Ten Steps to Get Ready for Retirement

We all have different dreams of retirement—a beach, golf course, cooking lessons, or on the open waters. But not matter the vision, you need carefully planning to achieve it. Here are 10 tips from AARP to achieve your retirement goals.

Put it In Writing Define how you plan to spend your retirement life and put it in writing. Make a list of the top five goals you want to achieve in retirement-- be as specific as possible to better budget and plan for making them into a reality.

Evaluate Your ‘Assets’ Along with the more obvious sources of income like a paycheck, Social Security, pension and 401(k), there are nontraditional assets like collectibles that should be taken into account to fund retirement.

Evaluate Your Health, Now Retirement planning isn’t just about finances. You should always strive to live a healthy life to avoid massive health-care issues and bills in the future, and to be able to maintain your quality of life in retirement. Regular checkups and preventative exams along with eating healthy and  exercise regularly will help maintain good health.

Know the Best Time to Collect Social Security The longer you wait to receive Social Security benefits after hitting full retirement age, the higher your monthly benefits and the more income you have to spend.  

Network Maintaining and growing your social network up and into retirement is important. Keeping in touch with past colleagues, friends and neighbors can open doors to all types of opportunities like new hobbies, for volunteering or part-time work. (Reuters)

Decide If You Want to Work Many people retire without adequate funds and continue to work part time. When mapping out your retirement goals you must also consider how much you may need to work to each what’s listed.  You will need to find a balance between the retirement goals that are most important to you and how much you are willing to work in retirement to fulfill them. (Reuters)

Create a Retirement Budget It will be important to plan a budget for your retirement that includes how much it will cost to support the lifestyle you would like to have, the money you will have coming in, and any debt.

Find Ways to Cut Back, Save More No matter your distance to retirement, finding ways to reduce your expenses can help you contribute more to savings and bring you closer to achieving your retirement goals.

Be Prepared Preparation can help reduce stress as well as the financial hit from unexpected life events like an illness or major home repair. Also consider what insurance you have and what you may need to ensure you are covered for any potential disasters.

Be Strict and Execute Even the best of plans can’t be a success if you don’t follow through. Plans sometimes need to be adjusted and improved along the way, but be sure you stick with it so you can achieve your retirement goals.