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When’s the best time to start thinking about retirement? Well, in short, now. It is never too early to start thinking about the kind of lifestyle you want to secure for yourself when you finally retire from working. In fact, the early you start to think about it and put plans into place the better. 

If you have a lack of planning for this time in your life you risk struggling in retirement and even having to return to work. Not ideal! So, when is the perfect time to start your plans? The most common time to start your retirement plans is in your 20s or 30s and although you may be a long way off from retiring this is a great time to start. It enables you to be able to secure the lifestyle that you will want without it causing too much financial stress. 

Some of the things to think about include: 

Your Budget 

Ok, so you aren’t going to know exactly how much you are going to be spending when you reach retirement especially when you have to take into consideration the rise in living costs. However, if you look at things like your rent/mortgage costs, average bills, groceries, eating out, holidays etc you can get a rough idea of what you will need to survive on. Doing this can help you to figure out how much you need to of saved before retirement in order to be able to live the same standard of lifestyle. You may even want to consider learning about things such as writing a will and how a trust litigation attorney can help you in the future. 

Look At Your Income

It is critical to consider parts of your plan such as the money you can expect to get during your retirement. Begin by considering the sources of income you will require on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis, including pension and social security. It’s best to avoid living beyond your means and to save aside some money for unexpected expenses. If this isn’t the right level of income that you would like, now is the best time to start rectifying that. 

Stay Away From Debt

This may be easier said than done, but the sooner you can get out of debt, the better off you will be when the time comes to retire. You don’t want to be repaying off large debts far into your retirement years. Getting out of debt early in life has significant advantages; in addition to having savings for retirement, you will have more funds to accomplish the things you want now, such as vacations, new automobiles, and home improvements. It’s critical to know exactly how much debt you have and to have a plan in place to pay it off as soon as possible.

Have a started to think about planning for the future? Is there anything else you think should be included as part of a retirement plan? Why not share your thoughts in the comments below?