5 Things to Do Before Retirement

Retirement is a time of life that is meant to be your 'golden years', where you can take time to relax, spend quality time with loved ones, and do the things you always wanted to do. However, this will only happen if you take time to do a little forward planning before you actually retire. There are a number of things you should look at doing before you finally walk away from the toil of the daily grind. This includes:

Planning your finances
It is important to plan your retirement fund as early on as possible, but do bear in mind that it is never too late. If you have reached your late 40s or even 50s you can still look at ways to save towards your retirement, particularly given that the official retirement age is on the increase. Without financial planning you could find yourself with inadequate funds to enjoy your retirement, so start planning and saving as early on as possible.

Living arrangements
It is a good idea to think about what your living arrangements will be when you retire. Are you hoping to retire somewhere abroad in the sun? Perhaps you want to move closer to family once you no longer have to be near work? You may be planning to downsize to a smaller property after retirement. Whatever the plan, it is important to start thinking about what you will do before you retire so that you have plenty of time to put your plans into action. If you need some guidance, AgeUK discusses some of the options for retirement housing.

Debt repayments
The last thing you want when you retire is to have loads of debt hanging around your neck. You therefore need to monitor and try and clear your debts prior to retirement wherever possible. A rising number of retirees are left dealing with a range of debts, and this can really reduce quality of life. If you have debt issues that you need to resolve, speak to counsellors at places such as Consolidated Credit as they can offer valuable advice to help you.

Home improvements
Many people wait until they retire to carry out home improvements. However, this is the time of life you want to be relaxing and having fun not forking out all of your money on DIY projects. Instead of letting everything pile up until you retire, keep on top of your repairs and home projects and do them gradually so that you do not have to find a lump sum of money to pay for them or dedicate all of your time to doing them in one go.

Spending your time wisely
In order to make the most of your time once you retire, you need to do some forward planning so that you can spend your time wisely. If you wait until you retire you may find that you never get around to doing the things you want to do and before you know it years have gone by. Start making a list of the types of things you plan or want to do, as you can then hit the ground running when you retire.

With a little forward planning, your retirement can be far more comfortable and far more pleasurable.