What are the Challenges of Retirement?
When you reach retirement age, you may think it’s a happy moment because there’ll be the more relaxed time that you may travel or do something you want to; on the other side, you’ll face many changes. There’re 3 major concerns to prepare yourself for upcoming retirement so that you can live the happiest life.
1.Less income
This considers an important challenge over the retirement period due to limited working age. You’ll earn less income or have little chance to make money comparing to when you’re of working age.
2.Remaining expenses
When you retire it means you have no work and lose major income. However, your expenses still continually remain. Although the expenses may be somewhat reduced at retirement age, they’re still the regular expenses for the rest of your life.
3.Deteriorating health
The Elderly will face health challenges and their body functions will experience some limitations leading to irregular symptoms, weakness, or sickness such as Coronary Artery Disease, Stroke, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Osteoarthritis, etc. You really need a lot of money when considering the treatment of those diseases.
Your concerns at retirement age include work, social and financial status including body and mind. To keep the standard of living as equal or as close to your life before retirement, be prepared to face the following challenges.
1.Finance
This is a significant issue to prepare for your retirement. Start planning earlier when you’re young to grow your money longer. Here are some primary guidelines to help you save enough money during retirement.
Estimate your retirement age for the rest of your life based on the ages of your family members. For example, the lifespan of your grandparents is averagely 80 years so you can use 80 as your estimated lifespan.
Set your ideal goal after retirement so you’ll know the direction of your life and what you want to do. In general, people want to have the same quality of life which is not much different than ever. For example, money spent monthly as close, as usual, money for travel or for medical care.
Estimate expenses you need for retirement. After setting a life goal, estimate the amount of all expenses to be spent after retirement. Normally, the expense should cover basic needs like food, home essentials, utility bills, travel, entertainment (Source: The Stock Exchange of Thailand).
2.New Normal
After the COVID-19 pandemic, people at retirement age will have to adjust their lives to the New Normal, especially health care. For example, spending more time at home with online activities, change some behavior to make use of technology as entering into cashless society such as Digital Banking. The elderly should learn how to access online payment instead of paying cash, etc.
3.Health and Insurance
Medical expenses tend to increase every year, and will keep rising when it closes to final years of lifespan. Perhaps, the medical fee at retirement age may be more than 50% of monthly savings. Therefore, it’ll be wise to plan for medical expenses while you’re in working-age such as health insurance. At that time, the insurance fee is not costly or you may buy annuity insurance so you can receive your pension after retirement. You can plan to save that pension for paying health insurance premiums and living expenses at retirement age.
Additional to a financial plan, it’s vital to prepare for other matters such as body, mind, health, and lifestyle. Plan yourself ahead of time so you’ll be familiar with changes and can live your life happily until you say goodbye to the world.
