The Press and Journal Retirement (September 28, 2018)

Retirement opens up a whole world of opportunities by Mary Halley

T

he time comes when many, if not all, of us start to think about our lives after work. And with that brings a lot of questions – will we retire (or maybe just partially retire)? When

will we do it? What will we do once we don’t have jobs to go to every day? Where will we live? The answers to those questions are made easier when you know you have a secure income for the future – whether it’s through work and private pensions and savings, or

even through property (which is catching up to workplace pensions as the area most people consider safest when it comes to saving for retirement, according to a recent ONS survey). Doing some calculations and budgeting for retirement will allow you to plan for the future.

Many of the other puzzle pieces for retirement are best organised before that final day at work. Estate planning, travel planning, making decisions about where to live – all of these can be done ahead of time, meaning that once retirement starts you can just

enjoy it without having to face difficult choices at a time when you should be taking it easy. The fact is that regardless of other factors, the one thing retirement gives people is more time. Time to spend with family and friends, time to travel and enjoy the finer

things in life. Time to relax. And it’s up to the individuals to decide what they want to do with all that new found time. There’s definitely plenty of choice out there – retirees often benefit from special offers and deals not available to the working

population. You can also take advantage of offpeak holidays – avoiding the crowds of families and picking up a bargain at the same time. So when it comes to retirement, the question isn’t what will you do, it’s how will you fit it all in?