Make your Plan Personal
When it comes to your retirement you should plan for the retirement you want. No one else knows what you want, after all it is your life and your dream.
Don’t hand a financial planner a box of papers and expect them to figure out what you want, it isn’t just about money or savings or income, in fact it is more about where and when and why. Do you want to be close to family or live by a beach? keep the family home or move into a condo? Retire early or keep working? These questions are all very personal and personal planning is required so make your retirement plan work for you.
Before you finish this step identify what this plan will likely cost and this doesn’t have to be exact but should be a reasonable amount like $X,000 a month.
Make your plan Realistic
Make sure you align your personal plan (costs) with your financial plan (reality). Financial planning is the means by which your personal plan becomes a reality. To plan for a retirement that costs you much more than you will reasonably have is called dreaming, planning is not dreaming.
Compromises may have to be made, compromising between what you want and what you can afford. This is when you start to prioritize what you must have and what you can let go of!
This is the turning point in your planning effort once you know what you want most then comes the next step!
Make your Plan Achievable
An Achievable retirement is where your dreams overlap with your financial reality. We like to call this the sweet spot. Some push what they can afford right to the limit and others find a compromise that costs less than they could likely afford. This is the balance that must be found in planning retirement.
This is the stage where you must decide if you need to increase your retirement Income and Savings. Possibly look into a Reverse Mortgage or save more or invest for a higher return you are looking for the the keys (steps to take) to achieve the Retirement you want.
This system provides a number of variables you can work with to fine tune your plan. Finally find a financial planner that is a fiduciary to work with.
Make your Retirement Sustainable
The final step is continuous planning, having developed a plan that is personal, realistic and achievable the final step is to make your retirement sustainable. The last thing you should want is to go back to work.
We will face the same issues we face in our working years, life is still unpredictable, markets are still unpredictable but others are predicable like Healthcare costs will likely rise.
The SHF Retirement Planning tool works for you before and through retirement and this helps you understand
opportunities you may have, it is best to work through
your financial planner when considering changes. Leave
that to the professional.