At one stage, most of us may have almost accepted the official age of retirement. Now, with this figure constantly on the rise, we are all trying to plot our way into an early retirement.
Of course, this is something that is easier said than done. Retiring early typically has major financial consequences, and you need to make sure that you are in an adequate position before you take the plunge.
As such, today’s post will now look at four ways you can plan ahead and ultimately try and pull your retirement age a few years forward.
Don’t “just” be a saver
Firstly, if you are part of the “saver” group, then a massive congratulations is in order. After all, this is something that a lot of people typically struggle to do – they move from pay cheque to pay cheque without having any spare cash.
If you are serious about bringing your retirement age forward, try and be shrewder with your money. When you save with the bank, you are earning less than the price of inflation. It means you should be looking for better opportunities – usually in relation to investing. There are risks, but if you can at least arm yourself with something like MT4 for Mac, you can give yourself the best possible chance of turning a much bigger profit than a savings account will provide.
Invest strategically in your pension
Next, we’re going to talk about your pension. In those initial years of working, this can be something that falls by the wayside. It’s something that blights our salary – and most of us don’t give it a second though.
As it turns out, this can be your passport to early retirement. The tax benefits of pensions mean that you should be looking to pay in as much as your company one allows – whilst also getting your employer to match it. It’s this secondary part which can really make a difference; you are receiving money (albeit in the future) which you would not have otherwise been receiving.
Eliminate debt as a matter of urgency
Hopefully this next point will be completely logical. After all, we all know about the perils of debt, and taking this forward into retirement can hurt you in multiple ways. It prompts higher expenses, but more importantly the interest is something that eats away at your money.
Interest is something that is completely avoidable, so getting on top of this from the outset is crucial. It might be through credit cards, or if you are particularly proactive, paying off your mortgage early.
Live within your means
Finally, we really can’t preach the importance of living within your means. In some ways, this ties into the point we made previously about debt, but a lot of people will try and purchase items that they realistically can’t afford.
Sometimes this might be the choice of going out every Saturday night, while on other occasions it might be something bigger like getting a mortgage that really pushes your income to the limit. Regardless, assess your lifestyle and ask yourself whether you can really afford certain items. If you can’t, this is going to impact your latter years.