My parents' retired friends live luxuriously thanks to a smart investment move, and I'm planning to follow their lead (2024)

FAQs

What is the hardest part of retirement? ›

Reorientation: Often considered the hardest stage, this is when you're most likely to start re-evaluating your retirement lifestyle. It involves asking the hard questions, relearning what does and doesn't work for you, so you can get the most out of your retirement.

Some new retirees even experience mental health issues such as clinical depression or anxiety. The truth is that no matter how much you've been looking forward to it, retiring from work is a major life change that can bring stress and depression as well as benefits.

Retirement is a time that marks the passage from a life of work to a life of accomplishment, leisure, and choice. As most people feel defined by their job, that transition is not always easy. Like other major life transitions, it can be filled with various emotions and concerns.

The honeymoon phase of retirement sets in once the anxieties of this life transition have dissipated and you're settled into your new lifestyle. Most people experiencing the honeymoon phase have the sense that they've entered an endless vacation and are spending lots of time on hobbies and with loved ones.

To be considered wealthy at age 65 or older, you need a household net worth of $3.2 million, according to finance expert Geoffrey Schmidt, CPA, who used data from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to determine the household net worth needed at age 65 or older to determine the various percentiles of wealth in ...

It's worth noting that most Americans are nowhere near having that much money socked away. According to data from financial services firm Credit Karma, Baby boomers have median retirement savings of $120,000, while nearly 30% of people aged 59 or older have saved nothing for their golden years.

According to their table, for instance, the average remaining lifespan for a 65-year-old woman is 19.66 years, reaching 84.66 years old in total. The remaining lifespan for a 65-year-old man is 16.94 years, reaching 81.94 years in total.

Workers in the United States generally retire at around age 64, though data shows that the average age varies by state. For example, the average age of retirement in Washington, D.C., is around 67, while many states' average age is around 65, such as Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Vermont, and Texas.

The average American retires not at 80, or 70, or even 65, but at 62. That statistic comes from two annual surveys of working and retired Americans, one from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the other from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

The 3% rule in retirement says you can withdraw 3% of your retirement savings a year and avoid running out of money. Historically, retirement planners recommended withdrawing 4% per year (the 4% rule).

What are the 3 R's of retirement? ›

Three R's for a Fulfilling RetirementRediscover, Relearn, Relive. When we think of the word 'retirement', images of relaxed beachside living or perhaps a peaceful cottage home might come to mind.

Retirement impacts stress levels

And stress can have a significant impact on your health. The potential health consequences of stress include depression, heart disease, cancer and infection ⁽¹⁾. After all, an increase in stress level can have a detrimental effect on your immune, hormone and cardiovascular systems.

My advice to you is “Be smart!” Maintain work-life balance by following the “4 Ds”- DO IT! DELAY IT! DITCH IT! DELEGATE IT!

Honeymoon: Once you retire, a honeymoon phase is normal. You suddenly have much more free time, you may take a trip or two to places you've always wanted to go, and you may even relocate. But it's a good idea to think beyond the honeymoon phase and determine what your daily retirement life will look like.

“The main problem people face upon retirement is organizing their financial lives and finding new purpose,” says Robert Reilly, a member of the finance faculty at the Providence College School of Business and a financial advisor at PRW Wealth Management in Boston.

1. Saving Enough Money: Perhaps the top retirement concern is the idea that without steady employment, it might be difficult to have enough resources to maintain your preferred lifestyle. The cost of living can be high, and Social Security benefits may not be enough to cover all your living expenses.

As participants entered mid- and late-life, the Harvard Study often asked about retirement. Based on their responses, the No. 1 challenge people faced in retirement was not being able to replace the social connections that had sustained them for so long at work.

Failing to Plan

The biggest single error mistake may be pretending retirement won't ever arrive when, for a large majority of people, it does. About 67.8% of men born in 1980 will live to age 65, according to the Social Security Administration. For women, the figure is 80.9%.