Preparing for Retirement Series: Educating Yourself (5 Years From Retirement)
Look at how long you’re willing to work and check in with Social Security and Medicare. Even if you have saved diligently, your Social Security benefits will probably account for 1/3 of your retirement income. Social Security benefits are based on your highest 40 quarters of earnings. So, make sure you verify all your earnings records are correct at ssa.gov. Consider waiting until Full Retirement Age to start collecting benefits. Beginning at age 62 means taking 70 cents on the dollar for the rest of your life- which will likely be decades.
Additionally, do your Medicare homework. Navigating Medicare is difficult, so start educating yourself about Medicare and how it works. This will help you avoid coverage gaps when you leave your employer. Healthcare is a gigantic cost, and private healthcare for people over is incredibly expensive.
If you are planning to move when you retire, target several destinations and spend time there getting to know the locals and the climate. Also, health care will become increasingly important as you age. That cabin 20 miles down a dirt road sounds amazing; sitting on the front porch sipping coffee watching fish jump in the pond. But you need to ask yourself: is it realistic? If you had a health scare could you make it to a hospital? Mobility and local services are important considerations as we age.
Our own Katie Junk wrote a fantastic describe where you should mentally be whether retirement is 40 years away or just 1. Each of those milestones has been posted as it’s own blog and posted right here on our website: SweeneyMichel.com/blog or read below on the road to retirement:
Check it out and let us know what you think!