If you’re thinking about your retirement, you’re going over an increasingly uncertain financial area where many of things your parents took for granted—such
as working at the same company for decades with a pension at the end—are no longer givens. With the constant changes to the workplace, insurance
and even how we handle payments for medical treatment, a nice nest egg to enjoy your retirement years is anything but certain these days.
That’s why it’s important to start thinking about contingencies now,
and we have four topics that you should bring to the attention of your financial advisor when you start discussing your retirement goals.
Lifespan
It’s a double-edged sword, but thanks to advances in the field of medicine, people are living much longer than they used to and passing away at much riper
old ages. While a long life is something everyone strives for, it does also mean an equivalent need for an increase in retirement savings. The last
thing you want to do is retire, planning for 15 years to live off your savings, only to realize that your actual lifespan will be twice that, meaning
you may run out of savings half-way into your retirement. Seriously discuss the actual longevity of yourself, your family and, most importantly, whether
your savings are up to the task of a longer period of retirement support.
Quality Of Life
It’s not just a matter of making sure you have enough savings on hand to live, the other important question is what kind of life do you want that retirement
to be like? Would you like to go on those trips that you never had time for you while you were working? Or are you resigned to only allowing yourself
an extravagant meal every other year for your birthday to stretch your dollar out? How comfortable do you want your retirement life to be and how close
are you to meeting this need?
Your Legacy
Another factor you need to consider is what you want to leave behind. Are you planning to use all of your savings on yourself for retirement, or do you
have something you’d like to pass on? Is your home something that you’d like to leave to your children to carry on a family tradition? Or is your home
something that has no legacy behind it, and therefore would actually help you out a lot as part of a reverse mortgage financing plan? A financial advisor
can be invaluable in helping to figure out this question.
Liquidity
Of course, one thing about life that’s relatively constant for everyone is that something unexpected is bound to happen at some point. You may run into
a situation where serious, emergency medical treatment is required, and that requires financing. Do you have a plan for having access to funds if needed
on such short, unexpected notice? Do you have alternatives?
By coming to your financial advisor with these concerns and taking the time to discuss them and look at choices and possibilities, you’ll be much better
equipped to start planning for the retirement you deserve.
Learn more about how a reverse mortgage fits into this plan by listening to the podcast here.
Source: Originating: The Four Most Important Questions Retirement Advisors Can Ask