Whether you’re already retired or just preparing for it, there’s a very good chance that you’ve left out at least 1 vital piece of the retirement puzzle. Why? Because most Americans have…
So while you may have enough of the puzzle to cram it all together into a halfway decent retirement, don’t you deserve to live out your 2nd Act the best way possible?
That’s why it’s time to find the missing piece to YOUR retirement puzzle, and how to make sure you’re not leaving any money on the table…
Missing Piece #1: Stop paying for education
For many Americans, a huge piece of the puzzle is ripped away when they continue paying for their children’s education. I understand that you want to do anything and everything you can for your children, but sacrificing years, decades, or even your entire retirement in order to pay off their student loans is NOT a good trade.
Figure out what you can handle, and set specific boundaries for your children when they are preparing for college. Going to a 2-year community college before 2 years at a university can save tens of thousands or more. Or if they’ve already gone through college, at some point it will be time to stop paying off their student loans for them.
And that ties in to…
Missing Piece #2: Keeping your bank account open for your kids
Another problem many retirees face is dealing with their children always having a hand in the cookie jar, and in this case, the cookie jar is the ‘Bank of Mom and Dad’.
I’ve heard too many horror stories of elderly people having their entire retirements (which were perfectly set at one point) completely destroyed because they couldn’t cut their kids off.
No matter the situation, those people felt the need to pay their kid’s way out of trouble.
So this missing piece is twofold:
1. How will your children learn to be financially responsible if they’re always bailed out by you anytime they get in a bind? Cutting them off can be a great thing in the long term.
2. Closing the vault doors can mean securing your own future, meaning you won’t need to eventually depend on your children to keep you afloat.
Missing Piece #3: Life insurance
A failure on the part of many people who enter retirement is not evaluating how they can change their life insurance policies.
At that age, there’s a very good chance that you can and should be cutting back significantly on what you’re paying into life insurance. That alone can save you tens of thousands or more throughout your retirement years.
Beyond those three pieces of the puzzle that could very well be what you need to achieve the best retirement possible, also consider your long-term care policy.
Don’t feel like you need to take an ‘all or nothing’ approach. As with just about anything, you’ll want to have certain things more than others as it pertains to your long-term care policy.
Take time to figure that out, and budget accordingly.
When you do all of the above, you’ll be well on your way to piecing together your perfect retirement.
