MODULE 8
2. Planning for Retirement
Are You Prepared?
Are you one of those people hoping to marry rich or win the lottery? Or are you ready to take care of your future self? Unless your goal is to literally sing to death (like Antonia from The Tales of Hoffmann), you should be thinking about retirement now.
Asking the Right Questions
On page 21 of your workbook you’ll find three questions. Answer all of these in as much detail as you can. What age or year do you think you might be able to successfully retire? Do you predict a career change in a certain number of years? If you’re planning on switching to full time teaching, or something else a little later on, take that into account. How would you like your retirement to look? Where will you be, and how would you like to live? Considering all of this information, plus inflation, try to come up with a number for the amount that you think you’ll need to have in order to successfully retire on your terms.
Make It a Priority
It will only happen if you prioritize it. Set aside a portion of each paycheck, just as you would for taxes, and dedicate it to your future. This number or percentage can look different depending on your month, but don’t let it fall by the wayside. Try including this in your paycheck breakdown on page 19 of your workbook. Again, this can look different for each paycheck, depending on your situation.
In the next lesson, I’ll go over different types of retirement accounts so that you can get started.