Retirement – the first three months

Essential finance housekeeping you can do in the first three months of your retirement.

09:22 20 December 2013

Starting your retirement can be a bit hectic; here are a few things you can do to make it easier.

• Update your insurance and will

Once you enter retirement, it is time to look at your insurance policies and will. Most people scale down when they stop working and make changes. It is important to make sure that everything on your will is current. Look over your insurance policies and make changes as needed. For example, you may not need disability insurance or accident insurance if it deals with on the job injuries. You can garner significant savings by updating your policies to reflect your current lifestyle.

• Budgeting

One of the first things you should do as soon as you retire is to create a budget. You need to consider that there will be no active income in your home. The money you have in savings and retirement funds are going to have to last you the length of your life. A budget will help you to get a clear idea of what you can cut back on. If you trim down unnecessary things as soon as you retire, you can quickly slip into an easy to maintain lifestyle.

• Make necessary changes

Once you enter retirement, you might find that you need to make some serious changes. You may want to mull over getting a smaller house or even renting instead of dealing with the hassles of owning. The sale of a house can go a long way to shoring up your account and renting means that you do not have to wrestle with the cost of maintenance or attempting to repair things yourself.

Retirement can be a grand adventure if you set yourself up to be able to enjoy it. Create a budget, update your documents and make changes necessary to make your golden years easy.