What Areas Do I Need to Consider When Planning My Retirement?

In our last few blogs on retirement planning, we have emphasized the obvious - have lots of money on hand - as well have a plan for retirement that includes how will spend your time, where you will live, whether you will work elsewhere, etc. As a Baby Boomer, you may have grown up in the free and easy 60's and 70's where you valued spontaneity, but years of living have undoubtedly convinced you of the need to plan. Here are a few more "life housekeeping" things to consider when planning your retirement years which will make your life simpler - and better.



Retirement is a fresh start, even if you stay in the same place and continue to work a bit. It is a good time to reassess many things about your life and get them in order. If you retired in your mid 60's, you may be in great health, with a third of your life ahead of you. You will not always be in the same good health, so what works at 65 may not work at 85.

Make sure your affairs are in order. Even if you have a couple decades ahead of you, make sure you have a will and written arrangements that lay out your last wishes - and make sure someone knows about it. Plan a time each year to update your documents. Having these things in order is not macabre; it just makes good sense to have a plan in place to tie up loose ends.

Declutter your home. Especially if you have been out in the business world, your closets are probably overflowing with things you will have little need for. Organizations like Dress for Success and other groups that help people enter the workforce would love to have your extra suits, dresses, and shoes, as would the Salvation Army, churches, and other groups. If you have time on your hands, you might sell some unneeded possessions on eBay or through yard sales. By reducing the volume of "stuff" you have, you will have less to clean and be in great shape if you decide to move to a smaller home.

Reduce your debt. Take a good look at your obligations and determine how to become debt free. If your home will be paid for in five years, you can concentrate on paying that off earlier, if you can. Your goal should be to require less money to live on, so if you stop working altogether, you will be able to get by on what you have. You may want to buy another home or car in your later years, but the principle is the same: try to reduce your debt. The less of your money that is tied up, the better prepared you are for emergencies and the fewer entanglements you have if want to travel, start a business, spoil your grandchildren, or quit work entirely.



Review your spending habits. If you, like most of us, have an area where you are tempted to overspend, you may find your "bad habits" follow you into retirement, where you may have less income to cover your tracks. Maybe you love to eat out ,or love to buy shoes or shiny electronic gadgets. Look at your budget and see how much of this you can actually afford.

You may then have to set limits on yourself and strategically avoid temptation. If mall walking for exercise tempts you to spend, walk someplace else. If eBay, TV shopping, or the sales at King's or Macy's get you into trouble, don't browse for fun. If you are still cooking for 6 when your household is reduced to 1 or 2, either make a conscious effort to cut back or plan to freeze the extra for later use. Better yet, stay from the warehouse stores and buy what you need for now.

In retirement, your goal is to have more freedom to do what you want. That's where "life housekeeping" comes in. If you add getting your affairs in order, cleaning up your finances, decluttering your home, and monitoring your spending to the mix as part of your retirement planning, you will remove unnecessary concerns from your life - and make it better.