unique content.) **This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
At this point I still need to feel more financially secure in order to retire, just in case I am one of the 10 who will live past 95! What other things should be considered?
Happiness.
Interestingly, how happy you are in retirement isn’t necessarily reliant on how much money you have.
While it is best to have enough to make ends meet comfortably, many retirees downsize their homes, their cars and their lifestyle. Most experts suggest saving around a million dollars. But after surveying over 1,200 people, Wes Moss, author of “You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think”, found that their level of happiness reached a plateau at about $500,000.
The realization then is that your happiness is going to come from the experiences and people that you will surround yourself with once you retire. My father retired after working more than 65 years – he was 85. Every day he talks about how happy he is that he finally retired. Honestly, I don’t want to wait until 85, but now he reads, plays tennis and goes to the lake. And he has time to make a two week visit to Houston to see me! All things he didn’t have enough time to do when he was working.
Purpose
This is probably one of the most important things to consider. After years of working, knowing what you have to do each day, you could feel lost. It is essential that there is a plan for how you will spend time. I want more time to garden and cook. I love being outside and seeing things grow. When I cook, I am great at following recipes but would enjoy taking classes to work on my skills. And then there is working with dog rescue groups. This is something dear to me as I have two rescues of my own.
I have a definite idea of things I want to do. There are even more things I would enjoy doing – the list is longer than I care to admit! If you aren’t as clear as I am, you need to find things that would interest you so that you aren’t floundering when the day comes to retire.