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Things to Do Just Before You Retire 

It won’t be long now. Before you know it, you’ll be retired! You’ve worked several long, hard years to provide for your family. Now, it’s time to take care of yourself and enjoy life. You’ve been putting up money for years and you’re counting down the days. As exciting as this time may be for you, if you’re going to enjoy your retirement, there are still a few things you’ll need to do to get prepared.

Knock Down Debt

You’re going to be living on a fixed income so you don’t want to carry too much debt into retirement if you can help it. The more money you have to put towards debt, the less you have for your regular living expenses and retirement goals (like traveling). If you haven’t already, now would be the ideal time to start knocking out debt.

Take a look at your credit report and write down a list of your credit accounts. Contact each of the creditors to figure out how you can get the debt paid off faster. Some might lower the interest rates, remove late fees, and even offer you a lower settlement amount to satisfy the account. If you are offered a settlement, there are personal loans for bad credit that you can use to pay the balance quickly.

Build That Emergency Fund

It’s a lot harder to handle financial emergencies when you have a fixed income. Should you fall behind on your mortgage, have a medical emergency, your car breaks down, or your children need a little financial assistance, you need a backup source to pull from.

That’s where an emergency fund comes into play. Start putting aside extra money into a savings account for a rainy day. By the time you retire, you want to have at least three to six months of expenses tucked away.

Create a Retirement Budget

You may already have a household budget but once you retire expenses and income will change. The good news is that many expenses are less like housing and transportation. However, other expenses like your energy bill, food bill, and healthcare will increase. A budget can help you in determining if you’re prepared financially to handle these changes.

Start Your Side Hustle

Lots of people who retire dream of starting their own side hustle or small business. It’s a great way to pursue their passions and earn some extra money without the stress of having several mouths to feed. As starting any business requires financial investments and some risks, it may be beneficial to launch before you retire. This gives you some time to test the waters, work out the kinks, and really start generating revenue by the time you’re ready to retire.

Retiring is a rewarding experience that everyone hopes to enjoy one day. If you’re going to live your best years, however, there’s a lot of planning and preparations that need to take place. So, before you say goodbye to the 9 to 5 grind, make sure that you’ve ironed out your finances and set up goals that will set you up for a bright future.

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