Retirement can be an exciting milestone to count down to. And you may be eager to kick off your retirement shortly after many years of hard work.
But one thing you should know is that retirement is a tough thing to undo. Once you resign from your job, it can be very difficult to break back into the workforce. So it’s important to feel confident in your decision to bring your career to a close. Here are three signs you may be better off waiting to retire.
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Even if you manage to accumulate a decent amount of retirement savings, you may find that Social Security is an important income stream for you once you’re no longer working. That’s why it’s crucial to claim benefits strategically.
You can sign up for Social Security at any point once you turn 62. But if you don’t wait until full retirement age, you’ll face a permanent reduction in your monthly benefits.
Full retirement age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. If you haven’t gotten there yet, you may want to wait on retirement if leaving your job will mean having to claim Social Security right away.
Remember, Social Security may be the one guaranteed source of retirement income you have. Locking in reduced benefits could hurt you if you end up living longer than planned, or if your investments don’t perform as well as expected during your senior years.
Retiring with a small amount of debt isn’t the end of the world, especially if it’s a low-interest mortgage. But if you’re able to shed all of your debt ahead of retirement, you might have a lot less financial stress once you stop working.
If you’re still carrying unsecured debt, like credit card balances, it could especially pay to delay retirement until you’ve managed to pay it all off. That debt could take up a lot of room in your retirement budget, leaving you with less opportunity to enjoy your post-working years.
It’s one thing to be burned out at work and eager to retire as a result. It’s another thing to love your job and retire simply because you decided at one point that “it’s time.”
Working can contribute to a lot of good things — financially and emotionally. It affords you an opportunity to boost savings, but beyond that, feeling respected and productive can work wonders for your mental health.
