5 Ways to Prepare Yourself for a Successful Retirement

It’s actually not as complicated as we make it out to be – don’t you think?

From a lot of the articles I’ve read to shows I’ve watched, the retirement advice seems to be about how you’re going to need a boat-load of money to retire these days! Do we really need that much for retirement?

Why do I imagine the executives and producers of these shows and magazines looking like Dr. Evil with their pinkies to their mouths, laughing as they say, “100 meeee-lli-onnn dollars!!! They’ll never retire and will always have to buy our magazines and watch our shows!”

So what I want to do today is strip retirement down to the bare bones.

What are some essentials that if you put into place, you can achieve a successful retirement.

Start Now!

At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious here, it needs to be said. I see way too many folks procrastinate when it comes to retirement planning and they end up shooting themselves in the foot. Your goal for retirement will be here before you know it, so start right now – Yes, today!

If there is one comment I hear repeated most often as I meet with folks about their situation, it’s this: ”I wish I would’ve started planning when I was younger!” So, younger folks – take heed the wisdom given to you by an older generation.

Older folks – don’t lament all that you’ve never done or all that you wished you would’ve done differently – start making changes and making a difference today too!

Get to the Bottom of Your Goals & Passions

This is so important! Many people will just throw an age or a dollar figure out there and assume they’ve set a goal. Although they are right to a certain degree, it’s only half the picture. If you want to retire at age 55, or have a million dollars saved up by the time you reach age 60 you need to begin asking yourselves, “Why?!” Why do you want those things? Or put it another way, “What is it about retiring early or saving a million dollars that is important to you?”

What you’ll find is the bottom of your goals and passions. What drives you, what motivates you, what’s most important to you. You may realize that you want to retire early so that you can spend time on short-term missions trips or more time with family and friends. Those are motivating goals. Numbers and ages are not.

Run Some Numbers

Now, just because numbers and ages are not motivating doesn’t mean you don’t look at them. You need to figure out how much your motivating goals will cost you! There are all kinds of calculators out there that will help you figure out your number. There are also plenty of solid financial planners out there that can help you as well. Again, the point of running the numbers is simply trying to figure out how much retirement will cost and then how much you will need to save to make those numbers.

Save Til It Hurts (And Don’t Forget the Main Ingredient)

I think we’re all smart enough to know that if we don’t save, we won’t reach our goals. But, how many of us are saving til it hurts? What I mean is that we are simplifying our lifestyles and saying, “NO” to some of our desires for new things so that we can save. We don’t all need the latest and greatest technology or a late-model car or a 56″ LCD when our 40″ is just fine!

Think about it – how many things do you upgrade during the year simply because you want to, not because you have to? Save til it hurts.

Now, what’s the main ingredient? Well of course it tax diversification. This is something that is gaining more popularity, but still needs to be harped on. Spread your investments and retirement savings out among tax-deferred, taxable and tax-free vehicles. This means you may have to open a Roth IRA, scale back on your 401k and get money in a tax-free position. Run some numbers and figure out what makes the most sense for you.

Do Annual Check-Ups

This is also extremely important! It’s easy to allow our every day distractions to keep us from reviewing our retirement goals annually. If you don’t review, you have no way of knowing how you’re doing in relation to reaching your goals. Set aside some time each year to revisit your goals, check your progress and then make any tweaks and changes as necessary. If you can do this consistently, you will be so much more ahead than the majority of folks out there who just let retirement happen.

What Are Some Other Ways to Prepare for a Successful Retirement?