5 steps to a happy retirement
A blissful retirement is yours for the asking if you take immediate steps to secure your finances for the future. We explain how.
Every person wishes to have a peaceful, worry-free retirement, but only those who take proactive steps towards it can get it. Retirement planning is important if you wish to have a financially independent future. A happy retirement is possible if you start planning for it from today, and use the right tools to generate wealth.
Use a retirement planning calculator to anticipate how much money you will need in the future, once you retire from your job or business. Theretirement calculator lets you know how much money you need to set aside from today for insurance, investments and savings, and the time period for the same.
Now follow these 5 steps to secure a happy retirement:
#1 Save money every month.
Savings help you on a rainy day, and certainly during your retirement years. Every Rupee saved goes a long way in securing your retirement against unforeseen expenses, medical treatment costs, travel and other expenses, etc. However, since you cannot save a big amount of money all at once, you should aim to save money every month starting today. The more time you get to build a savings corpus, the bigger the saved amount will be.
#2 Draw up an investments plan.
However, your savings and monthly income cannot help you create the kind of wealth you anticipate for your future. You need to have a sound financial plan in place. Wealth is created faster when you make the right investments. These could be investments in realty, mutual funds,gold, etc. Use a retirement calculator when making your calculations for the future, so that you can be fairly accurate when allocating your resources for different asset classes.
#3 Invest in a pension plan today.
Pension plans are fiscally sound options for those who wish to have a comfortable retirement. The plan gives you the freedom to retire before age 60 if you so wish. Investing in the right pension plan opens avenues for the future – the plan money can be used for household expenses, or to fund an emergency expense, or to take occasional holidays with your spouse. Invest in such plans so that your lifestyle does not have to suffer after retirement.
#4 Invest in a smaller home for the future.
The house you live in now with your family might become too expensive to maintain in the future. You should look at investing in a smaller home for yourself and your spouse, that you can move into once you retire. You can choose to bequeath your existing house to your children, or sell it to create a retirement fund for your future needs, or even lease it out to generate monthly rental income for yourself.
#5 Get an endowment plan that matures at your retirement age.
Another way to secure your life and your family’s interests, is to invest in an endowment plan. The benefit of doing so is that it covers you over its tenure, and provides a maturity corpus on maturity. You can time the tenure such that you get the maturity benefit when you retire.
Make the right choices and start planning your retirement today so that your post retirement years are truly the golden years of your life