Planning for Unexpected Retirement Costs

Retirement is supposed to be the most relaxing and enjoyable time in your life. Unfortunately, sometimes unexpected expenses will arise in your later years and catch you completely off guard. Here are some tips to avoid unhappy surprises. Anticipate some of these possible expenses and prepare for them well in advance!

Parents

If you’re fortunate enough to have living parents when you approach retirement, the fact of the matter is their own nest egg will likely deplete at some point and you may become financially responsible for one or both parents. Whether they are moving in with you or you are making arrangement for their in-home care, plan well in advance so you can make sure you’ll be able to cover the expense.

Children

In the same vein, continuing to support your children for whatever reason can have very dangerous effects on your retirement funds. As it is now, parents approaching retirement age are not saving enough for retirement because they’re spending that money on their children. First and foremost, make sure you’re planning for your future even if it seems far away and there seem to be more pressing issues currently. In the meantime, you can help your children save their own money by opening an investment account for them.

Illness

Planning for health costs will be a major consideration for your retirement. Make sure you’ve set aside enough money in retirement to cover costs of unexpected illness. Getting older means a lot of things will change—you may need to relocate to a smaller house, for example. Have you planned for moving costs?

Travel

Travel in retirement might involve taking some dream vacations or attending weddings all over the world for family members—the latter falling more in the “unexpected” category. Plan well in advance for these costs that will arise. And definitely set aside money for vacations in retirement! You should be enjoying this time in your life the most!

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