Picture this: you’re in your 60s, retired, with your working life behind you. Now you’re ready to relax. And, because you saved and prepared for this moment over the years, you are in a position to take full advantage of this. You have enough savings. You’ve invested in long-term health care insurance. You have a social security retirement or pension plan. You’ve been careful and taken the right steps. And now you can do what you want with your time – pottering around your home, tending to the garden, sipping tea in a cafe, or traveling the world. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
So, let’s dive in to further explore how planning for retirement at an early age can have a positive effect on not only your long-term plans, but also your current ones!
Why is Preparing for Retirement at an Early Age Important?
The earlier you adopt a sound retirement plan, the easier it will be for you down the road. Did you know that planning for your retirement from a younger age can also benefit your holistic health?
These benefits include its impact on your holistic health. Investing in a good retirement plan allows you to maintain physical and psychological wellbeing in your later life. For example, when you can already invest in health care planning, you will have greater peace of mind. You will have a sense of stability and reassurance, not only in the present, but for your future self as well. And with that peace of mind, you’re able to feel better physically and spiritually too. With future finances taken care of, you can concentrate on living in the here and now.
With an effective financial planning strategy in place, you can learn the importance of budgeting and saving, and also boost your financial literacy. It can help you make better financial decisions, especially with regard to loans and mortgages, which in turn can help with the economic health aspect. What’s more important is that it lets you develop financial discipline and structure in your life.
Retirement planning allows you to manage finances well in advance, so in a way you’re providing yourself with the liberty to decide whether you want to work post-retirement, volunteer for a charitable cause, travel and see the world, or simply sit back and relax. When you are financially stable, the choice is yours!
As you become aware of your financial security in life, you’ll naturally feel motivated to work towards achieving your life and career goals. Research from the Academy of Management Journal shows that retirement planning can boost one’s overall satisfaction in life. As the world we presently live in tends to prioritize mental health, a stress-free and financially well-established life can, indeed, help us maintain our balance of mind.
How Can We Benefit From Planning Retirement at an Early Age?
Once we’re able to organize money early on in our lives, we can reward ourselves with, say, a year-long luxury tour, a dream car, or treat ourselves to the finer things in life without worrying about debts and finances. It can also have a huge positive impact on our spiritual health as it can all help improve and rejuvenate our energy levels, which can optimize our productivity.
When we’re capable of identifying our retirement needs at a young age, we can set a reasonable retirement plan, which also helps us prepare for the standard of living we expect to follow after retirement, based on our current or desired lifestyle. Statistical analyses published by BMJ Journals convey that when people retire at the age of 66, their mortality rates drop by 11%. For example, a woman who retires at 65 may live up to 90-95 years, and during those 30 years following her retirement she can lead a healthy lifestyle with less financial worries.
Retirement doesn’t mean your life has to take a downturn or become boring after years of rewarding work. It’s just about you using all of your resources when it comes to social relationships! Upon retirement your daily schedule can get a little flexible, allowing you to become more actively engaged in your social life. It can range from just spending time with your loved ones, or discovering and experiencing new places to traveling the world and creating new social relationships to community work. The data gathered from this cross-sectional study gives us more information on how we can improve our social lives with retirement. When we’re able to lead a financially stable life in the long term, we can do our part in planning for the future of our loved ones and dependants, including our family, children, parents, and grandparents. Undoubtedly, it can strengthen our familial, kinship, and social ties. It can also improve our mental state. Sometimes helping others allows feelings of gratitude and happiness to bloom inside us, and this reflects positively on our mental wellbeing. When you operate from a place of mindfulness, fulfillment, and gratitude for the present with a peaceful mindset, it can boost your mental and spiritual health.
Tips for Preparing for Retirement Early on in Life
Here are some tips we’ve gathered to get you started on your retirement planning process.
- Identify your retirement needs and goals. Decide whether you want to run a family business, work for someone else, or volunteer post-retirement. This preliminary step is important because it can guide you financially to prepare further for your retirement. It’s better to ask yourself whether you prefer to follow your current lifestyle or a desired one upon retirement.
- Financial planning for retirement is multi-faceted. First of all, it’s vital to find a plan which suits your prospective retirement lifestyle and goals. Educate yourself on Social Security retirement and pension plans. Ask for guidance from your mentors, supervisors, and co-workers. When it comes to creating a sound financial planning method, planning an effective saving strategy and avoiding debts are also crucial. Forms of “side hustle” or passive income can also ensure financial security, and you can also consider alternative sources of residual income, or in other words, income you continue to receive after the work has been done — for example, rent from real estate investments.
- Health care planning. – A sound health cover can alleviate some of your potential financial burden from costly healthcare expenses. Look into some good health insurance options.
- Execute your retirement plan as soon as possible. This will save you from hassle and anxiety of the impending late-life crises.
Retirement planning isn’t just about smart financial choices. While financial stability is an important factor, retirement planning can also mean improving your holistic health. Educating yourself and developing conscious habits to prepare for retirement early on in life can improve your holistic health and wellbeing in the long run – and it’s the goal we want you to achieve!