10 Retirement Myths and Misconceptions
Hobbies are a great idea. Those who can derive satisfaction from photography, gourmet cooking, stamp collecting, and so on are lucky. But retirement hobbies must continue to be fun and interesting or they quickly become unsatisfying. Few people create a complete new life around hobbies. A few will be able to convert a favorite hobby into a small business or lifetime artistic involvement, but most are not this fortunate.
The Too Old to Start Saving Myth
Well, it would have been better to start saving for retirement early, it will be ideal condition. But let’s face it: Almost all people don’t do it. But don’t worry, there’s hope for late starters, even those starting at 50. A few years of serious saving money for retirement can make a huge difference to your quality of life in retirement. You need to figure out what you have and how much you’ll need to put away for a decent retirement. Then launch into saving for retirement overdrive - you need to stash away as much as, or more than, someone seeking to retire early. You do have one thing going for you. Anyone over age 50 can also make catch-up retirement contributions of as much as $5,000 to a 401(k) and an additional $1,000 to an IRA, both will be in your retirement savings account.
You might be surprised at how quickly your work can show results. Let’s say that you are a 50-year-old earning $100,000 with only $150,000 saved. If you put the max in your 401(k), including a catch-up retirement contribution and a 50% match, plus invest another 5% outside the plan, you’ll have $1.5 million retirement money by age 65, assuming you earn an average of 8% a year. With that, a true retirement will be no myth at all.
The Prior-Success/Easy-Passage Myth
It’s not difficult to see why this misconception persists. It stands to reason that those who were successful before retirement should find retirement easier to cope with than those who did not do as well. Success breeds success; failure breeds failure. Translated, this means that corporate presidents should have an easy retirement.
True? Absolutely false! In fact, it often works the other way around. Those who earned high psychic rewards from their careers may have trouble finding replacements after retirement. It may be difficult to find a retirement role that provides enough ego satisfaction. All retirees can build a better lifestyle.
The No-Challenge-Needed Myth
Some conscientious individuals who have worked hard all their lives feel that they are home free when they retire. They say: “I’ve done my bit for society; now it’s society’s turn.” , “I’ve paid my dues through church work for 30 years. Now the church can take care of me.”
These people operate under the premise that you pay your dues during working years and then draw interest during retirement. A pretty dream but, sadly, life doesn’t work that way. In fact, happy retirees often pay more dues, not fewer.
They contribute more to charitable organizations and communities than when they were working. Perhaps the most successful retirees are those who have an opportunity to repay society by sharing their talents.