5 things before retirement

Planning for retirement and doing
something about it is something that
most youth and elders detest. For the
youth there is no incentive to plan for
something that will come up 35 years
later. For the elders, the fear that they
may not have enough money in their last
phase of life prevents them for doing a
deeper analysis and action after that.
Retirement Planning is not only about
money
There is more to retirement planning than
money. Some of the key things to be
planned which actually make the planning
more interesting is to consider:
How will you spend your time?
Places to visit
Tackling health related issues
Sharing the wealth created
And finally planning for income (of course)
In fact, most people just think of the last
one without considering the first four.
This leads to confusion and fear.
Tips for Retirement Planning
1. Plan Time: Many retired people are
lost because they have not planned for
the question "What next?" It is important
to find some activity that will fill the 8 to
12 hours that one has spent at work. This
is not only for the breadwinner but also
for the homemaker. What will you do to
manage a new person with whom you
need to share 8 to 12 hours, suddenly?
a. Think Social Activities: There are so
many activities that one may have
thought of doing to the society and not
done due to want of time or due to other
priorities. Post retirement one can take
them all with a vengeance. This not only
a time filler but also a very good way to
keep the brain stimulated.
b. Think Hobbies: Apart from filling time
and keeping one mentally agile, hobbies
also add to your skill sets. Taking up a
new hobby and joining a hobby club is a
great way to manage retired life.
2. Plan Travel: Except for the envied few
who had great travel oriented jobs, most
would have sacrificed their travel plans
for their career. And don't grow too
envious because those jet flyers on the
job are also cribbing because they had to
travel on such tight schedules that they
hardly got to see anything worthwhile
travelling on the job. Retirement is a
wonder time to plan for all those missed
countries and places to visit.
3. Plan Health: Health insurance is very
handy when you are retired. But if this is
planned on the brink of retirement not
only is the cost too high, but diseases
may already have set in. This means that
the pre-existing diseases will not be paid
for by the insurance for upto 4 years
after taking the plan.
4. Write a Will: Writing a will to
efficiently pass the wealth created to our
loved ones is very important. However in
India, this is a commonly absent practice.
Even some of the richest persons in India
have not taken up this practice (think
Dhirubhai Ambani). This leads to costly
and lengthy process of passing our hard
earned wealth to our loved ones.
5. Plan Finances for Regular Income:
Though this aspect alone can be written
in whole books, the basic idea can be
summed up with a few point:
a. Do not to lock up funds in illiquid
assets without cash flow - avoid buying a
large house for you to stay and prefer a
house from which you can get a rental
income.
b. Do not to give away wealth too soon -
having cash does not mean that you can
give it away to your sons and daughters
and brothers and sisters or to a temple.
Give it to them through your will so that
they get your wealth, and at the same
time, the money works for you when you
are around.
c. Do not experiment - To experiment
with retirement funds in the stock market
and commodities or a new business post
retirement is highly risky. You may not
have the time or energy to earn the
money lost (if lost).
Retirement Planning:
Retired life is supposed to be fun filled
and peaceful. But today we find more old
age destitute homes popping up than
schools, indicating a trend towards lack of
retirement planning. The above tips will
help those in their prime of life and those
near retirement to plan for a comfortable
retired life.
Disclaimer: All information in this article
has been provided by BankBazaar.com
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accuracy and completeness of the same.