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How Bad is it to Carry Debt in Retirement?

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How bad is it to carry debt in retirement?

How to Prevent Carrying Debt in Retirement?

There’s no denying that the baby boom generation has left a lasting impact on the world. This generation has spent the last several decades as the leaders of almost every industry, and continue to play major roles in politics, entertainment, science, agriculture, medicine and pretty much any other market you can think of.

But as this decade rolls on, millions of boomers are getting ready for retirement. Whether you can’t wait to hang up your work clothes and sail off into the sunset or you feel like they’ll have to drag you away from your work kicking and screaming, there’s no stopping Father Time. So now you’ve got to focus on how the rest of your life will play out, and you obviously want it to be as comfortable as possible.

Planning in advance to manage debt in retirement

As you enter retirement money becomes a larger issue, and keeping expenses down is a crucial step. You’ve got to get rid of debt to make sure that the money you do have coming in isn’t used up without contributing to your life.

Here are a few ideas to help boomers prevent carrying debt into retirement. [Read more…]

The Freedom of Retirement

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Would you like to combine freedom and income in your retirement planning?

retirement-freedomFor many years the golden freedom of retirement was dangled in front of our generation of baby boomers. We aspired to “retire early”, encouraged by the financial planning advertisements of the 1980s. Retirement was considered the reward for a lifetime of working hard. It could be a time of adventure and relaxation. A time for pursuing passions and engaging in activities that you never had time to pursue while you were working.

Much of that still holds great appeal….I want the freedom, the adventure and the relaxation. Time to indulge my interests and do new things. Time to travel and have fun. But at what price? When you are working you are used to having a regular income. But when you retire you start living off whatever you have accumulated.  Is it time to reconsider your retirement income? Could you reinvent yourself, that is do something completely different or do the same work in a different way?

 

Is Retirement Now A Transition Time To Your Next Step?

I don’t want to wake up one morning and realize I no longer have economic purpose and challenge in my life. It worries me to consider our retirement savings disappearing faster than we expected just because we wanted to live the life we enjoy. I don’t want to feel, or be treated, like an ‘old person’. With luck there will be plenty of years ahead when that will be inevitable, but now isn’t that time. [Read more…]

Five Tips To Create Your Own Retirement Lifestyle Business

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retirement lifestyle business

Imagine creating a retirement business from the comfort of your home.

You could be the boss of your very own retirement lifestyle business. You’d be developing business ideas, expressing your creativity, creating your rules, building your own business. Your work could fit around other things that matter to you, without sacrificing your dedication to the business or your professionalism. You wouldn’t need to commute or waste time on unnecessary meetings.  And you wouldn’t have to miss out on quality time with loved ones or friends. The image above is exactly how I spent some of yesterday…combining the joy of a small grandchild visiting with a little bit of work during sleep time!

Is it time to follow your dreams?

As we get older we want more time to pursue our interests. This could mean traveling, studying, or just having more time for friends and family. Superannuation isn’t necessarily enough to fund the life you want and inheritance might improve your finances a little, but not many people end up with a huge inheritance.

How do you generate an income for yourself and still have time to follow your dreams when you’re nearing the traditional retirement age?

Could a retirement business enhance your lifestyle?

The answer might be to start a retirement business, one that fits in with your lifestyle but enables you to bring in extra income while enjoying that sense of purpose that comes from having goals and achieving them. [Read more…]

Freelancing to Supplement Retirement Income

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Freelancing to Supplement Retirement Income

Have you thought about doing freelance work to supplement your retirement income?

Do you love to voice your opinion on paper, have you always dreamed of writing a book? Do you like to voice your opinions on any and every subject that is a hot topic in the news? It does not take a journalism degree to make some money to supplement your retirement income. You are wise to the ways of the world, and have experiences, and stories to tell right? You can make a decent living if the effort is put forth to integrate your expertise and knowledge , and share all you know with the cyber world.

Supplement your retirement income by using your skills

Retirement is a dream, and although you may not fathom the reality of it with the economy , health care, and just scraping by to make ends meat, you may be surprised at what you can do. You can retire! You can make it happen by integrating your knowledge and skills into a written form to share with the entire world. There are many ways to make money on the Internet. One by writing and being a freelance writer.

Freelancing to Supplement Retirement Income

[Read more…]

What Is Your Wealth?

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As you near retirement the question “Do I have enough to retire?” looms large.  You’ve worked all your life but still there is that gnawing feeling that you haven’t done enough.

It’s time to ask yourself a different question – What is your wealth? – and recognize the riches that are in your life.

The story of the farmer

There was once a very rich and wealthy family, the father took his young son on a trip out into the countryside, he took him there to show him how the poor people lived and to help him understand his level of wealth. The two of them spent several days on the farm of what they would consider a poor family. After those days they returned home. When they got back home, the father asked his son,

“So what did you think of our trip? Did you see how the poor people lived?

What did you learn about your wealth?”

The son responded, “It was great Dad. Yes I did, I saw that we have a cat and a dog, but that they have many of both, I saw that we have a swimming pool in our garden and a trampoline and lovely deck for parties, but they have fields that seem to have no end, and a creek that flows into a lake. We have electric lights in our back garden, and our patio extends around the side of the house and to our neighbour’s wall, but they have all the stars in the night sky, and they have the whole horizon.”

“Our home is large on a small plot of land; they have the farmhouse, and many outbuildings and rolling fields that go beyond our sight. A house maid and a nanny help us, but they all help others. We buy our food from the local stores, they grow it!”

The father was quiet. Then his son said,

“Dad, thank you for showing me how poor we are compared to the wealth of their lives!”

Are you building your wealth? How do you measure what your real wealth is?

What is your real wealth?

Have an honest true look at your own life. Are you so busy trying to get to the next goal, to the next level that you haven’t actually realised… stopped to be grateful for what you have right now? Your wealth? Fed, watered, loved by someone? Working? Playing? Experience? Education?

Measure your life not by what you haven’t got, what you haven’t achieved, but instead by what you have. [Read more…]

Women….Plan For Retirement, Not Burnout

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When chatting with a group of third age women recently I was struck by how few had consciously planned how they would leave the workforce. Indeed, some were struggling to deal with the reality of being physically or emotionally unable to continue in their roles and adjusting to premature retirement.

Work isn’t for the faint-hearted!

One woman had the misfortune to literally fall flat on her face, or rather her chin, causing significant damage to her cervical vertebrae and making it impossible to work (severe loss of balance, pain, some memory loss, anxiety).

Another said that she just come to the end of her tether as a gift shop owner.

A third was a cheerful, ebullient early primary school teacher who clearly loved her job, until one day recently when she walked into school and was seriously upset by the actions of an administration staff member.  At the principal’s suggestion, she took two weeks’ leave, and then decided never to go back. [Read more…]