Five Questions Every Worker Should Ask Before Retirement
By Kayleigh Kulp, FOXBusiness
Wall Street’s recent turmoil has many investors questioning whether they will have enough to retire the way they’ve always dreamed, or to retire at all, for that matter.
Whether your post-work life is just around the corner or far away in the distance, there’s never a bad time to reevaluate your definition of retirement: what it means ideologically and financially.
“How you answer that question has very important implications about where you’re going to be and what you’re going to spend,” says author and certified financial planner Eleanor Blayney. “There’s so many demands on the dollars we thought we’d be using in our 60s or 70s. Retirement used to be a going away from the workplace. Now it has to be thought of as ‘what am I going toward?’”
Should I downsize? Housing accounts for about one-third of expenses for people aged 65 and older, according to the Mature Market Institute. Next on the list is transportation, taking up nearly 20% of total expenses. A lot of retirees want to keep their big place for a family to come home to for the holidays, but Blayney says moving to a smaller home in a more affordable city is a good way to stretch your nest egg.
Take a look at AARP’s list of most affordable retirement cities
If downsizing isn’t an option, or you’d like to stay in your home forever, pay off your mortgage before retirement or consider a reverse mortgage as a way to gain extra monthly income.
Also consider downsizing big, gas-guzzling vehicles or opt to keep cars longer to avoid recurring payments.
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