Things to think about when planning for retirement

Planning for retirement is an activity that many people like to put off for as long as possible. To many it implies getting older and moving one step closer to death. It is true, that is certainly one way to look at it, but, if you are more a glass half full type person, you could look at it as a time of great freedom and an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Retirement can be as incredible or awful as you chose to make it, but the key here is in the choices that make and the plans that you formulate ahead of the time. Here are a few things that you might want to consider when looking ahead to your retirement

Where to go

This really is a big question. Once the children are out of the house and there is no longer a need to be located close to a school or to the office you suddenly have a whole lot of flexibility in terms of where to live. If you have always dreamed of living in the mountains or on the coast, this could be your time to move. Think carefully through where you want to be and factor in things like cost of living, property values and ability to be close to friends and family. Then start looking for something that ticks the boxes for you. Do you want a free-standing house of your own or do you want something that is part of a complex? The options are many. A Google search for something like ‘retirement apartments north Brisbane is a good place to start. The internet will show you plenty of options and ideas and from eth comfort of your home you can start to make some decisions.

When to start planning

The reality here is that it is never too early to start planning for retirement. Granted, you do not have to put your name down on a waiting list for a place at the retirement village when you are still twenty, but what you should be doing is saving for your retirement from that age. As soon as you start working put money away into a pension fund or a retirement annuity. The more you save at a young age, the more you will have to fall back on when you are old. And the last thing that you want to have to do when you are approaching 65 is to be in a situation where you need to keep working. It is perfectly fine if you want to keep working, but there is a massive difference between need to and want to – so start saving early and make it a habit that you never get out of.

What to do

A wise person once said, ‘you don’t retire from something, you retire to something,’ so you had better know what that something is as retirement approaches. You might have plans to travel or to build a cabin in the mountains or to read all the classics. Whatever it is, be intentional about it and execute on your plan. If retirement becomes about staying at home and doing nothing, then your world will very quickly shrink into nothing and you will become bored and depressed.