H<\/span>ow fast the years have flown by! One day you\u2019re celebrating your 25th birthday; the next, it\u2019s your 50th. Then unexpectedly, retirement is closer than ever. But what does retirement really mean?<\/p>\n How can you wrap your arms around the idea of living for 30 years, more or less, in uncharted waters?<\/p>\n Are there certain steps to make sure it\u2019s going to be a rollicking great retirement?<\/p>\n Too often, people haven\u2019t given a lot of thought about retirement. They\u2019re busy with day-to-day life. However, retirement may arrive sooner than they were prepared for. And they are suddenly plunged into the unknown. It\u2019s an abrupt and unwelcome change.<\/p>\n But it doesn\u2019t have to happen that way.<\/p>\n There is an opportunity for most of us to take a more scenic route in preparing for our decades of retirement. The transition is a 5-to-10-year period filled with purposeful exploration, mindful research, and a willingness to redesign the very idea of retirement.<\/p>\n At the start of this scenic journey is a big question: How do I figure out this \u201cretirement thing?\u201d There are six key areas to investigate to answer that question. It all starts with a lot of fun conversations filled with what if\u2019s and why not\u2019s.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no right or wrong answer. You might work longer or never retire.<\/p>\n Or, you may be ready today. Either way, you will want to at least explore other possibilities. Would you miss out on some amazing opportunities if you stayed busy every day at work? It\u2019s worthy of a conversation to talk about alternatives.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> For the next five years, try at least one new thing per year. Some ideas, like turning a hobby into a business or starting a hobby farm take all year to try on for size. Other ideas, such as becoming a volunteer, may not take as much time.<\/p>\n One of the most challenging parts of early retirement is the loss of the informal social network you have built at work. That casual yet critical group of people stays on the job after you\u2019ve retired. You\u2019ll need to create a new network of friends and neighbors before you retire so you stay connected.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> Start with people you know who are already retired.<\/p>\n What are they doing during the day? Who do they meet up with for lunch or an adventure? If no one is taking the lead, that\u2019s a role you may want to play.<\/p>\n Longevity is the odds you will live beyond average life expectancy. When planning for retirement, plan for at least three decades. While there\u2019s no guarantee you\u2019ll celebrate your 100th birthday, planning to age 95 is where to start.<\/p>\n When the odds of living longer are possible, three \u201cI\u2019s\u201d come into play:<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> The Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) rules for your tax-deferred savings accounts have changed again. Your RMD may start at age 73 or age 75. Check the IRS website for the latest information.<\/p>\n This is an important part of your research during the transition to retirement. First, get a good handle on how much you spend today. Then, decide if there is any reason that spending level will change in retirement. Most people really don\u2019t decrease much spending in retirement unless they\u2019ve paid off their mortgage or downsized their home and lifestyle.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> Categorize your spending into your must-haves versus nice-to-haves.\nFood, healthcare, and housing are must-haves. Healthcare may be shockingly expensive, so explore all pieces of the Medicare puzzle. Use the \u201cfind plans\u201d tool on Medicare.gov to get started.<\/p>\n Three? Five? More? There are your checking and savings accounts. A retirement plan at work\u2026and one at your last job. An IRA and a Roth IRA. Oh, and that brokerage account. You may have an annuity or rental income. And let\u2019s not forget any military, union, state, or private pensions. Add in Social Security, and that\u2019s a lot of accounts.<\/p>\n Each resource you have contributes to your income in retirement. Take an inventory during your transition years to know exactly what you have to work with.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> Social Security is the foundation for retirement income.\nYou get an optimal amount of income at your Full Retirement Age (between 66 and 67), a lot less if you claim early at age 62, and the maximum amount at age 70. Start with Social Security, then see how much income you\u2019ll need from your investments. A 3.5% to 4% withdrawal rate is generally the starting point for spending down personal assets.<\/p>\n First, you\u2019ll want to use this transition period to update your legal estate plans. With our digital world, you\u2019ll also want to make sure your trusted person can access all your online accounts, your PC, cell phone, and photos. They also need all your current passwords.<\/p>\n Leaving behind family values as well as financial assets should be done the way you want. Make sure you document everything correctly according to your state of residence.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong> You might consider a gifting strategy throughout your retirement rather than giving a larger pool of money upon your passing.<\/p>\n Your adult children or others may find a gift more valuable in their early years. Plus, you\u2019ll get to see how they use your hard-earned assets.<\/p>\n Each of these steps in the transition to your redesigned retirement takes some time and often a lot of discussion. You may need to gather information, set up online access, and dig through your history. Make it fun. Reminisce. Plan for an exciting future. After all, the next 30 should be the best 30!<\/p>\n Six key areas to investigate to figure out this “retirement thing”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[170,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-summer-2023","category-spring-summer-2023-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13713"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14059,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13713\/revisions\/14059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}It\u2019s a Transition, not a Plunge into the Unknown<\/h3>\n
1. Do you even want to retire?<\/h3>\n
2. How big is your social network?<\/h3>\n
3. Are you planning for longevity?<\/h3>\n
\n
4. Will you really spend less in retirement?<\/h3>\n
5. I have how many accounts to manage in retirement?<\/h3>\n
6. How should I think about leaving a legacy?<\/h3>\n
Enjoy the Scenic Route<\/h3>\n
Marcia Mantell is the founder and president of Mantell Retirement Consulting, Inc<\/a>., a retirement business and education company. She\u2019s author of \u201cWhat\u2019s the Deal with Retirement Planning for Women<\/em>,\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s the Deal with Social Security for Women<\/em>,\u201d \u201cCookin\u2019 Up Your Retirement Plan<\/em><\/a>,\u201d and blogs at BoomerRetirementBriefs.com<\/a>.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"