The Numerous Levels of Retirement Preparation

The concept of retirement planning often conjures up a picture of you working with your investment counsellor or setting up your 401K so you have enough financial resources when you retire. And it is true that a big part of being happy to retire requires being prepared financially to be able to step out of the work world and start taking life easier.

But just as life is not just about making money, retirement is about so much more than having the money not to work. Planning for retirement also means organizing to live a simpler life, conditioning to become a “senior citizen” and perhaps a grandparent and preparing to look at life differently.

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Health care is going to be an important issue in your retirement years. As you start retirement, you may be physically strong and active and full of health and life. But any of us can fall prey to poor health or accidents. And if your employer from whom you retired does not extend your health care insurance for you to continue your coverage past your employment, it’s wise to make other plans. You can continue the same coverage that you had but that can get pretty costly and dip into your retirement nest egg significantly.

Don’t limit your retirement planning to your money. Retirement can be a time of significant change in lifestyle and a change to your values and as well as how you spend your time. Without your daily job, you’ll have more time on your hands and studies show that those who enter retirement without “an agenda” can become aimless in all that time and that isn’t healthy. Human beings are workers so even though you may no longer be working at a job for a living, find ways to flourish and make a difference in your community. You can start discovering those opportunities long before so when you finally step out of the work world, expanding those pursuits and volunteer efforts is as natural as can be.

In addition to the change of where you spend your time each day, you may have an even bigger change in where you live after retirement. Often people who step into their retirement years find that maintaining the house where they raised the kids is just not necessary and more work than it’s worth. Selling the home and using the equity to finance a leisurely retirement life is a great way to go. But you should begin early both preparing the home for sale and preparing the family that “grandma and grandpa’s house” is going away.

In addition, where you go to live is something that can be great fun to daydream about and doing some research on just the right place. You may choose to hire a small place in an older part of town and enjoy a whole new lifestyle in that setting. Or you might go for a high-rise condo with a view of the river or a nice quiet apartment in a retirement oriented flat complex where you and other retired people can explore this new universe together.

Above all it’s important to adopt the retired lifestyle with the enthusiasm and excitement that you might greet any new opportunity. Don’t let being retired mean not joining in life. In fact, go through the mental and emotional practices of putting the working world behind you and redefining yourself in this new character. You are retired now and you are a senior citizen and maybe even a grandparent.

These are not negative things. There is a strong role for grandma and grandpa in society and in your family. And the world takes great joy in a senior citizen who embraces that time of their life and sets out to be the greatest senior citizen they can be. If you predetermine that this is the kind of retired person you are going to be, that attitude will propel you past that sudden change of life impact and get your retired life off running in an exciting way that will result in many good and fun times in your life of leisure as a retired person.

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