STEPS TO RETIREMENT, DO YOU KNOW THE ROAD TO RETIREMENT?TEN STEPS TO RETIREMENTI feel these ten steps to retirement are extremely important to ensure that you are prepared for an enjoyable retirement. You need to be "healthy, wealthy and wise" to succeed. This is your packing stage, list the steps to retirement and check each off as you plan your road trip.
TEN STEPS TO RETIREMENT TO DO NOW1. Complete Medical Assessment including:Comprehensive Medical History and Physical ExaminationLaboratory Screening Tests Complete Blood Work-Up Urinalysis Electrocardiogram (EKG) Chest X-ray Audiogram Pulmonary Function Testing Vision Screening Your Medical assessment is the first stage in Steps to Retirement, if you have not had a complete physical in the past 2 years be sure to do so and ask for any of the above that are not included in your physical. Prevention is your best defense. This is important now before problems arise so that you can be up-to-date on preventive measures and focus on a healthy life style. Maintaining your health is the first step to enjoying an active retirement. Schedule an appointment and continue on with your ten steps to successful retirement.
Health Issues is full of health and wellness information to help you maintain your health and to help deal with any illnesses that may arise. It also contains a section on fitness. Be sure to come back to Steps to Retirement if you take the side trip to Health Issues.
2. Choose A Fitness RegimenExercise to keep your body strong. Find something you enjoy and do it at least once a week. Supplement that with a work out 3 to 4 times a week minimum. Taking a walk or riding a bike every evening is great exercise. Do some form of activity, you’ll find it will energize you. You want to be able to enjoy an Active Retirement so work your muscles to build endurance.
3. Develop Your Anti-Aging StrategiesPay attention to nutrition and take supplements.
Skin care is important for both men and women. Dental work or whitening. Glasses or eye surgery if your vision is impaired. Cosmetic surgery or Botox if it is important to you plan for it. I've included information on different anti-aging strategies on the Anti-Aging link. (Page under construction)
4. Evaluate Your Insurance and Benefit OptionsCanadian Baby Boomers -- click here
Do you have a mortgage you are paying on? If so is it paid off if you or your spouse pass away? Do you have disability insurance that will cover your payments and living expenses? Is your Home Owners Policy up to date? Does it fully cover in case of a complete loss? Be sure it covers required building code changes also. Auto Insurance check to be sure you are not over paying for coverage. If you are driving fewer miles now, ask your agent about a mileage discount. Is your Life Insurance Term or Whole Life? Do you have multiple policies? Do you know where your policies are? I have found it very convenient to place all of my different policies in a 2 inch 3 ring binder. I have dividers for each type of policy. I file it in the front of the file drawer in case I need to grab it in a hurry. Be sure you have copies and consider giving copies to another family member or to the beneficiaries. Organize all your policies and keep them all together. That way you know for sure you have them all when needed. It is easy to over look a life insurance policy when someone passes on. Especially if the policy has been paid in full for awhile. Health Insurance Benefits and Options, stay current on these also. If you have questions on insurance or benefit options I have included an information and FAQ area in your Retirement Road Map. Please Click Insurance )Page under construction) By taking care of this step in steps to retirement you will be much better prepared for any incident that may occur. You won't have to worry if you are fully covered or will be able to manage.
5. Get Your Estate Plan In OrderAnyone over the age of 30 or who has children should have their estate in order. This Step to Retirement should be discussed with younger family members who might not think they need to prepare so early in life. If you do not have a Will now is the time to write one. Also consider a family Trust to protect against probate losses. A Trust will also help protect you if you are sued. Be sure everything is current and up to date. Also consider an Advance Directive or a "Living Will" this is where you state exactly what you want done in case you can no longer speak for yourself. Do you want to be put on life support or not? You can even give after life instructions as to what you want done with your body. On the Resources page under medical is a link to down-loadable advanced directives for each state. Please remember if you have given a mortuary service your directions and later change your mind and want to be cremated you need to either notify the mortuary or write out a statement as to your new wishes and sign and date it. Have an attorney go over these documents to be sure they are in order. Here are a couple of sites that can guide you through the process. Nolo.com, Findlaw.com and Freeadvice.com.
Are you as prepared for your retirement as you thought? Half way down the list, just 5 more steps to retirement.
