The last year and a half inspired a wave of personal reflection, career re-assessments, and an overall restructuring of lives. For many working Americans, the retirement question came crashing down with urgency as their working lives shifted to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Age-old questions about what we value, how we spend our time, and how we plan our futures led many to seek a different life and reevaluate priorities, ambitions, and life goals. These questions meant many Americans began looking to early retirement and the options that lay ahead.
Here is what you need to know about early retirement and how to get it right.
Early Retirement in 2021
Retirement can be an opportunity to live out the golden years free from the shackles of the 9-5 and pursue other endeavors, bask in the fruits of your labors, and sit quietly by the fire without the hustle and bustle. Working out a vision for this new era of your life can make the concept a little less daunting.
According to Fox Business News, more Americans are considering retiring early after covid and some estimates suggest that about 11 million U.S. households younger than 55 aspire to retire by that age.
Evaluating Early Retirement Options
Many companies offer workers incentives and special packages to consider retiring early. These offers are often customized to individual employees, based on how long they’ve been with the company and other factors.
If you’ve been offered early retirement by your employer, here are a few things to consider:
First, acknowledge that this can be an emotional time and take a moment to separate emotions from the decision-making process.
Evaluate severance pay offers.
Check on how your health insurance coverage would be affected.
Learn what would happen to your retirement assets like any retirement plans, pension plans, stock plans, etc.
Is the deal negotiable?
Restructure How You Think About Retirement
Baby boomers get a bad reputation when it comes to retirement. They have often been labeled as completely adverse to the concept, but for many, this has changed after the past year. TrinityPoint Wealth guides clients interested in retirement by approaching the concept differently and working closely with people’s hopes for the future.
Retirement doesn’t have to be intimidating. Many positive opportunities arise, especially with today’s options of working from home, being your own boss, or becoming a consultant working on your own terms. Think about how you can design and customize your retirement to fulfill the life you seek in your golden years.
Here’s a quick guide to get you started:
Crunch Some Numbers
This is all about doing some math to figure out the income you’ll need to be financially stable in retirement. It involves looking into retirement portfolios and finding guidance with managing IRAs and other retirement accounts. You also want to consider living expenses and whether you’ll be earning income elsewhere.
Stay Away From New Debt and Invest
Taking on significant new debt as retirement approaches may not be advisable. It also depends on any lingering debt or assets.
Investing is an effective way to build your retirement early. It increases income and revenue that is waiting for you at the right time. Investments include:
Stocks
Real estate
A combination of the two
Working with a financial planner or advisor guides you towards the best decisions that make sense for your individual goals and retirement vision.
Embrace New Possibilities & Work Away From Work
Early retirement doesn’t have to mean you stop working altogether and cease earning money. Today’s technology self-starter, start-up culture opens doors for retirees to pursue a business dream or side-hustle that rakes in some income and fulfilling work. Whether it’s becoming a part-time consultant, using your skills to coach others, or working from home on your own clock, retirement can be a phase of opportunity.
Find the Right Financial Planner for Your Early Retirement
Our financial planning and retirement planning experts understand that financial futures are intricately intertwined with all aspects of our lives. It’s why we approach every retirement question as one with individual circumstances.
So where do you begin? Sketch out a roadmap, consider what’s important to you, and retire early. We’re with you every step of the way.
Connect with TrinityPoint Wealth today and find out more.
This material prepared by TrinityPoint Wealth is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Opinions expressed by TrinityPoint Wealth are based on economic or market conditions at the time this material was written. Economies and markets fluctuate. Actual economic or market events may turn out differently than anticipated. Facts presented have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. TrinityPoint Wealth, however, cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information may have been condensed or summarized from its original source. Materials herein were prepared by AGI Marketing. TrinityPoint Wealth and AGI Marketing are not affiliated.