The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire

How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire, Third Edition lists, as you may have guessed from the title, the 12 most important decisions you must make before you retire. Here's their list (stated as questions):

• Am I ready to retire?
• Can I afford to retire?
• When should I apply for Social Security?
• How should I take my pension payments?
• What should I do with the money in my company savings plan?
• When do I have to take money out of my IRAs?
• How should I invest during retirement?
• What should I do about health insurance?
• What should I do to prepare for serious illness?
• Where do I want to live after I retire?
• How should I arrange my estate to save on taxes and avoid probate?
• How can I age successfully?

I'll post a few more tidbits from this book in the days to come, but for now I'll address my thoughts on some of these questions:

• Am I ready to retire? I think I will be. I always have a large list of interests I'd like to pursue if I had the time, so I don't think I'll be bored in retirement.
• Can I afford to retire? Not yet, but I'm working on it. Should be able to retire early (well before 60) in 10 years or so if all goes well.
• When should I apply for Social Security? There's great debate on what the "best" time to take Social Security is. I'll make that decision as the time approaches, but for now I'm not counting on SS income to help me in retirement and my plan is to delay taking it for as long as possible.
• What should I do about health insurance? I've said before that I'll likely work at least a bit during retirement. One key consideration of where to work could hinge on where I can find health care coverage.
• Where do I want to live after I retire? A big, big question. A few options: stay where we are, move homes but live in the same general area, move to a nicer (warmer) part of the country, move to where one (or both) of our kids live (depending on where they end up.) Lots to decide when it gets to that time.
• How can I age successfully? Man, if you had the answer to this, you'd be a billionaire. ;-)

What about you? Did any of these questions stand out to you?

Comments

[DIY Investor]

Filling up free time is more of a challenge in retirement I think than most people realize. I am surprised to find a number of my clients a bit unhappy in retirement because they lack outside interests. Their job was their whole life. One way I think to counter this a bit is to stay up with the technology. Those I find using Facebook etc. and setting up family blogs are enjoying retirement more.

[Doug Warshauer]

Seems to me that most of the questions on the list are tactical questions that help answer the major question: can I afford to retire? What's most critical is being able to tie all the answers together so you can see how your cash flow will look as you progress through retirement, and how long your money will last.

[Lively Jason]

I agree that affordability has to be the most important question. If one has planned well and carefully, retirement should not be an issue.

[Rob]

These are all good questions. For someone as young as I am though (under 30) I wonder when I really need to start thinking about them? Probably not for another 10-15 years at least. Right now I am more concerned about just getting my debt paid off and getting ready to have children (although everyone says you are never ready which I'm sure is the case).

I am of course saving for our retirement but beyond that not thinking much about it since it is so far away.

[kt- lifedividend]

i am not at all ready to retire but if i ever have to, i want to retire in boka with a few million in all sorts of passive ivnestments. Beyond that i never think of retirement

[Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

I'm already ready to retire mentally...just have to wait the 25 years for our funds to catch up, lol. As for getting bored in retirement, I think that only happens if you let it. I volunteer in some of my free time now and I hope to be healthy enought o volunteer full time when I retire. My husband and I also have much older friends, so they'll be retired when we are as well. We hope to have a bunch of meetups and travelling plans.

[Denise]

Retirement...Will it exist for the Generation Y? Who knows.

[mrfreckelsman]

Take Social Security at 62. You don't know how long you will live.

[Jan]

Ah- If you wait until you have "enough money" to retire- you never will.
I love retirement.