Want More From Retirement Than Your Parents Have? 5 Steps To Take Now
Written by
Martin Dasko
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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The 2024 Everyday Wealth In America report from Edelman Financial Engines discovered that 37% of Americans want a different retirement from previous generations. The survey found that 42% want something more active, 39% want something more adventurous and 37% want to pursue passion projects.
If you’re looking for a different kind of retirement than your parents or grandparents are living, it’s important that you start planning in advance to improve your chances of accomplishing your goals.
Here are expert tips for what people can do pre-retirement to make the retirement they want more likely.
Invest In Your Health When You Still Can
“The critical factor for people who want to travel, explore and work on their terms will be their health,” said Stephen Kates, the principal financial analyst for RetireGuide. “Poor or declining health will limit retirees’ ability to achieve those goals.”
As a retiree, you won’t be able to enjoy your dream lifestyle if you don’t allocate funds to your health while in your prime working years. Do whatever you can when you have the resources to improve your health and be active when you’re older. It will be challenging to prioritize your physical health when you retire, because it could be difficult to build new habits in your late 60s.
Kates added, “Eating well and going to the gym may be one of the best investments you can make today to live the retirement you dream of.”
Start Building Your Ideal Lifestyle Before You Retire
“If your lifestyle today is haphazard or unmanageable, then your retirement lifestyle will be the same,” said Brian Haney, a retirement expert and founder of The Haney Company. “The key to success will not be a better rate of return than your peers, but it will boil down to discipline.”
If you want a retirement different from your parents’, start building your ideal lifestyle when you’re young enough to plan the logistics. You don’t want to wait until you retire to figure out your ideal lifestyle, since you may be set in your ways at that point.
The goal is to add passion projects and activities into your lifestyle when you’re still working so that you don’t have to start from scratch when you exit the workforce.
Create a Model Weekly Schedule
Haney suggested that once you’re on the doorstep of retirement, you should try to create a model “weekly schedule.” Determine which passion projects and adventures you would like to include in your routine so that you have something to look forward to when you have more free time.
A few ideas that you can explore here include:
- Pick up a simple hobby, like photography, that you can realistically pursue when you’re older.
- Find a local fitness facility that has group classes you can attend.
- Seek out friends with similar interests, so you have someone to hold you accountable.
Figure Out Your Living Situation
Haney said you should start thinking about navigating your location and housing dynamic based on how you want to live before retiring. Where you live and how much you spend on housing will determine the kind of retirement you get to live. This means you’ll want to start planning the details of your living situation many years in advance.
“During the years we save for retirement, our lifestyle often revolves around work and kids,” Haney explained. “However, with these two elements now gone — or at least likely significantly different — it may be time to build a new lifestyle around what you like doing.”
Focus On Building a Retirement Income That Covers Your Expenses
Haney added that retirement is all about income and not about assets. This means that you want to start investing accordingly to have enough money coming in from your investments to cover your desired lifestyle. For this to happen, you’ll have to follow the previous steps to figure out how much your ideal lifestyle will cost.
“One of the biggest steps is to go beyond traditional savings strategies and build a diverse retirement portfolio,” said Erika Kullberg, an attorney, personal finance expert and founder of Erika.com. “Assets including stocks, bonds and real estate are all fantastic options to pursue, and a mix of all of these can help ensure long-term growth, stability and the retirement you always envisioned.”
Investing in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, like a 401(k), can be a good place to start, if you have access to one.
If you want to pursue adventures and enjoy passion projects, you’ll need the funds to do so. Investing accordingly when you’re still working will improve your chances of having a different retirement than your parents have.
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