Where to Make Your Retirement Goals a Fact, Despite Your Reservations
In the world of retirement, dreams and fears often intertwine, creating a complex tapestry of anticipation and apprehension. According to the 25th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey, retirees crave enough savings to live comfortably, covering essentials and extras. However, the fear of outliving savings is a top concern, with an average cost of $315,000 for a couple's healthcare in retirement. Medicare doesn't cover everything, and out-of-pocket costs can balloon. As a result, 40% of retirees worry about depleting their savings.
Besides financial insecurity, health-related fears are significant. Declining health threatens quality of life and can lead to concerns over a diagnosis that requires expensive treatments or fear of becoming a burden to loved ones. Chronic conditions, cognitive decline, dementia, or Alzheimer's disease were listed as fears in the Transamerica Retirement survey.
Common retirement dreams include traveling (62%), spending more time with friends and family (57%), engaging in new hobbies (48%), and doing volunteer work (26%). Retirement offers time to pursue interests like painting, gardening, golf, or volunteering. It's a chance to replace work's purpose, boost mental health, and foster community. Retirees may envision paying off their home and having a nest egg that enables them to check off bucket-list destinations or visit family without work constraints.
Bridging the gap between these dreams and fears involves several strategies. Financial preparation is crucial. Since many retirees feel financially unprepared—with only about a third feeling well-prepared and nearly half continuing to work past retirement age due to financial necessity—boosting savings earlier and managing finances carefully can reduce fear of running out of money. Understanding that inflation and longer lifespans increase retirement costs is important.
Flexible work options also play a role. Returning to work, whether part-time, full-time, or in the gig economy, can provide both income and a sense of purpose, helping combat boredom and financial stress. This can also allow retirees to explore new fields or interests.
Maintaining health through diet, exercise, mindfulness, and regular medical checkups addresses common health fears and enriches quality of life. Creating a "bucket list" or goals for travel, hobbies, and volunteering aligns with common retirement dreams and helps prevent boredom or a loss of purpose.
Realistic expectation management is also key. Learning from those already retired highlights the need to save enough and plan for higher expenses than anticipated. Approximately 11,000 Americans will turn 65 every day through 2027, underscoring the importance of preparing for retirement.
Thus, retirees can bridge the gap by planning financially, maintaining health, staying socially and mentally active, and being open to working in new ways, which collectively help transform retirement fears into achievable dreams. However, only around half of all boomers and Gen Xers believe they'll be financially ready for retirement when the time comes. A striking 17% of unemployed workers say they have no retirement dreams at all.
In conclusion, retirement presents a unique opportunity for personal growth and exploration, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. By understanding these challenges and implementing strategies to address them, retirees can make the most of their golden years, turning fears into dreams and dreams into reality.
Dreams about personal-finance typically involve saving enough to cover both essentials and extras during retirement, while fears often revolve around the possibility of outliving savings and high healthcare costs.
Proper financial preparation, understanding the impact of inflation and longer lifespans, and managing finances carefully can reduce the fear of depleting savings, bridging the gap between retirement dreams and fears.
