3 Steps To Successfully Transition into Retiring From Corporate Life
Retirement can be exciting, overwhelming, scary, and uncertain all at the same time! These three little simple essential details can help you stay on track to a smooth retirement!
Ahhhhh, yes, retirement!!! The long-awaited time of life when you can step away from corporate rules and regulations and relax and do what you love!
So, now what?
Well, let’s take a look at what many may not think about before they retire.
Essential Detail #1 — Medical Insurance
Do you have medical insurance lined up?
Now, if you are old enough, and are retiring just to enjoy, fish, travel, or do whatever your heart desires, you may be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare.
But, what if you are not eligible for Medicaid/Medicare, possibly due to early retirement and age requirements, or you are retiring to run your own business or self-employment?
You can look into several options below, and click on underlined links to read more about them.
DISCLAIMER — I am not affiliated with any of the links I recommend on this page and I receive no compensation from them.
A great place to start and where I found a lot of information with links to more is Healthcare.gov.
There may be more options not included below, such as working part-time to offset insurance costs, so it is something worth researching.
- COBRA coverage
- Marketplace coverage
- Add yourself to your spouses or partners group insurance plan through their employer (there is a thing called “LIFE EVENT” that allows you to add a spouse, or life partner to insurance after a life event such as loss of employment, marital status change, etc. outside the window of open enrollment….click on this link to read more)
- CHIP for children’s coverage if you have children
Essential Detail #2 — Disposable Income
You may be asking what exactly is disposable income, or you may already know.
Either way, you should have money set aside or easily accessible should you need it for emergencies or expenses you may not have thought about before retiring.
Forms of disposable income or available money you may be able to use suggested below.
Keep in mind, any type of 401K, pension or retirement funds, or investment stocks and bonds may incur fees such as additional tax penalties and withdrawal fees if taken early.
It is imperative to do your research!
- Personal savings accounts
- 401K
- Pension funds or retirement fund
- Assets you own and are willing to or can sell if needed
- Investment stocks or Bonds
Essential Detail #3 — Have a plan of action
I know this step may appear a little subjective, but it is never-the-less vital and often overlooked step.
Articles such as this one I found can help with day to day ideas.
One of the biggest mistakes I made when I took early retirement was not to have a plan of action, and I am not alone!
What are you going to do with all this extra time?
Time and again, I have heard from people straight out of retirement that they feel lost; they don’t know what to do with their time; they are unorganized, all of which happened to me!
Action plans can look like many different things. You may have ideas for traveling, reading books, fitness, fishing, business management, deep cleaning, tackling projects around the house, or any other activities you will now have time to do.
It can be quite overwhelming to have all this extra time and things to do, but have no idea where to begin!
Now I am not saying to plan every single detail or activity; I mean, after all, the whole part of being retired is you are now able to relax a rigid schedule and be a little spontaneous right!
Simply put, it is easy to procrastinate when you always can do it tomorrow.
Here are a few ideas and examples of planning your calendar that may not come to mind before retirement.
- Organizing — a pantry, desk, closets, garage, shed, living space, kitchen cabinets, the possibilities are endless. Prioritize what needs to be rearranged, or decluttered and start there. Maybe doing one thing each day or week or month depending on how large the area you are tackling.
- Vacations — you may plan on visiting relatives, sightseeing, or another country.
- Fitness — all this time on your hands and maybe less exercise, possibly due to not working a physically demanding job anymore. What better time than now to take up a new routine. Yoga, Qigong, weight lifting, and cardio are just a few exercise routines you can try out or do more regularly now.
- Meditation — Creating a space for quiet time with prayer, gratitude, and reflection to deepen your spirituality.
- Gardening — get those herbs and veggies started that you have always wanted to try your hand at growing.
- Hobbies — there is an abundance of amusements you can try along with your wealth of time.
- Learn a new skill!! What a perfect time to learn something new!
Retirement will be a new and exciting phase of your life, but it never has to be daunting!
Keeping these little details in mind will help you navigate your newly found freedom with joy and anticipation of the journey ahead!
Discovering a whole new you is part of the adventure!
