Yahoo Finance How to Transition Into Retirement
Retirement is not a single event. It is a process that begins long before you leave work and continues for the rest of your life. Here are some tips on how to transition into retirement and beyond.
Get Started Early
To make the most of retirement, start thinking about it long before you actually leave work. Open an IRA, 401(k) or other retirement account as soon as you can, even in your 20s. Check out your employer's retirement plan at each job, or even before you take the position. Later on, start to develop some retirement dreams, including where you are going to live and what you are going to do. As retirement edges closer, you should start creating a strategy to make those dreams come true.
[See: How Much Should You Contribute to a 401(k)?]
Figure Out Your Finances
There's no point in creating a bucket list that has you jetting off to exotic destinations if you haven't assembled the right resources. As you approach retirement, consolidate your saving and investment accounts to simplify money management. Decide when to start taking Social Security. Determine how much income you will receive from savings, investments, Social Security and other sources. Then figure out if your expenses will decline because of a lifestyle change or your kids moving out.
Decide Where to Live
Most retirees stay in the home they've been living in for years. They have friends and family in the area and have no desire to move away. Some retirees, facing a fixed income, move into more modest accommodations like a condominium or smaller home to reduce retirement costs. Other retirees set off for retirement havens in the sunbelt or hop aboard a recreational vehicle for an extended road trip. Retirees get to choose where to live. However, if you plan to leap into a new lifestyle, try it out first by renting or spending time in your new environment before making a commitment.
[Read: 10 Important Ages For Retirement Planning.]
Think About What You Will Do
We spend most of our lives tied to a work schedule and family life. When you retire the challenge is to create something new that has meaning in your life. It could be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, learning French or visiting Civil War battlefields. Or maybe you want to help raise your grandchildren or volunteer in your community. You could enter politics and run for the town council. Now you can do something just for yourself, not because it's expected of you as a parent or employee.
Consider a Gradual Retirement
Not everyone takes a sudden plunge into retirement. You could gradually shift into retirement by transitioning from full-time employment to part-time work. A lawyer could scale back from five days a week to four and then three. A bookkeeper could leave a corporate job for a part-time position working mostly from home. Some people take a summer job at a golf course, work at the mall for the holidays or put in several hours a week at a part-time job to make a few extra bucks and maybe find some new friends.
[See: 19 Part-Time Retirement Jobs That Pay Well.]
Build a Social Network
Loneliness is a major pitfall of retirement. Be on the lookout for a tennis league, bridge club, church group or educational class where you can meet new people. Your family relationships may also change if your children move away. You might decide to relocate to be near your adult children, but be careful. You could uproot your life and move halfway across the country, only to find your son or daughter getting a new job and moving away again.
Take Care of Your Health
Retirement offers us the gift of time, including time to take care of ourselves. So ditch the fast food and salty snacks, and instead prepare home-cooked meals with healthy ingredients. Make sure you get some exercise, whether it's walking, jogging, golf, tennis or doing the exercises a physical therapist outlined for your back problem. Remember, a major factor that determines your happiness in retirement is your health.
Don't Be Afraid to Change
Some people are intimidated by the very idea of retirement. It seems like such a big step. But retirement is not a one-and-done deal. Your needs and ambitions change in retirement, but you can always reshuffle the deck again. You can go back to work in a different position. If you move to Florida and don't like it, you can move back home, or perhaps halfway back to the Carolinas. There's plenty of life after retirement, and if your initial dream fades, you can begin something else.
Tom Sightings is the author of "You Only Retire Once" and blogs at Sightings at 60.
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