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8 Signs You’re Absolutely Not Ready to Retire in 2025
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8 Signs You’re Absolutely Not Ready to Retire in 2025

Jacob Wackerhausen / iStock.com

Jacob Wackerhausen / iStock.com

Even if you love your job, it’s not abnormal to glance at the calendar, counting the months until retirement. Maybe you’ve determined that 2025 will be the year you’ve been waiting for your entire working life: the year you retire.

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Of course, 2025 can be the year you retire. But is this a year for you to retire without quickly finding yourself bankrupt or putting your financial security at risk? Can 2025 be the year you retire? comfortably without having to find a job Again? Well, that’s not possible. Experts Weighed Eight Signs That You’re Totally not ready to retire in 2025.

You are not on top of your budget

The first sign you’re not ready to retire? You are doing a poor job of budgeting. Spending and tracking your spending will be extremely critical in retirement.

“If you don’t have a good idea of ​​what your expenses and income will be in retirement, you should be a little concerned,” said Erika Kullberg, personal finance expert, attorney and founder of Erika.com. “Without a reasonable monthly budget that includes projects such as housing, healthcare and recreation, it’s difficult to know if you can survive for 20 years or more. »

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You have low diversity of risks or income streams

Low diversity of risks or income sources is another major sign that you are absolutely not ready to retire in 2025.

“If you think your retirement plan depends on a single source of income like Social Security or a single pension, you’re taking a big risk, especially when the level of those sources is insufficient or uncertain,” Kullberg said.

You do not have a specific retirement income plan

You may have an effective and practical plan for how you spend your income. But this plan probably won’t work in retirement. You are entering a whole new financial life, in which you live on what you have earned, not on what you earn.

“If you planned to use the same strategy for the income phase that you used for the accumulation phase, you have a problem,” said Greg Luken, founder of Luken Investment Analysis. “The income phase is radically different from the accumulation phase of life. The same reason why cost averaging can work during the accumulation phase gets turned upside down and works against you during the income phase. This is why it is so essential to have an income-specific plan.

You haven’t spent time on tax planning for your retirement years

There’s also one sign that, from a legal perspective, means you’re not ready to retire in 2025: You haven’t spent time tax planning for your retirement years.

“Retirement has complex tax implications. If you have not structured your retirement accounts, investments or income streams in a way that minimizes taxes, you may be ill-equipped to deal with retirement,” said Paul Koenigsberg of Koenigsberg & Associates. “Tax-advantaged withdrawal strategies can have a big impact on your retirement savings. Additionally, without proper tax planning, you could face higher taxes on Social Security benefits, RMDs, or even penalties for early withdrawal.

Your cost of living is too high

How you get money will change when you retire, and depending on your retirement savings, the amount will change as well. It’s not unlikely that you won’t live on less money in retirement. Can you manage your cost of living if your income decreases? Because your cost of living won’t necessarily go down with this.

“Too many people assume that living expenses will decrease significantly in retirement, but the reality is that by the time they retire, the children have already moved out, which is unlikely to be the case,” said Jeremy Bohne , founder of Paceline Wealth Management, LLC. “On the contrary, most living expenses are about the same, while travel tends to be heavier when retiring early. This is the time when people are most active or when they want to travel to see their adult children.

You Didn’t Account for Rising Health Care Costs

In addition to accounting for the fact that many expenses remain high in retirement, you also need to consider expenses that will become higher in retirement, such as medical costs that Medicare doesn’t cover.

“Health care can be one of the largest expenses in retirement, and failing to plan for long-term care, Medicare premiums, or unexpected medical expenses could put a strain on your finances,” she said. Kullberg said.

You still have large unrecoverable debts

Are you still saddled with high-interest debt, like that associated with credit card use? This is a sign that you are not yet ready to retire.

“Taking on debt can create serious financial pressures in retirement, when income is generally lower,” said Rebecca Awram, mortgage advisor at Senior Loan Center. “Paying off or consolidating these debts before you retire can help you avoid stress and give you more financial freedom.”

You don’t have a realistic plan for how you will spend your days

The final sign that you’re not ready to retire isn’t financial; it’s actually more a matter of personal logistics. You’re not ready to retire if you don’t know how happy you’ll actually be in retirement socially and intellectually.

“Many people fall into the trap of thinking that the joy of retirement lies in not having to work,” Bohne said. “But the reality is that a lack of time and not knowing how you would like to spend it leaves most people aimless. This is not a path to a satisfying retirement.

“Those who thrive in retirement run toward something they enjoy, which is often spending more time with their family and more actively pursuing their hobbies,” Bohne said. “It’s very different from running away from something.”

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This article was originally published on GOBankingRates.com: 8 Signs You’re Absolutely Not Ready to Retire in 2025