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Retirement is something that you’ve probably been planning forever since you started working. You have all the details worked out, and you may even have a date circled on the calendar when you’ll hang up your work life permanently.
But for all the detail you might know personally, you may not have shared all that much with your kids. It can seem so distant to them–especially if you have younger kids–that they may not take much interest, but they need to know. Gather them up, discuss your plans, and try to give them something on paper (or at least tell them where you’ll store documents) about what’s in the cards for you after you get that gold watch.
Make sure you cover these areas.
Your Money
Retirement is more about money than anything else, when you get right down to it. If you have enough money to stop working, you do it. Pretty simple. But your particular structure and strategy will probably look different than almost anyone else’s. You may have an employer plan, a government pension, or even a reverse mortgage in your plan.
Educate your family about them. Make sure they know that you are financially stable enough to stop working. If they don’t understand how something works, let them meet you at the office of your benefits officer. Send them to ReverseMortgages.com for information on how that option works. Make sure that they aren’t worrying about you.
Money is an awkward topic. But it has to be addressed in order for your retirement to go smoothly for both you and your kids.
Your Health
This is another touchy subject for many families. Most kids don’t like to hear their parents talk about health issues, and many parents don’t like to discuss it. However, there can come times in our lives when our families need to make decisions for us, if we haven’t done so ourselves.
Living wills are a great example. Many states provide online help in understanding and making your wishes known and documented, so that if a serious injury or illness happens, your family won’t be torn about what to do.
Your family also needs to know your medical history, particularly if they live far away and don’t know the details. Keep a brief medical history on paper in case you are unable to provide it to medical providers yourself. Also, maintain a list of your current medications with dosages and a description of why you take them.
Your Location
Maybe you and your spouse have dreamed of a beachfront retirement for years, and you may even already have the wheels in motion to live by the ocean. Good for you…but do your kids know?
Your kids have plans to make with their families, and if you happen to have younger kids at home they deserve to know what to expect as well. Many families have encountered real conflict when Mom & Dad beat a hasty retreat to the mountains, selling the family home and leaving the kids with extra travel complications for holidays and summer visits.
These changes are much easier to swallow when they are reported in advance. For starters, the kids will realize that you’ve really thought it over ahead of time, and they’ll also have a few years to adjust and think about their own situation once you move away.
Retirement is exciting. No doubt you’ve earned it. You’ve planned carefully and have everything ready to go. Just make sure that your family knows as much about what’s ahead as you do.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
