Have you noticed how people react when they hear the news of somebody’s death? They almost always say ‘it was so untimely’. I have even heard people say “it must be so devastating for the children’ - in this case, the lady who died was 95 and was a dementia patient.
We must be far more accepting that death is inevitable! Ditto for Retirement. The day you take up your first job, you know your Retirement age. In India it is 58, in the USA it is 65 - if anything it can happen earlier, rarely later. So saying “I did not know that I had to retire” is sheer stupidity, but a very often heard phrase!
Even at the age of 35, the thought of retirement should have crossed your mind!
What if you are 45 and have not set aside any money for retirement? Assuming that you are married, and your spouse is also of the same age and you have 2 kids, maybe your priorities were different. What should you do to improve your preparedness for Retirement?
Remember the warning in the Rearview mirror of cars? The car behind you is far nearer than what your mirror is showing! Retirement is much nearer to you than you think. Start preparing now!
Get yourself an advisor - if you are late in planning for retirement, and assuming that you and your spouse have not done any ORGANISED savings/ investments, it is high time you got an advisor. Preparing for retirement, without an advisor is not something that I would suggest.
Needless to say start earmarking your investments for Retirement and decide NOT to touch that till your retirement. If you are not saving enough for retirement, you must start pumping money into the Retirement Basket.
Run your calculations through a Retirement Calculator! See where you are and where do you have to reach. Remember that ‘Retirement’ is a family matter - so your spouse, children, should all know that you are aiming at a particular sum of money EXCLUSIVELY for your retirement. This should get priority over buying a bigger home, bigger car, marriage..whatever else.
Start educating yourself and your family about retirement and other personal finance topics. Remember to get yourself some good medical insurance - that will be available till say age 85 as an automatic renewal.
Decide on where you are going to live in your post retirement avatar. You may want to live in a senior citizen gated community till your age of 85, and after that move into geriatric care. Talk to your spouse about what you will do in Retirement - it is easier for women to give up a corporate career than for a man to give up his calling of 37 years!
Talk to friends and relatives who are 20 years older and those who are 10 years older and see what they did and what they are doing for their retirement.
It is rather unfortunate that so many people are unprepared (or underprepared) for their retirement, let us take it upon us to spread financial literacy - retirement planning is a very important component of Financial Planning.
PV subramanyam
writes at www.subramoney.com and has authored the best seller ‘Retire Rich - Invest C 40 a day’