Many people are focused on retiring someday but often have a common question: When will I know I have enough money to retire?
“I think it’s important to understand that in retirement, basically, we’re looking at a long-term period of voluntarily chosen unemployment,” said David Donhoff, founder and senior advisor of Leverage Planners.
Expenses to consider include:
- Baseline – This includes food, fuel, cell phone, Wi-Fi, housing, etc.
- Shock – These are unexpected expenses, and it’s hard to know when these will pop up or how much they’ll cost.
- Lifestyle – This is what makes retirement worthwhile for many. Expenses include travel, hobbies, bucket list experiences and quality family time.
While it may be the most fun to focus on lifestyle expenses, it’s important to make sure you plan for baseline expenses and anything unexpected as well.
“When do we know we have enough,” Donhoff asked. “When we’ve checked the boxes and made sure we’ve covered the ‘what ifs’ so that we can enjoy the rest of our life.”
During working years, people often have a stable, steady income. It’s important to go into retirement with guaranteed income to match guaranteed expenses.
- Consider social security, but don’t fully rely on it. Social security was only created originally to cover 30-40 percent of the basic American’s average expenses.
- Have worry-free, guaranteed income to cover baseline expenses.
- Acquire blossoming income to cover what-ifs, including insurance and protection.
- Use variable income to enjoy those lifestyle expenses.
“The key is getting everything exposed out on the table in front of somebody that understands the navigation because there’s lots of twists and turns of complexity in retirement finance,” Donhoff said.
When you can get your retirement finances planned out with a professional, it takes away a lot of the worry.
SPECIAL OFFER: To help you plan for retirement, Leverage Planners is offering a FREE money stress test. Call 425-223-4520 to learn more.
Sponsored by Leverage Planners. Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.