If you are going to retire or are already retired, you might be getting worried about your finances in the future. You can better tackle these worries if you understand your monetary requirements during your retirement.
The Three Retirement Stages
As financial planner Michael Stein covered in his book The Prosperous Retirement: Guide to the New Reality, there are three stages in the retirement phase of life. Your monetary requirements for each phase will differ:
- The go-go stage: This is the early retirement stage, when you are healthy and strong. You look forward to packing your free time with travel and activities that you may have had to postpone during your working years. In this stage of retirement, your expenses are quite high as you need money for your travel extravaganza and because you are unused to frugal living.
- The slow-go stage: In this stage, you still want to travel and participate in activities as in the first stage. The only difference is that the frequency of both endeavors falls as you settle into a relaxed lifestyle. You require less funds as you reduce your trips.
- The no-go stage: This stage is the toughest of all. You tend to forgo travel and lead a sedentary life, either due to physical limitations or to the death of your spouse. In this stage, you are more careful about spending and your expenses are more geared towards medical costs.
Balance It Out!
Clearly, it would be a shame to let money worries stop you from visiting friends and relatives who live far away and from exploring new areas when you have the health and zest to do so. If you don’t use some of your funds for travel and entertainment, you are likely to find yourself sitting on large amount of cash when you are older and less likely to be able to enjoy it. However, you would be wise not to spend extravagantly in the first stage of retirement, only to face the anxiety of scraping through your savings and Social Security in the latter years.
This is when you can seek the assistance of a retirement planner to help you strategize for your retirement phases, keeping in mind your monetary requirements and inflation. Contact our office today.
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