This path focuses on how to use wealth to maintain your standard of living and enjoy retirement to the fullest.
Still, the happy state of retirement is an active stage for managing your finances to achieve those goals.
The action plan includes ways to maximize funds as well as stay aware of opportunities to improve health, enrich your life, and even give back to your community.
Guiding Principle for Enjoying Retirement
Manage costs, investments, and DI to maximize quality of life.
How the Path Works
Learn it.
- Explore opportunities and design your bucket list in retirement.
- Find ways to stretch your budget and pay for important retirement goals.
- Learn to protect your assets and investments as economic trends develop.
Plan it.
- Solidify your budget and create your own action plan to stay on track.
- Use our calculators to model and compare different financial scenarios.
- Involve family and friends in your plans so they can support your efforts.
Do it!
- Start living your dreams and spending time on things that matter most.
- Work with your fiduciary, doctors, and legal counsel as needed.
- Monitor your investments and work to stay on plan.
TIP: You’ve earned the rewards of a happy retirement. Don’t wait to enjoy it.
Topics Covered
The Enjoy Retirement Path is all about how to use your wealth to protect your health and standard of living while you live out your dreams.
Our proprietary calculators figure prominently in the process so you can forecast and manage how much to spend in each of the three stages of retired life:
- The active years
- The relaxing years
- The caring years
The articles, guides, and financial tools in this path are designed to help you manage investments, identify and prepare for economic swings, and maximize your discretionary income to live well in retirement.
In most cases, the process covers similar topics such as:
- How to take advantage of senior discounts to stretch your everyday budget.
- What can I do to maintain self-reliance in retirement?
- Should I downsize my living situation or change to assisted living?
- What types of insurance do I need and how do insurance needs change in retirement?
- How do I plan required minimum distributions effectively?
- What are the best travel credit cards for my credit score?
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I protect my retirement savings from scammers?
Realize that if someone is contacting you (via text, email, phone call, mail, or even in person), they want something from you (your money, information, time, property, etc.).
When that happens, it’s okay to dismiss them politely. Then you should report the scam or fraud to the Federal Trade Commission.[1] It is also helpful to contact the organization they claim to represent directly using public information you find on Google or in a phone book to let them know.
You can ask someone you trust to help you verify or vet whomever is communicating with you. Nothing is so time-sensitive that you can’t stop and verify with others. It can be difficult to stay up with the most recent scams, but it is important to research and become aware of the various methods scammers use.[2]
Report Fraud:
- You can report a scam or fraud to the Federal Trade Commission here: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
- Learn more about scams and how the FTC works to stop them here: What to do if you were scammed
Should I work part time in retirement?
Some people never retire; they continue to “work” in retirement because they love what they do. Others keep working to supplement their income.
According to a LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute survey of pre-retirees (ages 55 to 71) who planned to retire in the two years, 27% said they expect to work part time in retirement even though they had at least $100,000 in assets.[1]
There are many reasons to keep working in retirement, and it’s really a personal decision. But explore the financial implications first so you know how it could affect your taxes, insurance, and health.
Sources:
- How Working In Retirement Became A Reality
Kerry Hannon, Forbes.com
09-06-19 | Accessed: 12-05-24
How much does assisted living cost?
The average cost of care in an assisted living facility in the U.S. is $5,350/month, according to Genworth’s 2023 Cost of Care Survey.[1] In addition, the cost of In-Home Care with a home health aide is $6,292/month.
Sources:
- Cost of Care Survey
Genworth.com
Why should I have life insurance after I retire?
A lot of financial decisions depend on a person’s situation, priorities, and goals. Whether to keep or get life insurance after you retire is one of them. Here are a few scenarios to illustrate the issue:
- A single person living on social security only may want to maintain a small policy for end-of-life expenses, so as not to burden their family.
- Those who expect large medical expenses may want a policy to keep their legacy intact and make sure their family is not burdened by these bills.
- Someone with significant assets leaving a legacy may not need a life insurance policy if the heirs have enough financial resources to execute their final wishes.
