When it comes to any kind of planning, having a checklist is always helpful to keep you organized and on track. So as you begin to plan for retirement, it’s essential you create your own retirement checklist.
Retirement planning can be daunting, so if you’re struggling to get your checklist off the ground, here are some crucial items you can’t miss.
It’s not enough to think up a number and save that. Part of planning for retirement is understanding how you want to live once you retire. Do you plan on travelling six months of the year? Do you want to be able to help your grandchildren with school or your children with home expenses? Think about how you’d like to live and plan out what that lifestyle would cost before starting anything else on your retirement checklist.
Once you know what you’d like your dream retirement lifestyle to look like, it’s time to figure out how to get there. Part of this is taking stock of everything you currently own and everything you owe. If you retired with $200,000 in savings and investments, but you still owe $100,000 on your home with an outstanding lease on your vehicle, that $200,000 shrinks quickly.
Think ahead and take stock of your assets and debts and keep this list up to date.
Now that you know what you own and what you owe, what are your plans for these items and investments should you die? No one wants to think of what happens after retirement, but end-of-life planning and estate planning are essential parts of a retirement checklist.
Set aside time to plan out your estate as a part of your retirement planning process.
When you retire, that medical coverage from work stops in many cases. Make sure you have life insurance and health coverage for your retirement set up early. When you secure life insurance early on, the premiums are less because you’re generally healthier when you’re younger.
Many people think of retirement income as all one fund. They include their TFSA, RRSP, alternative investments, stocks, and other assets as their “retirement savings.” But what if an emergency occurs? It’s essential that you always have an emergency fund set aside in life for any unplanned issues that may arise in retirement. You could have excellent health coverage for any sickness and have a lot of money saved up to afford your retirement lifestyle for many years. But if there’s one thing life will teach you in all the years before retirement, it’s to always plan for the unexpected.
Your retirement income, or retirement savings, is the money you’re going to live off throughout your retirement. There are many ways to save and invest money for retirement, and it’s a smart idea to have retirement income coming from a variety of streams.
Your retirement income could be coming from a TFSA, an RRSP that’s converted into an RRIF, or several alternative investments such as MICs. Diversification is essential when investing as it acts as a safety net. Keeping your retirement income diversified allows you to reduce taxation, prolong money, and avoid some market fluctuation by spreading out your money and investment types. The last thing you want in retirement is to run out of money!
Now that you know what to think about and put on your retirement checklist, it’s time to start planning and ticking things off that list. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when planning for retirement is leaving it too late. Start growing your retirement savings today and diversifying your investments to get the maximum benefit without all the risks.
If you’re interested in investing in MICs and mortgage pools to prepare for retirement, get in touch with Jordan on our team. We’d love to help you retire sooner by using the real estate market to your advantage.
19 Sep, 2024
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Since 1994, Cooper Pacific Mortgage Investment Corporation has been helping communities and investors across Western Canada grow and prosper. As real estate experts, our goal is to offer investors outstanding mortgage investment opportunities with an attractive rate of return. We do this by offering short-term construction financing and interim mortgage funding to help builders and developers take projects from planning to completion.
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