Do You Plan to Live to 120?
That sounds somewhat crazy to us Boomers who see many of our friends passing before they reach 80 years old. However, there is a good chance that many of us will live to be over 90 years old, maybe 100!
Medical advances are rapidly changing our possibility of living longer. More treatments for cancer have increased survival rates. The same goes for heart patients. And, with many other discoveries, the average life expectancy has risen in recent years, with an even higher age expectancy soon.
Therefore, my goal now is to outlive my permanent life insurance policy, which expires when I turn 119 years old!
How Will You Know When You Have Saved Enough for Retirement?
Not that I am trying to scare you, but with most people retiring between 62 and 70 years old, and life expectancy growing to near 100 years, you might need to fund nearly 40 years of retirement!
How much money will that take? Social Security may not be that secure. Then what? The rest will be up to you.
I know that some will say that they paid into the Social Security System and deserve to get that back. But keep in mind that the Social Security System was based on a much smaller number of people living into their 80s. And now we are talking about more people living past 90 years old! The funding does not add up.
There is no guarantee that you will live past 90 years old, but I must caution you to plan on it and to save or make contributions to a retirement plan that can fund a long life. Some financial advisors suggest that you have at least 10 times your income in your savings when you retire. Are you going to meet that number?
How Will You Determine When You Spend Too Much?
Depending on your situation, when you retire with a list of things to do and places to go, you may get robust with how much you spend while you travel or make other uses of your new-found freedom.
However, when your spending goes beyond your social security or pension amounts, you need to ask yourself, “Will I use up my resources before I die?” Of course, I would use 100 years as the age to live up to. After that age, you may not be very active.
Buying adult toys is a big temptation, such as cars, boats, or other fun machines. But those toys are a commitment to ongoing maintenance.
Your needs change in retirement. Casual wear becomes more popular. You tend to wear your clothing longer before buying new clothing and will often shop at thrift stores.
The key is to expect to live long but do plan to have fun while you can.
Learn to Value Time and Health
In your working career, you must meet a schedule for your job. By evening, you are not good at exercising and most of your weekends are spent getting ready for the next work week.
In retirement, you may have more free time and a more open schedule, but time will seem to fly by!
If you want to do what you had hoped to do in retirement, you need to manage your time. Make notes about preparations and give yourself deadlines to do things. Otherwise, two years will have passed, and you will find yourself doing what others want you to do, and your bucket list gets tossed into the trash can.
Granted there have been many medical advances. You can get fixed in many new ways. I got two new knees over one year. Some get new hips or shoulders. Then, you may have cataracts removed, diagnosis for medications after blood work, and other diagnostic appointments. In other words, you may see doctors more than you want.
Value your health. If you pay attention to your diet, take vitamins, walk a lot, and stay active, you have a greater chance to stay out of the doctor’s office and the hospital. That is easy to do but it is also easy not to do.
And staying healthy will help to extend the life of your retirement funds. The offset is that you might live longer.
Your Mind Needs Your Help
Supplements for your mind do help, at least that has been my experience. One of the cheapest supplements is ginkgo biloba. But feel free to try others. Judge for yourself.
Whatever your view on how your brain works, and if it can work better, you must try to keep it active.
Your mind is your most precious asset when you are retired. Read books, do word searches or crossword puzzles, play games, enjoy conversations with others, and write in a journal. Those are good ways to keep your mind active.
Your mind needs your help. Watching TV is not the best way to keep your mind active. Some programming may prove me wrong; however, most parents have been concerned about their kids watching too much TV. Perhaps the kids should reverse the role with their parents in retirement!
No matter how you decide to do it, the most important thing to remember is that your mind needs regular exercise too!
Don’t Relax Too Much in Retirement
Keeping your mind and body active means that you cannot allow yourself to relax too much and too long.
You will be tempted to relax a lot!
As you age and see evidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s in others, it will dawn on you that you need to think while you can.
You must not take your health for granted. Keep your endurance up and your strength. When you do take advantage of those medical miracles, your recovery time will be much faster than those who do not.
If you did not save enough for your retirement plans, a healthy mind and body will help you be able to get a job in your retirement to supplement your retirement accounts.
Think While You Can
Give your preparations for retirement considerable thought. If you can define what retirement will look like with your present funding formula, you might get motivated to work harder now, rather than having to work in retirement!
Learn to invest. Accumulating assets that can provide income well into your retirement years can make a big difference in the quality of your retirement activities.
Do some math or have someone help you. Plan to live long and calculate what kind of lifestyle you will be able to afford. In other words, see how much you will need in your retirement funds to live the way you want to and how long you can make that last.
Learn what is reasonable and makes sense for funding options to support you through your active retirement years.
Make the effort to stay healthy, including a commitment to regular exercise and healthy eating habits. There is too much information available not to do it!
I am retired but most of us do not think of ourselves as being old. We are still young at heart, just not in heart.
For some it has become a dream come true as far as their lifestyle and good health. Others, not so much. In fact, statistics show that over half of retirees will have to settle for less than they hoped for in retirement.
So, are you prepared to run out of money in retirement?
Are you preparing for a retirement you will enjoy? Did you design it well?
You can if you take the time to plan, do some good math, and get plenty of good advice. But, most importantly, start contributions early and be consistent!
Then, you can enjoy your retirement and stay active past 100 years old!