Many people think of retirement as a breezy, carefree period of life. And if you play your cards right, it can be. But make no mistake about it — to enjoy retirement, you’ll need to plan carefully. Here are a few nuggets of knowledge you’ll need to keep in mind to avoid a financial crunch down the line.
1. Your living costs may not go down all that much
A lot of people think that once they retire, they’ll magically start spending a lot less money. But why? What about retirement is going to change your expenses other than not having to drive or take the train to work? You’ll still need a home, food, medication, and so forth. In fact, since you’ll be left with added free time on your hands, you may end up spending more money in retirement just to stay busy.
2. You can’t live on Social Security alone
You may be planning to mostly rely on your Social Security benefits to stay afloat in retirement. But those benefits will only replace about 40% of your paycheck if you’re an average earner, and as we just discussed, your living costs may not drop all that drastically once you leave the workforce behind. In fact, Social Security pays the average senior today $1,543 a month. If that doesn’t sound like enough to live on, then you’d better plan to ramp up your 401(k) or IRA contributions.
3. A $1 million nest egg may not be enough for you
You’d think that retiring with a cool $1 million to your name would guarantee you financial security during retirement. But that money may not go as far as you expect it to. If you withdraw from your savings at annual rate of 4%, which is what experts have long recommended (that’s not necessarily the best withdrawal rate for you, but we’ll use it as a ballpark figure), that’ll give you a retirement income of $40,000 a year, plus whatever Social Security pays you. Now if you’re planning on a modest lifestyle, that works. But if your hope is to globetrot or live it up in an expensive city, then you may need to rethink that plan — or save a lot more.
4. Medicare isn’t free
One of the biggest shockers that tends to hit retirees is getting a bill for Medicare (or, more accurately, seeing their Medicare Part B premiums come out of their Social Security benefits). Medicare is far from free. Not only will you pay for your actual coverage, but you’ll also be liable for coinsurance, deductibles, and, in some cases, supplemental insurance, all of which is apt to eat away at your retirement income. Be sure to factor healthcare costs into your budget accurately, because they could be substantial.