By: Derek Brawner
Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” is still true today, especially when thinking about retirement. I think about the possibilities occasionally, but it seems, too, that I might not have thought about it enough when I was younger and am now playing catch-up.
I know that in my grandparents’ day, retirement didn’t require much planning. Most folks didn’t live long enough for it to be a problem. These days with modern medicine, longevity is a much more attainable goal. It’s the actions we take to prepare for it that have the most impact on our quality of life.
I also look at my parents, who are currently retired, and think back that maybe they were onto something about saving money for the future. While I was growing up, my father lived a very frugal life and tried to save every extra dime he had into his retirement fund. He was a schoolteacher and had a pension fund set up by the state he taught and lived in. He always put in the maximum amount he could each year to capitalize on his pension fund. He would tell me every time that he received a pay increase at work, he put that into his retirement fund. Do you think I did the same? Of course not.
When I was thinking about this article and doing internet research for it, I came across the website Retirement | USAGov. So I clicked on the link to check out the information. Boy, was I amazed at the plethora of information this website has for planning for retirement.
Retirement requires a lot of planning and consideration. In addition to finances, you need to think about when and where you’ll retire. Experts advise that you may need as much as 80 percent of your pre-retirement income to continue your current standard of living. The exact amount will depend on your individual needs.
As you plan, consider these important questions:
- At what age do you plan to retire?
- Can you participate in an employer’s retirement savings plan? This includes 401(k) plans and traditional pension plans.
- If you have a spouse or partner, will they retire when you do?
- Where do you plan to live when you retire? Will you downsize, rent or own your home?
- Do you expect to work part-time?
- Will you have the same medical insurance you had while working? Will your insurance coverage change?
- Do you want to travel or pursue a costly, new hobby?
Plan Ahead with Health Insurance
While planning for your retirement, you also must make sure you can cover medical and hospital costs when you need to. To learn more about Medicare, wellness and general health insurance, visit HealthAlliance.org.
Derek Brawner is a community and broker liaison at Health AllianceTM. He’s a small-town guy living in the big city of Springfield, Ill., married with two kids, a huge “Star Wars” fan and a griller extraordinaire.
Like this article? Feel free to respond to Outreach@HealthAlliance.org. Thanks for reading!
Sources: Retirement | USAGov