Questions abound about the right time to retire. Is it at 60 or 40 years old? What if I do not feel old enough to retire and still have the strength to work? I do not like my job and have enough money laid aside, so why should my retirement not be now? My parents worked throughout their lives and never retired. I do not want that to happen to me!
These are legitimate concerns that cannot be ignored or treated with levity. Whether you want to retire early or wait till you have no more strength to work, how do you know it’s time? Retirement is not a pool to plunge into unprepared. That’s why we are here to help you.
This article will help you identify 10 signs it’s time to retire that have to show up in your life. You might be ready or not and don’t know it. We implore you to carefully read through this article. Your answer lies within its pages.
10 Signs It’s Time to Retire
1. You Are Financially Prepared
The importance of this point is the reason it comes first in our 10 signs it’s time to retire because you should be able to maintain a comfortable life after retiring. Retirement should be a time to relax from your labors, not to struggle for survival. Before you decide to retire, you should have counted the costs you will incur and decided where the funds to sponsor them will come from.
Do you have assets or savings? Do you have investment or stock holdings? Can they sponsor your lifestyle for the rest of your life? Will you have to adjust? If you think you have sufficient funds to live comfortably, then you are ready to retire.
2. You Are Free From Debt
You will agree that you can never experience peace and relaxation with a debt hanging over your head. If you want to retire peacefully, you must have paid off all your debts and deliberately refused to accumulate debt. That is, there should be no outstanding mortgage, insurance, or loan payments, and you must not purchase things you cannot pay for immediately.
You don’t want anyone knocking on your door, dialing your phone every 24 hours, asking for payments, or sneaking around your house or on the streets, hiding from creditors. You also do not want to pay for past and future expenses at the same time. Being debt-free is one of the 10 signs that it’s time to retire.
3. You Have Achieved Your Career Goals
This is one of the 10 signs it’s time to retire you should not ignore. If you’ve reached the zenith of what you hoped to achieve when you started working and feel there is nothing more to aspire towards, this could be a sign it’s time to wrap it up. It is better to step back and retire than to push forward in a career you’ve already conquered.
You might decide to ignore this sign and continue in the work because you feel indebted to your organization or nostalgic towards it. If you do this, resentment will set in, and you will perform poorly, which might result in something worse – a layoff. So do yourself a favor and retire.
4. You Have a Plan for Emergencies
You have to plan for emergencies before you retire. While you’re working, it’s easier to plan for emergencies because you have funds coming in now and then, but that might not be the case when you retire. Even if you have savings and investments, how long can they last in case of an emergency?
Emergencies can drain your retirement savings in the blink of an eye. So, what is your plan for emergencies like sudden sicknesses, deaths, accidents, and bankruptcy when you retire? If you check and have this covered, then that is a sign it’s time to retire.
5. You Have Health Insurance
Having health insurance is one of the 10 signs it’s time to retire; do not joke with it. Your health affects every area of your life, and you can’t enjoy your retirement if you spend all your savings and investments on paying health bills.
It is common for some jobs to provide health insurance for their employees and their immediate families, while others do not. If you currently receive health insurance through your job or that of your spouse or parents, you have to consider that it might not be available when you retire. You will have to purchase another health insurance policy to cover you and your family.
Many people wait until they’re 60 or 65 before retiring so they can qualify for a particular health insurance plan. Whether you pay out-of-pocket for another plan or wait for a certain age to be qualified for a health insurance plan; you must have this covered before you retire.
6. You Have Social Relationships Outside of Work
Your job is an essential part of your identity. You form friends and find a community with the people you work with. Have you considered you might not have access to these people after retirement? If you talk to the same people for 25 years and have no other friends apart from them, you will experience shock when you one day do not work in the same building with them anymore, travel together for conferences, or bond over company matters. You begin to experience feelings of depression, loneliness, and being left out.
To mitigate this, you have to form other associations outside of work. Sign up for new classes, pick up new hobbies, and meet new people. If you have a social community outside of work, then you have checked one of the boxes on the 10 signs it’s time to retire.
7. You Don’t Enjoy Work Anymore
Aha! This is a popular one among the 10 signs it’s time to retire. Some people do a job and stay on it for years not because they love it but because they want to be able to take care of themselves and their families.
Therefore, they set a target for themselves, and immediately after they have worked for the number of available years, have enough savings, investments, or something to fall back on, or have settled the affairs of their child’s education, they pack their bags and leave without a second thought. They would not miss the work or feel nostalgic about their time there. These people are born ready for retirement.
8. You Find Yourself Counting Down the Days to Your Retirement
This sign, out of the 10 signs it’s time to retire, might look funny but is important too! Some people are on cloud nine when they get close to retirement age or have saved enough money to retire.
They begin to have a spring in their steps and feel happier, whistle all day long, and smile at everyone. They exude a joyful demeanor and eagerly share the news of their numbered days on the job. Now, this is not always because they have a bad job and can’t wait to be gone, it might be because of any of the signs listed above. If you are this person, then rejoice because, hurray, you are ready to retire. Go on and have fun!
9. You Feel Your Work is a Hindrance to What You Want to Achieve
This is the flip side of one of the earlier discussed 10 signs it’s time to retire. You might have other goals aside from the career you are currently pursuing. You might want to travel, start a business, spend more time with your family, or turn your hobby into something serious and sustainable.
The moment you begin to feel that your job is hindering you from pursuing your personal goals, begin to clear your desk because you are ready to retire. Most people are not wired to stay on a job for years on end. If this is you, don’t try to feel bad about it. Consider your options – retirement might be good for you.
10. You Have Something Else to Do
This is the last on our list of 10 signs it’s time to retire. It is the last box you should check before you say goodbye to your job. What is your plan after retirement?
Some plan to spend it by the poolside, sipping Chapman, eating doughnuts, sleeping in, and watching movies. Some are afraid to retire even after ticking the previous nine boxes because their jobs are all they have known.
Whatever the case, it is of utmost importance that you have something else to do before you retire, as this will make the transition easier for you.
Finally, it is up to you to decide when it is time. We can only guide you to the signs to watch out for. If you have all these signs and feel you’re ready, go for it. If you think you’re not ready, there’s no harm in waiting until you feel ready. As we stated earlier, you do not want to enter retirement unprepared. We sincerely hope you make the right choice!
