A recent survey by the Employee Benefit Research showed that more than 60 percent of workers, both skilled and unskilled, are confident of stress-free living after retirement. The reason for their confidence is that these workers are sure that the amount of money they are setting aside for retirement is enough to support them when that time comes. Living a good life after retirement requires you to save money beforehand and consulting financial service companies such as AT&T retirement services. It also requires that you avoid some of the mistakes that a majority of employees make when making retirement plans. Here are some of the mistakes that you should be aware of and avoid making:
Ignoring Health Care Expenses
Expenses such as rent, utility bills, and food decrease in homes once one retires since few people are living at home. However, health care expenses take the opposite trend and increase with time. The expenses may not necessarily imply that you will need long-term health care. It is advisable to prepare for high health expenses rather than have high bills that you cannot sort.
Bad Debt
Surprisingly, retiring individuals are dealing with bad debt in the form of mortgage payments, college education, credit cards, and consumer debt. Debt eats into your retirement funds and denies you the chance to enjoy your retirement. The best solution is to have a solid plan on how to clear the debt before retirement kicks in. After paying off all the bad debt, a retiree should avoid taking any debt in their retirement years if they want a stress-free retirement.
Not Having a Retirement Financial Plan
Just as having a financial plan during the working years is essential for living a good life, a financial plan for your retirement helps keep you financially free. The plan takes into account your lifestyle, acquired assets, and anticipated lifespan. The plan should have a clear guideline on how to utilize your financial resources to carry you through retirement. Lastly, the plan is individualized and cannot work for two different people.
Conservative Investment
It is common sense to go slow on investments as one approaches retirement. However, some individuals may make extra cautious investments and thus miss out on the bigger picture of investments. Your investment portfolio will be different in retirement from when you are working. The only sure way to invest right is to work with a financial expert who is proficient in investment matters.
Making retirement plans by setting aside a certain amount of money every month throughout the working years is a great idea for any worker. However, that is not enough; one needs to get retirement services to help with strategic planning. The retirement services aim at helping workers save enough money for retirement and avoid the mistakes that some workers make in retirement planning. These mistakes could end up being too costly, and one will have to live with them for the rest of their life. Consider saving yourself frustration in the future and plan your retirement right when you have the opportunity.
