Better Together: Retirement Planning with your Spouse or Partner
Are you in the phase of life where you are closer to retirement than to the start of your career? If so, now is a great time to begin planning for life after work with your spouse or partner, including your mutual hopes, dreams and financial goals. Here are a few questions to ask to help you both get the retirement you want:
- When do you both want to retire? Do you want to do it at the same time or does one of you want to keep working a bit longer? Factors like your respective ages, levels of career satisfaction, pension eligibility and Social Security claiming options can all affect your retirement timeline. Knowing when you plan to stop working will influence other financial preparations. Discuss your hopes and intentions openly with each other. If your preferred retirement ages differ significantly, look for compromise.
- Where would you like to retire? You may be perfectly happy in your current home and neighborhood or you may have a desire to move to a completely different location (such as a beach or maybe somewhere international). Also, do you want or need to be closer to children or other relatives? If you’re considering relocation, visit the area to get a sense of what living there will be like. In addition, research the tax implications as well as the trade-offs between renting and buying a home.
- What does your future lifestyle look like? Now is the time to discuss things like how much travel you both want to do, hobbies that you want to begin (that may require a financial investment) and how much financial support you want to offer to grandchildren or other family members.
- When will you start taking Social Security? You get your full retirement benefit when you reach full retirement age (67 for people born in 1960 and later). You can claim as early as age 62, but your monthly payment will be reduced by as much as 30%. If you wait past 67, you’ll get an additional 8% for each year you delay until you turn 70. Consider your age difference, health, life expectancy, income needs and more as you determine the best age for each of you to claim Social Security.
- How will you manage healthcare costs? Realistically evaluate your current states of health and family histories and discuss how you’ll save and budget for medical expenses —both planned and unplanned. Talk about steps you can take now to potentially reduce future health care costs, like focusing on diet, fitness and preventative care. And take time to understand what your options will be when you turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare, including what it does and doesn’t cover and whether a supplemental plan will make sense.
Having open conversations with each other before you retire is an important step in pursuing a retirement that meets your individual and mutual needs.
