5 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Retire

To design your ideal retirement, you need to start with a few specific questions... and if you're married, make sure you do this exercise together!

In this video, we walk through what you should consider when answering these vital questions:

1. When do you want to retire?

2. Where do you want to live when you're retired?

3. How is your health?

4. When is the best time to claim Social Security?

5. Do you have a financial plan?

Retirement is so much more than just a number in your bank account. Everyone has unique goals and objectives in retirement. Working with a financial professional can help you define and build your ideal retirement. 

Full Transcript:

Erin (00:02):

Ryan, good to see you today. We get to walk through five questions you need to answer before you retire to design your ideal retirement. You need to start with a few specific questions, and if you are married, we suggest you do this exercise together. So the first question is, of course, when do you want to retire?

Ryan (00:20):

Yeah, the big question, right? And certainly you're right. If you're married, you got to make sure that you're on the same page as far as what your desires are there. I was working with a couple recently, both in their late fifties, and we were taking a look at different situations, like if they were to retire at certain ages, what their lifestyle might look like, how much they might be able to spend and such. And it's always interesting when one spouse says, Hey, I'm okay, maybe working a little bit longer in order for us to have a little bit more because I want to make sure we can do all these other types of things in retirement, maybe go on some more trips or whatever it is. And maybe the other spouse is a little bit different, maybe is looking for something a little bit more simple. Just wants to retire sooner rather than later. So it's so important to make sure that you're on the same page if you're married or even if you're not just getting crystal clear on what's important to you,

Erin (01:11):

Right? Well before you retire. Exactly. All right, question number two. Where do you want to live when you're retired?

Ryan (01:18):

Yeah. So have you been living in the same home for a few decades and that's your desire? You want to continue to live there, perhaps for the rest of your life that's your forever home? Or do you have other desires to maybe move somewhere else? Maybe downsize. Maybe your home's too big now, you just don't need it. Maybe you want to move across the country. One of my clients recently did just to be closer to their kids, and probably even more importantly, the grandkids. So wanting to be over there. So it's important to get clear on what's important to you, where do you want to go? Where do you want to live? And all those things.

Erin (01:57):

Number three, this one is really important. How is your health? We have to keep in mind that healthcare is often your biggest expense in retirement.

Ryan (02:05):

Yeah, it is. And I always say we have to account for the healthcare costs separately when we're planning for retirement because the cost of healthcare have gone up at about twice the rate is overall inflation,

Erin (02:15):

Right? Good point.

Ryan (02:17):

I mean, it's huge. And so we have to account for that and understand what does health insurance cover, what does Medicare cover? What are our options there? What are we going to be out of pocket? And then what's long-term care? What does Medicare not cover? And what's that all about? What are those costs? And not only what are the costs, how are we going to pay for it? And also who's going to provide that care? How are we going to work that out? So there's a lot of big questions that need to be answered there,

Erin (02:46):

Right? Question number four, when is the best time to claim Social Security? This could be one of the most important financial decisions you make in retirement.

Ryan (02:55):

And this is huge, and this needs to be made within the context of your overall plan. So one of the first things that you need to do is if you're married when you file for benefits, doesn't necessarily need to be when your spouse should file. Maybe one spouse files late, one spouse files early. Also, if you're not married, maybe you're divorced or maybe you're widowed, you may be entitled to a divorce spouse benefit or a survivor benefit. So it's important to understand how those benefits work and if you are entitled to those, how they can work within your overall plan. So certainly important to understand how to maximize the benefits that are available to you.

Erin (03:41):

And then last of course, because retirement is so much more than just a number in your bank account, you need to determine if you have a holistic financial plan that accounts for inflation, longevity, and your own unique retirement goals.

Ryan (03:56):

You need to account for everything and you need to figure out, okay, when you do retire, it is not just about having some magic number in retirement and this is what it's going to be. You need to figure out, okay, what is going to be my distribution strategy over time? Having an idea, and always, this is the hard thing to predict, but trying to have some sort of assumption as far as how long you might live. And then you'll need to make adjustments over time, but then needing to figure out how are you going to structure your income? Where are you going to withdraw money from which accounts and when should you turn onto your Social Security? All of these things need to be considered within the context of an overall financial plan.

Erin (04:39):

Absolutely. And all these answers fit together to make their own unique plan. So Ryan, if somebody would like to give you a chat, have a chat with you to figure out their own plan, what's the best way to reach you? I

Ryan (04:50):

Could go to the website at CravitzFinancial.com and just go to the contact page there, submit a message or can even call 714-462-9155.

Erin (05:03):

Great, Ryan, thank you.