Retirement is an exciting time in anyone’s life. You finally have the free time (and hopefully, free money) to do all of those things you’ve always wanted. However, to make the most of your retirement, you’ll need a solid financial plan in action. The sooner you set down a framework for a comfortable retirement, the better off you’ll be.
Here are four pre-retirement mistakes that could cost you and what you can do instead:
Not Examining Your Monthly and Yearly Budget
It’s a mistake to go into retirement and just hope that your savings and fixed annuities will be enough to cover your budget. Things change after you retire, with some expenses (like dry cleaning your business suits) falling by the wayside and others (like a golf club membership) popping up.
That’s why it’s a good idea to track what you spend. Try to get information around the year as many people take a financial hit during the holidays or summer vacation. With this information in hand, you can see where you can trim or splurge today as well as predict your future retirement needs.
Not Exploring Long Term Insurance Options
The younger that you apply for long term care insurance, the better rates you’ll be offered. If you choose the right plan, you’ll have a clear understanding of how your rates may change as you approach retirement age. Many people skip this step, which is a big mistake. The unexpected can strike at any time, leaving them and their families in a financial bind.
While you’re at it, take a close look at your other insurance policies. Are you getting the best value here? For instance, many automobile insurance companies may offer you better rates or other advantages if you have years of safe driving history on your record. Making smart choices here can save you in the long run.
Not Preparing Your 401k Retirement Plan
Your 401k is an essential part of your retirement strategy. Skipping this is one of the biggest mistakes that people can make. By not maximizing what you and your employer are contributing, it can make your retirement look very different than you expected.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to go into this in detail (a retirement planning workshop can help you there; see below). You want to invest in your 401k, but investing smart is at least as important as investing big.
Not Attending a Retirement Workshop
It’s clear that there are some retirement income planning pitfalls that can trip you up on the way to your golden years. Where can you learn about what to do (or more importantly, not to do)? There are free financial planning workshops that can walk you through the steps to a comfortable retirement. At Fortified Retirement, we offer a wide variety of financial planning seminars and workshops and other events where you can learn from the exports and people just like you. Our top financial planners can help you with these critical pre-retirement plans. Contact us today to learn more about our retirement seminars.
Licensed Insurance Professional. Provides general information about insurance and retirement-related products and services. These products and services may not be specific to a particular state. Information provided on this website, in seminars or through printed or other published materials are not intended as specific legal, accounting or investment advice to an individual’s particular situation. By providing your information to us, you agree that we may contact you regarding the potential sale of annuity and/or insurance products. Information provided by Licensed Insurance Professional does not necessarily represent that of the individual professionals presenting this information. All the information presented is believed to be accurate and is secured from reliable resources, however, no guarantee is made to the completeness or accuracy of the information presented. Any opinions expressed are those of the author and the material presented is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as legal, investment or tax-related advice
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