55% of seniors will run short of money in retirement.
This has nothing to do with education, career choice, or hard work.
It has everything to do with planning.
We simply tend not to plan for things to happen.
66.5% of bankruptcies are caused by major medical issues.
And yet we think “those things” will not happen to us.
When you are planning for retirement are you also planning for the increased costs seniors tend to have in their golden years?
While you will need less money for commuting, professional clothing, and hopefully will have your mortgage paid off, most seniors see an increase in the cost of medications.
Some of these things can be mitigated by taking care of yourself now. As Aristotle said “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
For example, choosing whole, clean foods and minimizing the processed frankenfoods.
Some things can be mitigated by looking at your family history. Are the health issues you tend to have in your family something that can be reduced by things in your control (hello epigenetics!) and/or testing and tracking to see how things are progressing?
For example, I currently have Hoshimoto’s so I encourage my daughter to take precautions to help keep that switch from being flipped (like being mindful of gluten consumption) and to get tested annually for her thyroid antibody level.
This is not to say doing “all the right things” will ensure you do not have major medical issues and expenses, but it can help you stack the odds in your favor.
By planning to have those additional expenses, you put yourself in a good place in case you do incur them. And, if you you do not you will have even more money to enjoy your golden years.
Are you planning a buffer in your retirement savings to ensure you do not run out of money? Are you taking precautionary measures to reduce the risk of having major medical issues as you age?