Even a financial planner who has spent his life advising people on their retirement and helping them plan for it advises people not to retire. It isn’t counterproductive, as you may think. Traditional retirement has been debated for a long time now, and many think that it is unhealthy in many ways. Here we explore the arguments against the traditional retirement and why you should plan yours differently.
Often Can’t Be Reversed
If you turn 65 years old and choose to retire, you should be entirely sure about your decision before diving in. In many events, the decision to retire is irreversible. While you may think that this is perfectly alright since the point of retirement is to stop working anyway. But be careful as many individuals who retire wind up needing to reverse their retirement and go back to earning n income, primarily because of lack of finances, but also often simply out of boredom. After a couple of years in retirement, reentering the workforce isn’t easy, especially with business and technology moving forward at lightning speed.
Harmful to Your Health
Many people have an idea for the retirement that they will do all the things that interest them and that they never had the time to do when they were working. However, there are only so many soap operas you can watch and so much shuffleboard you can play. Eventually, the novelty of doing those things will wear off and you may not enjoy retirement as much as you thought you would. Traditional retirement can be a recipe for emotional and physical harm.
This is because leading a sedentary lifestyle leads to ill physical health. Emotional health can suffer if you feel lonely, bored, useless, or unproductive every day. Most people who retire, disengage from their life and get into social isolation. This leads to poor psychological health. So having new avenues for remaining social that are sustainable is important for a healthy retirement. This is also like giving yourself a reason to get out of bed every morning.
Harmful To Your Wealth
Retirement means giving up your salary and therefore cutting off your cash flow every month. You may have other sources of income. However, you will have to primarily base your livelihood on your retirement savings.
You have to be 110% sure that you have built enough retirement savings. This will help you retire without battling any shortfalls or unpredictable happenings. If you outlive your money, you will be in quite a corner. It may be a good idea to practice retirement before retiring. In other words, try living with a set income and see whether it is possible to continue to live this way.
Not Being Ready!
Retirement is something that happens when you are old. And ill health is a major concern when you’re old. If you insist on a retirement, make sure to take into account how you would manage sickness or impairment, should you fall ill. Consider the consequences of impairment to your mobility during retirement. Don’t plan your retirement around who you want to be.
But rather on who you are and the reality that comes with it. If you know you have certain lifestyle habits that increase the risk of disease and illness, factor these into your planning. The last thing you want is for life to throw you a curveball, but this frequently happens and you need to have a financial safety net for this as well. Your retirement plans should reflect more than your hopes and dreams and should incorporate everything that reality will bring with your retirement.
If you aren’t going to change your life around, you have to at least cater to what may happen. Consider retirement a permanent change to your life – quite possibly the last permanent change you make! That should be enough to keep you on the right path in making your decisions for your retirement.
Otherwise, you could never retire. Instead, you could slow things down and keep the show running for as long as you can. Remember, it is up to you to decide on how you want your life to be! So, think about every aspect of it and talk it out to people you think could be of help!