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When it comes time to plan for retirement- and it’s never too soon for that time to come- it is important to be sharply in tune with your own unique financial situation. Creating a money roadmap that is personalized to you and your situation goes a long way towards hitting your retirement goals. Further, knowing some of the top retirement myths so that you do not fall prey to them keeps you informed and prepared for an easy retirement.
Create and Navigate Your Money Roadmap
The first place to start as you work on your own money roadmap is simple. Gather all of the important information in one secure, but accessible (to those who would need to find it) place. As in Coach Pete’s The Green Book of Life, examples include attorney names, account names and information, wills and trustees, and anything else that you or your spouse would need to access. This information needs to be kept safe, but make sure you both know where it is and how to get to it.
Consider also Coach Pete’s “Water Wheel of Money”, which notes that perpetual income is necessary. You need money to live, money to retire, and for that money to grow and to be protected.
Coach Pete’s Money Roadmap contains five central waypoints that have been designed to create your full map. These points include healthcare planning, estate planning, leaving your assets for your family in the right way, tax planning, and making sure Uncle Sam doesn’t eat all of your money.
If you’d like to learn more on this, stay tuned to the show, as we plan to cover this topic in more detail in the coming weeks.
6 Retirement Planning Myths
I Don’t Need to Worry About Retirement Now
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can put off retirement planning. Procrastinating your retirement plans is only setting you up for worry and difficulty in the future.
I’ll Just Live off of My Social Security Payments
Keep in mind that when social security was initially created, life expectancy was much lower than it is now. Say, for example, you’ve been making around $100,000 a year working full-time. With social security, your yearly income will likely look like $18,000 a year. That dramatic difference will be uncomfortable, and sets you up for failure.
Medicare Will Cover My Medical Expenses
To name just one of the many issues with this myth, Medicare does not cover long-term care or care facilities. That’s a big, important medical expense that is uncovered. Medicare is not a catch-all that is prepared to see you through any medical needs or issues in your retirement.
That Ship Has Sailed: It’s Too Late for Me to Save for Retirement
Maybe you’ve looked up and feel that the time has passed for you to save and now there’s nothing you can do but shrug your shoulders and suffer. It’s never too early or too late to save for retirement.
I Have Enough Saved to Live to 85, So I’m All Set
Many people think their life expectancy is going to be around their mid-eighties. So the myth here is that if you have enough to live off until that age, there’s no need to worry about saving more. Consider, however, what it would be like to live longer than you expected and suddenly have no money and now no way of generating income any longer. Do you want to suddenly be desperately looking for work or help when you’re 86?
I’ll Just Work Through My Retirement Years
Some people think there’s no need to worry, they like their job or see no point in retiring, so they’ll just work until they die. What this does not account for, however, and this is a lesson that many of us have learned the hard way, is that life offers no guarantees. Now you may feel fully capable of working forever, but what about in ten years? Twenty? Fifty?
Stay prepared for your retirement.
It’s never too early or too late to start planning for your golden years. Knowing your financial information and recognizing popular retirement myths so that you do not fall prey to them will help prepare you for a peaceful retirement with your loved ones.