6. Do A Financial AssessmentDo you know what you need to retire?Try a couple Financial Calculators and play around with the numbers. Also do a life expectancy calculation, you could live a lot longer than you think. Links to these calculators are on my Resources page. This step to retirement helps you plan your lifestyle in retirement. Now is the time to learn if you need to have another income during retirement.
7. Do a Career EvaluationAre you happy with your job? Do you have a retirement package? How long before you can receive your benefits? Do you know the financial standing of the company? Have your retirement funds taken a hit from the economic down turn? Will you need to find another job before you're 65 or when you retire? It is time to start looking at all your options, you do have more options than you think. I will take you through the steps and help you find your prefect Retirement Business on the next page. Three steps to retirement to go.
8. Make Sure Your Parents are Taken Care OfSome of us baby boomers still have are parents to care for, we are the first generation to really experience this in our retirement. This is another concern we need to be prepared for. Care Giving does not sound real difficult but it can be difficult, stressful, heart breaking and expensive if you have no experience in this area. I have devoted an entire area of this web site to help you cope with care giving. This is an area I have years of experience in as I was a private duty nurse for a number of years. I have included everything from basic care to intensive care, plus where to find help in each area. So if this is something you are facing click on this link.
9. Maximize Your SavingsMaximize your savings, I hear you saying "yea, right" the banks are failing, stock market is loosing money like crazy, your 401k is questionable and you are to maximize your savings.Do not panic, repeat it to your self ever so often. I find myself doing this more and more each day. Remember if you sell off your stocks now you'll lose money, hang in there, they will turn around and slowly climb back up. I repeat this advice because it is what my Dad always did and he came out way ahead. I'm now in control of his stocks and I wanted to get out recently but when I pulled my file here at home the first thing I saw was his note to ride it out. Your savings accounts should each be under the $100,000.00 FDIC insurance cut off. If they are not, open new accounts and move your money around to meet this requirement. Supposedly this amount is now being increased to $250,000.00 but until I see it posted or receive notice from banks I will not believe it. Check your 401K and find out how it is being handled and who exactly is responsible for the way it is handled. Don't withdraw from it until you research all your options. In some cases you can transfer it to Money Market accounts with out penalties. DO NOT PANIC!! I'm repeating this, the "crash" occurred do to panic. It will climb back up & if you road it out you will be in much better shape. If you have some funds you can put into the stock market do so when it starts climbing back up. Spread it around and stay primarily with "Blue Chip" stocks. My son told me about a friend of his that has been playing the market and done very well. He buys "seasonal stocks" at the end of the season. Snow Boarding stocks at the begin of summer and sells when ski season starts. Summer stocks in winter. I had not thought about the "seasonal" stocks. Steps to Retirement is really your preparation for traveling The-Retirement-Road-Map. You don't take a trip with out first packing what you need, get your retirement packing done now and then you'll be ready to jump in the car. You will find interesting stops along the way.
10. Start Taking Advantage of Age-Based DealsMost of us do not want to admit we are 50 or older so asking for this discount is going against the grain. I finally decided to ask for it and then was asked for proof. At the time I was 53 and when I handed my proof over I received the nicest compliment. "You could easily pass for 43" Smiling broadly "but then I would not receive such a great discount". With money so tight right now take all the discounts you can get. When you take the discount you can check it off your list from steps to retirement. AARP.org is a must see. Check it out and you'll find the benefits are well worth it.
You've seen the first 10 steps to retirement, have you already packed some of them? By "packing" now you will have taken care of important matters and not have to worry about these details later on.
Please remember I am not an attorney, nor a CPA and each of us have different circumstances that effect how we manage different aspects of our lives. In following Steps to Retirement consider your circumstances first and then before making major changes run it by a professional first.
I hope you have found these steps to retirement helpful and will continue your tour. The-Retirement-Road-Map.com is all about how we (Boomers) can have a successful retirement life. Including Income earning strategies and how to build a retirement business online. Plus information on personal concerns, you can find all my topics on my site map page. If you do not see a topic you would like information on please contact me and let me know. I could already be working on it and if not I will do the research and add the page. This is your retirement information site so tell me what would be of interest to you. You can even submit an article to this site, sharing information benefits all of us. A guide to help you determine the prefect business a waits you on the next page. Click Retirement Business.
The Retirement Business Tour
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