At our age, retirement seems far away for my husband and I. However, the more I think about it, the more it seems important to start planning now. After all, the way time tens to fly when we?re having fun, the golden years will be here before we know it. When I stop and think about it, I actually already have quite a lot of ambitious plans for what I?d like to do and where I?d like to go when we retire.
Lately, Australia has grabbed my attention as a future travel destination. The country?s unique history and landscape look so appealing. I?d love to spend time exploring the Outback, basking on the beaches, and without a doubt, listening to that unmistakeable accent.
Glenwood Springs, Colorado is another place I have in mind that is considerably closer to home than some of the other destinations I have in mind. My husband and I spent time there while we were dating, and we loved it. It is such a beautiful area, and the hot springs were so relaxing. We also had a tremendous amount of fun exploring caves and going white-water rafting. I?m sure we?ll make it to Glenwood again before we retire, but I still love it there so much that I think it deserves a place on my retirement destination list.
We definitely won?t need to spend all of our time traveling, of course. I also want to take advantage of the extra time I?ll have during that chapter of my life, and take up some activities that are more or less neglected now. Reading is a favorite pastime of mine, and I get excited whenever I think about having more time to get lost in good books. When I was a young girl, I loved to paint and draw. I would love to become immersed in artistic projects again, to create lush landscapes and portraits of familiar faces.
I may have a pretty ambitious collection of retirement plans, but these things probably won?t happen if we don?t plan for them. I recently came across this article from US News that lists twelve retirement planning deadlines. It is a really handy timetable that recommends the best time to complete each step. Another resource that I found helpful when thinking about retirement plans is the advice from Genworth regarding protecting retirement savings. Genworth, a leading provider of life and long term care insurance, recommends using an annuity to plan for retirement. In this time of financial uncertainty, that advice certainly makes sense to me.
It seems that it is never too soon to start planning for retirement. After all, there needs to be a good strategy in place if our plans are going to become reality! ?A goal without a plan is just a wish.? ? Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry
This post was inspired by Genworth?Financial. All opinions are 100% my own (always). For more information about caregiving, visit the?Genworth Financial?website.
My hubby & I recently had “the talk”… time really does fly, and it is never too early to plan.
I’m like you, I think it is so far off. But then I realize that he can retire at 55. That is only 17 years from now. That is not really that long.
My husband and I are in are early 20s and already planning our retirement. My husband is a financial advisor, though, so I think it comes with the territory. This year, instead of gifts, my husband has set up our 1-year-old’s college fund and other family members can give to it. Too many people don’t plan soon enough and fail to realize that they don’t have enough saved. You have to look at how long you will probably be living, and increase in costs. For example, a house that costed $60,000 in the 80s is a very different house than you could buy now. Expenses go up as the years go on.
Great reminder! It’s about time I took another look at retirement plans since things change so quickly!