5. Stagger Your Spending Plan
Let’s say you expect to live to 90 and you’re retiring at 65. That means that all your savings have to stretch out over 25 years, right? Well, yes, but you have to consider the fact that you might spend a lot less when you’re 90 than when you’re 65. The younger you are the more energy and appetite you’ll have for new experiences.
Just keep in mind that you won’t spend the same amount of money on a yearly basis. The financially healthy thing to do is keep an open mind. Will you really travel the world when you’re 90? No, but you may have more health care costs.
All these costs will fluctuate over time, so thinking about all of these details in your spending plan will help ensure that you don’t spend too much or too little at a time.
6. Overestimate Healthcare Costs
Speaking of healthcare costs, when you’re preparing your retirement budget and trying to figure out how much more you need to save, it’s always a good idea to overestimate healthcare. This will be one of your major expenses during your golden years and, according to some estimates, seniors may need at least $295,000 for health care alone.
Keep in mind that this figure comes after taxes and doesn’t include the cost of long term care. Even if you are healthy, you don’t want to find yourself in a medical emergency without proper savings when you’re older, since you’ll be forced to dip into your other savings, putting you at financial risk.
There is a high chance that you will not be completely healthy throughout your retirement, so overestimating costs could help you save enough money for the long run.
