Month: April 2017

Planning for Retirement (Part 2)

Other than financial planning, there is the emotional readiness. Through our lives, we pass through different stages, from childhood to puberty to adulthood to maturity, you got the idea. Each stage has its own psychological “burdens”. If you are not emotionally fully prepared and have a realistic picture you might run into a very unpleasant experience. Before retirement you might be dreaming of the day you retire. You will enjoy a week or two of just being lazy doing nothing. Then you start feeling the emptiness in your life. Everyone around you is busy. No one has time for you. Even being with your partner or significant one 24/7 might not seem as enjoyable as you thought.

 

At this stage in your life you have two choices; to make lemonade from lemon and plan to grow, stay on purpose and make connections with your community making something useful that will benefit others or die before you are dead. It is your choice, your call.

 

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/travel-lifestyle/people/preparing-emotionally-for-retirement/

Planning For Retirement

After the realization that indeed I am passing through what is called midlife crisis, I decided to take some deliberate thinking, rethinking and reflecting on the past. What lessons I could get out my experiences I had in my life, being good or not very good experiences. I also started to look forward started to envision and plan for the future.
An issue that I have considered seriously now is planning for retirement. Where and when should I retire? What am I going to do during my retirement years? Most importantly; how am I going to finance my retirement? Am I being too late planning for retirement?
I am a firm believer that it is never too late to do anything. Yet, I am not kidding myself; the earlier the better. The most perfect time is to plan for retirement when you get your first job after finishing your education. The same principle applies for planning for retirement. It is never too early nor is it too late.
There are two main aspects to consider here, the financial and the emotional aspects. It is best to have a retirement financial plan as early in your life as possible, in the same time do not lose site on emotional aspect.
Depending on where you live, usually a part of your salary goes to your pension plan. You are also allowed to save privately in a pension plan. There might be a cap on how much you can set aside every year, if this money is non-taxable. Familiarize yourself with different pension plans and the rules and regulations in the country you live in.
It is a good idea to find a financial advisor. You can also use many resources that are totally free to get advice. Your bank or financial institution, some non-profit organizations may offer such a service, and finally online resources all provide free information. Be very careful when you use online information. There are lots of information presented online that are far from being accurate if not practical, misleading or even wrong.
Very broadly; you can explore long term investment in equities or real estate. By real estate investment I do not mean buying your own home (which is a great thing to do), but I mean buying homes and renting them out. You get a monthly passive income from the rent, in the same time the property appreciates overtime. You can take some “calculated” risk in the stock market too depending on your age; as you grow older be careful with high risk investment. You can combine mutual funds with stock market shares, as mutual funds carry less risk.