Everyone’s thinking about retirement. If you aren’t, you may be one of the millions left unprepared for life after employment. Whether you’re starting with your first job or you’re just now thinking about retirement mid or late-career, these are three solid strategies you can use to cushion those retirement years.
Consider buying real estate
Because real estate is typically an excellent long term investment, it can be a good way to help lower your monthly fixed costs once you reach your golden years. This can be as simple as finally purchasing a home after years of just thinking about it.
If you’re young enough or able to shorten the life of your mortgage, you can pay off your home before you retire. Instead of thinking about monthly payments for rent or a mortgage, you’ll only have to consider upkeep costs and yearly property taxes, which is almost always less yearly expense than a full mortgage or rent payment.
If you have the means, you can also consider passive income from rental properties or investing in land that could be used for development in the future. This could bring about a nice windfall if you sell in your later years or another passive income option.
Leverage different financial products
You don’t have to have a 401k and leave it at that. There are all kinds of financial products designed to maximize your retirement savings both as you prepare and as you move fully into retirement.
For example, an IRA can help you break into the world of investing when you don’t have the big bucks typical investors have. They’re easy to set up, and some provide even easier tax-advantaged savings because of your income level.
You can use fixed deposits to make money on savings when you’re on the verge of retirement. They aren’t investment accounts, but they do offer a higher interest rate in exchange for holding your money for a fixed period. You can add to your retirement pot without putting your savings at risk.
Rethink your business ideas
If you currently own a brick and mortar business or you’re working for someone else, using the internet to create a secondary source of income can be a big benefit for your retirement years.
You can use online business to supplement or drive your savings if you’ve started late. You can use your online business to provide income even after you retire from your day job. The internet makes it easy to create, test, and grow a business idea and provides a way to diversify your income source. It could even allow you to retire a little early without having to draw partial social security benefits.
Whatever you do, don’t wait to prepare
Don’t put off retirement planning. The earlier you start unraveling everything that goes into retirement planning, the better off you’ll be when that day comes. Use these strategies to help make planning and your retirement transition easier and ensure that you have exactly what you need for your best golden years.
