Fete Lifestyle Magazine December 2023 - Holiday Issue | Page 35

or change a previously designated beneficiary. Getting in the habit of regularly reviewing that information will keep your documentation consistent with your personal wishes.

3. Lifestyle choices:

One of the most exciting and intriguing aspects of planning for retirement is dreaming of your future lifestyle and most certainly your Financial Lifestyle. As a thirty-year-old, you may anticipate a retirement filled with international travel. But when you revisit the idea at age fifty, you might decide you'd rather save for a vacation home where you can make memories with grandkids. There are a few other reasons to review how you anticipate your personal life to go during retirement.

•Changes to your health: are you in good health and do plan on living in a place where you can have an active lifestyle? Or, have you experienced a change in your health that has affected how you imagine you will live your retired life?

•Moving to a new location—perhaps you planned on becoming a snowbird in Arizona but have since decided you'd rather move abroad for part of the year. Will this lifestyle change increase or decrease your planned expenses?

•Pursuing a new interest—do you have a new hobby that you would like to engage in once you're retired? For example, perhaps you would like to visit every baseball stadium in the U.S. Or you're interested in volunteering and serving a community that you're passionate about. Will these interests cost money to pursue, or can you enjoy them on your existing retirement budget?

Checking in once a year and examining how you would like to live your retired life also allows you the space to reimagine—and replan—your future.

4. Financial unpredictability:

Planning financially for retirement is challenging. Some years it may feel like you're a little behind, and other years you might be confident you're on your way to a well-funded post-work life.

Taking the time to reevaluate where you stand financially may feel a little cumbersome, but it will help you avoid surprises later. Take the time to review the following questions once a year.

•Are you maxing out your retirement accounts?

•Do you have the opportunity to get a retirement match from your place of work? Even if you stay with the same job, your benefits can change from year to year.

•What age do you intend to retire, and how much should you have saved by then based on your anticipated lifestyle?

•What are the fees associated with the financial products that you're invested in? Will those fees eat up your retirement over time?

•Have you reviewed your various insurance plans, and are you clear about the coverage?

5. Account access:

In our increasingly digital world, we accumulate vast numbers of logins that we must keep track of. To make sure you're never locked out of your retirement accounts, log in at least once a year (if not more often) and update the password credentials. Be sure to record the new information in a safe place or use a password manager. Regularly updating your passwords is also a good way to protect yourself from fraudulent activity.

In closing just remember preparing for retirement is an ongoing process that lasts until you actually retire. Making sure your Financial Lifestyle is in parallel to your general lifestyle is critical to having balance and that's a good thing. Your plans don't have to be set in stone and revisiting your strategy each year will ensure you make the most of your time and resources.

1st Capital Wealth Management Group is here to help, and we wish you a great ending to 2023 and a wonderful 2024.

In January when you will have free access to my newly produced movie, “The Retirement Deception”.

Contact: 312-836-3800 or 312-952-8040; [email protected] * www.1stcig.com.