Who wouldn’t love to retire early? We work so incredibly hard during our adult years that it can be difficult to find the right time to leave. We either love our work too much or we simply can’t tear ourselves away from our careers because it’s become a part of everyday life. However, you’ll eventually need to drag yourself away from your job so you can retire in peace and live out the rest of your life in peace without any worries left. To help assist you, we’ve compiled a list of nine signs that show you’re ready to throw in the towel and settle down.
1. You’ve already paid off your mortgage
A staggering number of people in retirement are still paying off their mortgage. It’s heartbreaking to hear, but a mix of poor financial management and neglect can quickly become a problem when it comes to your mortgage. It’s essential that you try and pay off your mortgage while you’re still working so that when you do retire, you own the home that you’ve been working hard to pay off. This will allow you to sell the home, hand it down to your children or even rent out as you move to a smaller home.
If you’ve already paid off your mortgage, then that’s already a huge financial weight off your shoulders. You won’t need to worry about contributing payments to the mortgage, and you can spend that money on entertainment or other items that interest you. If you feel like your home is no longer needed, then there’s nothing wrong with downsizing and making a lot of extra money in the process.
2. You have plenty of savings that you forgot about
How long has it been since you last took a look at your savings account? Over the years, we start to forget that we even have a savings account because we’re so used to automatically putting money into it and forgetting it. Your savings may even come in the form of assets. Everyone that wants to grow or manage their wealth knows that keeping your savings in a savings account is perhaps the worst way to deal with inflation. If you’re serious about protecting your wealth from inflation, then it’s best to focus on purchasing assets and investing your money into things like property or business.
If you feel like you’ve saved up a substantial amount of money, then you may have just enough to retire and live a happy life. You don’t need a ridiculous amount of money to retire, but if you’ve done the math and can estimate how much you need to live happily for the next 30 or 40 years, then you might be surprised to find that you have more savings than you last remembered.
3. Your children have grown and left the nest
If your children have already grown, moved on and had children of their own, then it’s a good sign that you’re ready to retire. You’ve bought new life into the world, you’ve nurtured them, gave them shelter, and now you don’t have to worry about their financial problems anymore. In the past, you had to pay for everything they wanted. You had to pay for their college fees, you needed to buy food and drink for them and you even needed to pay for some of their luxuries. Now that they’ve moved out and have their own lives and families to provide for, you can finally relax, take a break and ease your worries.
Even if your children still live with you because you have a large house or because you live in a prime location, it’s still never a bad idea to retire now that they’re capable of living on their own. Assuming they have a sizeable income, you can safely leave the house to them and move into a smaller place that suits your needs.
4. You have multiple streams of income
Most people only have one source of income: their job. If you’ve been busy during your adult years by starting businesses, gathering contacts and generally working hard, then there’s a good chance that you’ve accumulated several different streams of income. Maybe you’re still collecting royalties on a book you wrote several years ago, or perhaps a business you own is still thriving and growing to become an even bigger success than you could’ve anticipated. Whatever the case is, if you have multiple streams of income then there’s a good chance you’re financially secure.
If you have several streams of income, then it’s safe to retire. Not only will you get money from your pension, but you’ll still be able to collect money and revenue from whatever businesses you own. Be it collecting rent on properties or being paid dividends from stocks that you own, take your financial security as a sign that you’re ready to retire.
5. You’ve reached your life goals
What were your life goals when you were young? Perhaps you wanted to become an astronaut, or maybe you wanted to be a tycoon. Some children just want to just own a business when they’re older, and others want to become famous pop stars. Even if you haven’t’ reach your childhood goals, you’ve probably reached other life goals that you set later on in life. For instance, maybe there was a time that you were content with just having children. Perhaps you had goals for your business to grow into an internationally known brand. Or maybe you just wanted to be financially secure so that you didn’t have to worry about your retirement.
If you’ve reached your life goals, then it’s fine to retire. You’ve done what you wanted, you’ve achieved your goals and you have nothing else to work towards. Take time off, retire, and enjoy the rest of the world knowing that you followed your dreams and made them come true.
6. Your friends have retired or passed on
You’re probably not the first person you know that has retired. Perhaps your friends decided to give up working a couple years before you, or maybe you have old colleagues that have already passed away. Watching those around us grow old is a wake-up call. It tells us that we don’t have infinite time on the earth and that eventually, we’re going to have to throw in the towel and accept our fate. Our bodies aren’t designed to last forever, so if you notice that your friends have moved on or retired as well, why not follow their example?
In the past, it was probably hard to find time to hang out with your friends due to work constraints. However, now that you’ve retired together, it’s time to catch up and live the rest of your lives in peace.
7. Your job is causing your health to decline
If your job is causing you to be sick, tired or fatigued, then there’s a good chance that you’re pushing yourself far too much. If your job is physically or mentally demanding, then there’s a good chance it’s slowly reducing your quality of life and affecting your health. People retire for many different reasons, but there are times when you’re forced to retire due to your health and not because of your financial situation or other similar factors. We can’t control the way we age. The best we can do is eat healthily and maintain a good diet, but even that isn’t enough to guarantee good health throughout our entire life.
If your job is causing your health to decline, then stop as soon as possible. Take some time off to determine if it’s just a temporary problem, or if you’re forcing yourself to work with poor health.
8. You’ve already prepared a will
Have you already prepared a will and chosen an executor? It might help to also find a probate attorney so you can ensure your executor gets the right assistance when you’ve passed away. Talking or discussing the topic of passing away is never a pleasant experience, but it’s required if you want to be responsible.
Make sure you’ve written several drafts of your will before you decide to make it legally binding. If you’re having trouble picking an executor that you can trust, then you may want to spend some extra time to organise your choices.
9. Your bucket list is continuing to grow
If your bucket list is getting longer and longer with no end in sight, then it’s time to stop working and start ticking them off. Whether it’s travelling to a unique location or sampling some food that you’ve always wanted to try, your bucket list isn’t going to get any shorter if you’re still working.
When you retire, you’ll have plenty of time to visit all the destinations that you want to, try all the things that interest you and even pick up hobbies that you never got to try when you were working. You’re only getting older at this stage, and the longer you wait, the less opportunities you’ll have to indulge in your bucket list.
