Once upon a time, retirement was regarded as the end of a person’s production life and the end of a comfortable income. But today, more and more of us actually look forward to retirement. It is a time when, freed from the shackles of employment, we finally can do our own thing – start a second career or a small business, pursue a hobby or a course of study, write a book, or simply spend more time with our children and grandchildren.
When we look at retirement in this positive way, we gain a new perspective on what it takes to have a happy retirement and how we can start investing for it.
- The first thing we should invest in is our health, we need good health because we’re going to live a lot longer than we expect. So, if you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to go for a thorough medical check-up, review your diet, and plan for some form of regular exercise.
- The second thing to invest in is productivity. The feeling that we are useful and needed by family and friends becomes more important the older we get. Ensure that, by constantly acquiring new knowledge or skills. The act of learning keeps us mentally flexible, and open to change.
- The third thing we should invest in is, of course, freedom from financial worries. We need the comfort of knowing that we have money of our own. We need to have enough not just for our basic needs, but also for the realization of our vision of a healthy, productive, fulfilling, and happy retirement.
Tips For A Comfortable Early Retirement
If you are planning to retire at age 45, you need to:
- Have enough money to support yourself and your family for at least 30 years.
- Be prepared to dig into your savings on the first day of retirement. There’s usually a time lapse between your last pay packet and your first retirement benefit pay-out.
- Preserve your capital. If you start eating into your capital or “nest egg” too early in your retirement, you will seriously damage your ability to generate future income.
- Start saving early with great discipline and start investing your savings to get maximum returns.
