How To Plan For Retirement

 

Retirement is something the majority of us look forward to, however, as the dream of not working slowly becomes a reality it can be hard to know how to enjoy your retirement without things like money being a weight on your shoulders.

Fortunately, I have put together this blog to share my tips on how to plan for retirement. I go through my top 5 tips to help you have a stress-free retirement so you can enjoy your new life knowing you have taken care of everything.

Get your finances in order beforehand

One of the biggest downfalls to retirement is the lack of income, however, this doesn’t have to be as scary as it seems. Although adapting to new spending habits can be a long process, having a plan already set in motion will help you avoid falling into a pit of spending too much money.

Start by working out your new income, this can include your pension if you choose to access it straight away. If you’ve had multiple jobs throughout your career, you may have “lost” pensions that you are entitled to so it’s worth chasing this up as well.

Once you have worked out your income, break it down into a weekly budget so you have something to stick to. When working out your budget, split it into two categories; essential expenditure and non-essential expenditure. It’s important to have a balance between the two so can spend your retirement doing the things you would like to.

Although it may seem like a good idea to utilise your savings as part of your income, I’d suggest avoiding this so you have some money set aside for rainy days. As well as this, take into account any debts that you need to pay off and set up a plan to do so.

Create a bucket list

Although you’re probably looking forward to being able to retire, you have to take into account the amount of spare time you are going to have as you may find that you’ve run out of things to do rather quickly.

A great way around this is to create a bucket list of the things you would like to do during your retirement. This could be places you’d like to visit or new skills you’d like to learn. This will ensure you won’t get bored whilst you’re retired.

Once you have created your bucket list break it down into short and long term goals. For example, if you have multiple places you’d like to visit abroad, this is something you could achieve over a longer period of time by booking a holiday each year.

In regard to your short term goals, choose something on your bucket list to do each week. Not only will this give you something to look forward to each week, but it will also ensure you don’t run out of activities to do.

Set up a funeral and life insurance plan

When planning for your retirement it’s also important to have a plan long term, including a funeral and life insurance plan. When you set up both plans it’s important to choose one that benefits both you and your family when you pass.

UK funeral plans are a great way to spread the cost over a longer period of time, this is highly beneficial due to the high-rising cost of funerals each year. Moreover, due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans for price caps on funerals were scrapped, meaning that if you don’t have a plan in place your family could be faced with a hefty bill for your funeral.

Life insurance is also a great way to ensure your loved ones are protected when you pass by making up for the amount of income your family will loose once you pass.

Develop a routine to suit your new life

Now that you have a lot of spare time, it’s quite common to start to feel lost and not know what to do. Developing a routine will ensure that you don’t fall into a rut and will help you adapt to your new life.

Plan your week before it begins so you can have things to look forward to whilst adapting to a new routine.This can include seeing friends and doing things on your bucket list which I previously mentioned. Although it can be hard to break old routines, take advantage of all the free time you have now by doing things you enjoy.

For example, let’s say you enjoy taking walks along the beach, add this into your daily routine by making it one of the first things you do each morning.

Welcome an animal into your home

For some people, retirement can be lonely without having social interatcion on a daily basis which you would get from work. Studies show that having a pet can have a positive impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

Consider resucing a dog from a local shelter to benefit both you and the community. Dogs are extremely loyal companions and they also give you a reason to go out for daily exercise, meaning you will keep on top of your physical wellbeing without even realisng it.

It can also help you get into a new routine to benefit you. For example going for walks and eating meals at certain times can have a great impact on your life. Having a pet will also give you a sense of responsibility if you are finding it hard coming out of work full time.

Time for you to start your retirement

Now that I have shared my tips on how to plan for retirement, it’s time for you to put these into action and apply them to your own life. Planning for your retirement gives you the chance to ease into your new life and enjoy all the perks of retirement.

My biggest tip would be to make sure you sort your finances ahead of time so you don’t have this looming over your head as it allows you to enjoy your new life without worrying about the money you are spending.