Category: Retirement

You’re focused on that big day, the day you retire. It’s something that you have been thinking about and planning for years now. You even have a “pre-retirement” checklist drawn up so you can get to your destination with ease. Well, maybe you do and maybe you don’t actually have it all written down and planned, but if I were to ask you, you’d probably say you did. But whether you have it all planned out and written down or not, there is usually one great big hole in just about everyone’s retirement plans and that is this: What are you going to do the day after you retire?

“There’s Got to Be a Morning After”

Out of all the items that appear on your real or make believe pre-retirement checklist, having something to do after your retirement might be the most neglected item of them all.

The pandemic we have all been experiencing has resulted in so many hardships. The ongoing spike in inflation that has Americans paying more for gas, food, cars, and many other things could lead to the biggest Social Security COLA increase in almost 40 years when officials announce the cost of living adjustment for 2022 in October. That’s just two months from now. And wouldn’t it help if that announced increase was to be a biggie? Well, it appears that it just might be. 2022 may see the largest Social Security monthly payout increases in almost 40 years!

Social Security Changes – Are They on Your Horizon?

Every year some nuances are adjusted in the Social Security system. Usually it’s a modest increase in the amount you will receive and that is based on the CPI, the index that measures inflation each year. We can debate whether or not the index is a valid one. For years seniors have been claiming that it isn’t and doesn’t accurately reflect the “real” costs to seniors like medical costs.

When you think about retirement, the planning stages seem to be pretty obvious and simple. You work all the years you want or need to, save some of your money, invest it wisely, and then at some point in time, you retire. Now after you do, life is easy, right? You might think so, but before you get surprised, let me give you some retirement warnings.

Retirement should mean no more waking up at dawn, fighting the morning traffic, and dealing with a boss who you almost never agree with but have to deal with every day. Now you get to call the shots and enjoy life on your terms…finally! The plan seems perfect: work until about age 65 and then enjoy the good life of golfing, travel, gardening, and/or being a grandparent.

I just finished watching some really depressing information on CNBC today, information that I know is true, but still shocks the senses out of me when I hear and see it in detail. Americans do not prepare for retirement!

How it is possible that smart people like us (well supposedly smart, that is) just don’t take as much time looking at retirement as they do deciding what to order for dinner from Grubhub? That may be a small exaggeration, but you get my point. We tend to worry about retirement tomorrow a la Scarlet O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”. So, why are Americans so unprepared for retirement?

So you’re now a forty-something. It kind of sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? Yesterday you were more concerned with what you’ll be doing on Saturday night and who you’d be doing it with, and today there’s the spouse, the kids, the bills, and all of the other stuff that being a grown-up entails. Yes, it sneaks up on you in a hurry and suddenly you’re worried about retirement planning in your 40s. Am I kidding?

Believe it or not, the answer to that question is a resounding no, it’s no joke! That planning of your grown-up life after you stop working has to be done and focused on retirement now, if not even sooner than age forty. The sooner, the better!