Retirement is different today – what are some of the key variables to consider?

The uncertainty of retiring at a time when there are fewer guaranteed income sources, low interest rates, and increased market fluctuations has many people worried. Today’s retirement lifestyle is more active, more expensive, and we will likely live longer. There are some important factors to consider when making the decision to retire. When creating your personal retirement plan, here are some of the main variables we will consider:

• Your investment mix — You might think that once you reach retirement, investing solely in income-producing vehicles is the way to go, but you can’t forget about inflation. Even a low rate of inflation, such as we’ve had for a number of years, can seriously erode your purchasing power over time — which is why it is important to consider owning at least some investments that provide growth potential.
• Your withdrawal rate — We will help you calculate how much you can afford to withdraw from your investment portfolio each year without depleting it prematurely. Your annual withdrawal rate will depend on a few different factors — such as your projected longevity, your investment mix and your other sources of income.
• Your Social Security — You can start collecting Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but your benefits will be permanently reduced by up to 30% unless you wait until your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which is likely 66 or 67. However, your monthly checks can increase if you delay taking your benefits beyond your Full Retirement Age, up to age 70. If you come from a particularly long-living family, and you have sufficient income apart from Social Security, you might want to delay your payments to get the larger benefit amount.
• Your earned income — Just because you’ve retired from one career, it doesn’t mean you’ll never again earn some income. Many retirees take part-time jobs, do some consulting or even open a small business. Whether you feel that you need to work, or you just want to work, the money you earn from employment can be an important component of your overall retirement income.

As you can see, all these variables involve choices on your part. And how you choose to exercise each variable will affect all the other variables. Consequently, as we manage and monitor your retirement income, you will be making many important decisions. This doesn’t have to be a scary prospect — because the very fact that you have choices means you also have a great deal of control over your situation!