What Are The Major Priorities About Retirement?

In the 20’s, retirement meant the end of your life. Most people never retire back then. In fact, your retirement period was directly related to the amount of days, weeks or months in bed due to some kind of illness right before your die. The concept of retirement evolved over time. We use to plan to have enough money so we can stop working at 70 and stay in some old people places. These days, some of us want to retire between 55 and 65 and they wish to do everything but staying home.

Unfortunately, if you want to retire early, you will need much more money. Young and healthy retirees don’t wan to sit and watch Oprah; they want to do stuff.

Relax

The first thing most people with is to be able to relax. They want to make sure they have enough money to go to the movies, take time at the spa and play their favourite sports. They want to enjoy life and take back what they left while they were working 60 hours with 2 kids at home.

Travel

This is another main priority at retirement. The world is full of great places to discover and retirement seems to be the perfect timing to do it. You have money, health and you know what you like. Travelling around the world with a packsack, going down south on a nice beach or going to Paris with in a guided tour; all these options are available at retirement.

Starting a second career

Have you ever dreamt of doing the job of your dream? Some of us did it and some others couldn’t afford it because they had too much to lose at the existing job (i.e. pension plan, steady income, insurances). Now that you have a solid nest egg, you can afford a second start in a field that you really love.

The major problem with these retirement priorities is that they require money… a lot of money. This is why it is so important to not wait before planning your retirement. If you want to retire at 55, this means that you will withdraw a good part of your portfolio before you reach the age of 65. You will be in a better shape to spend it and you will benefit of 10 years of happiness before you wake up at 65 broken and sore.

I do believe that retiring at 55 is possible even though you are not a hockey player or a rock star. Planning early, invest systematically and maximize your investment and you will be able to retire healthy and wealthy.