Preparing For Your Golden Years
Planning for your retirement is obviously a good idea. The
phrase "the earlier, the better" describes what your policy
should be for handling your transition from a harried work life
to your relaxed golden years. At best, take twenty four to
eighteen months to prepare for this significant change in your
life.
* Cleaning Up - Try to pay off any outstanding debts or fiscal
responsibilities before moving on, especially those that are
hedged against your retirement plan. If you don't, you'll
probably be paying them out of your pension/savings and that is
an incredibly bad idea for a retired individual.
* Doing the Paperwork - A year before you retire would be a good
time for you to start doing the necessary paperwork for your
retirement. Birth certificates, passports and other identity
papers should help smooth your transition to a senior citizen.
* Health Care - Always check with the employee benefits
department six months to a year before retirement. Ask them how
your health insurance will change once you're not a member of
the company. Depending on the answer, you may have to look
around for new or additional insurance for yourself. Also, take
into consideration any continuing ailments that you may have.
Covering them with health insurance is a good idea, since they
may take out a significant part of your retirement income.
* Budgeting For Yourself - Check what your income sources will
be after retirement. This can be from your employer - with the
company's own pension plan, Social Security and your own
personal savings. After that, make a budget that would fit your
approaching financial situation. You really need to do this well
in advance, so that you may be able to change it for any
required adjustments such as paying for new medical insurance
and other expenses that may pop up. A year should give you a
large enough margin to prepare. If you're having trouble
balancing it all, a financial advisor is a good investment. Try
to find one that has a good solid reputation so as to avoid any
problems.
* Making a New Tax Payment Plan - Switching from your salary to
your retirement income is a big change but you still have to pay
taxes for that change. After retiring, contact your tax advisor
on what forms you'll have to submit and how to set up a good
payment plan so that you'll be able to maximize what you can out
of your payout from retiring.