Planning for Retirement: Ways To Evaluate Your Income Needs

Retirement is an exciting milestone, but financial confidence is key to making it a fulfilling time in your life. One of the most crucial aspects of preparing for retirement is evaluating your income needs. 

By carefully assessing your financial situation, you can make informed decisions, avoid unnecessary stress, and enjoy the retirement you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Here’s how to get started.

Assess Your Current Financial Standing

Your first step is to figure out where you stand financially. List all sources of income, including pensions, Social Security benefits, savings, and investments. Then, estimate your regular expenses like housing, healthcare, utilities, and daily living costs.

Don’t forget irregular costs, such as travel or home maintenance. Understanding your full financial picture allows you to identify potential gaps between your expected income and projected spending.

Consider Inflation

Inflation is a silent factor that can erode the value of your savings over time, so it’s important to include it in your retirement planning. For instance, what costs 1,000 dollars today might cost 1,200 dollars or more in ten years.

To prepare, estimate an annual inflation rate of around two to three percent and calculate how it may affect essential expenses like healthcare, groceries, and housing throughout your retirement. When you include this cushion in your planning, it can minimize surprises.

Set Realistic Retirement Goals

The retirement lifestyle you envision needs to match what your finances can support. Are you dreaming of traveling the world or moving closer to family? 

Analyze whether you can realistically achieve these goals with your current savings and income. Be honest with yourself about compromises you may need to make and focus on achievable plans that bring you joy without straining your budget.

Review Investment Strategies

Retirement is a prime time to reevaluate your investment approach. Consider whether your portfolio is too risky or too conservative for your stage of life, and think about diversifying or rebalancing to suit your goals better.

Keep in mind that a strong investment strategy can help your savings grow while providing steady income. Regularly reviewing performance is worth the effort, especially when paired with input from a financial advisor.

Explore Additional Income Streams

If your calculations suggest gaps in your income, there are plenty of ways to bridge them. Part-time work, rental income, or monetizing a hobby are a few potential options. 

Even small supplemental sources can make a big difference over the long term. Talk to your financial advisor about creative ways to generate extra income that fit your retirement plan.

Seek Professional Advice

Retirement planning can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can ask your advisor important retirement questions to gain their valuable insight. Their expertise can help clarify complex topics, giving you more confidence in your decisions.

Evaluating your income needs is a crucial step in preparing for retirement. By assessing your finances, accounting for inflation, setting practical goals, and reviewing your portfolio, you’ll be well on your way to a comfortable retirement. 

Finally, don’t forget to consult a trusted financial advisor who can guide you every step of the way. Start planning today to make the most of the years ahead.

6 Strategies for Diversifying Your Income Streams to Save for Retirement

Are you worried that you have not saved enough money for retirement? You are not alone. Many people aged 50 and older have this concern. Many seek ways to diversify their income sources so they can save or invest more money leading up to retirement.

Strategies to Diversity Income

Diverse income streams offer more security leading up to and during retirement. By combining multiple income sources, you have other options if one stream doesn't prove as lucrative as expected. Here are a few common and uncommon options people over 50 use to diversify or supplement their income.

1. Investments

During retirement, many people live partially off their savings or investments in the form of retirement account payment and pensions. 

If you have money invested in growth stocks, this might be the time to see a financial planner to rebalance some of those assets to dividend earning stocks, bonds and dividend earning REIT investments.

2. Rental Property

If you own a home or real estate, rental income can be an excellent way to diversify your income. Options range from renting your extra house, an apartment within your house, or even a room in your home. 

Many people over 50 enjoy a nice side income with short-term rentals through Airbnb, HomeStay and TurnKey. This may be a perfect option if you are a natural host or hostess. 




Finally, some college and university programs hire local hosts to rent a room to visiting international students and scholars. 

Often this pays a modest stipend, but this can be a fun way to earn extra cash if you are an empty-nester who likes spending time with teens and young adults. Check local colleges and universities for listings.

3. Part-time Job

Many retirees opt to take a casual part-time job to supplement their pension and retirement earnings. But you don't have to wait for retirement. In fact, some mid-career workers take a second job to add to their retirement savings and investments.

Local listings are an option, or you may be able to find convenient work you can do at home. For example many companies like Amazon and American Express hire work-from-home customer service representatives. 

Other options include transcription, virtual assistant work and social media evaluation. You can find options through job sites like FlexJobs and Indeed. 

Be careful of work-from-home scams that con people out of money or sensitive financial information. See whether the company is legitimate by researching the Better Business Bureau or Glassdoor.

4. Embrace the Mainstream Gig Economy

Take a cue from the Millennials and consider joining the gig economy with a side hustle. According to the Pew Research Center, 16 percent of people between 18 and 29 participate in the gig economy compared to 6 percent of people over 50. 

However, people who are 50+ are among the fastest growing segments of gig workers. Options include:

• Driving for rideshare programs like Uber and Lyft
• Running errands through platforms like TaskRabbit or Postmates
• Providing pet care or dog walking services like Wag, DogVacay, or Rover
• Crowdsourcing microtasks like Amazon's MTurk

Teaching conversational English via webcam for programs like VIPKids or Cambly.

5. Start Your Own Business

Most likely, you have extensive experience and expertise to offer.This may be a good time to start your own business even for side income. 

Self-employment is growing at record rates. You may be able to put your expertise to work whether you offer a product or a service like consulting.

6. Flipping Used Items

If you enjoy buying and selling, you may earn money flipping used items. These may include your own unwanted items, rare books, vinyl records, collectibles or clothing. 

Resourceful flippers earn money by combing thrift shops, Craigslist and flea markets for inexpensive local items. Then you may clean or upgrade the item and sell it online for a higher price at places like Amazon or eBay.

Keeping it All Organized

A smartphone with split-screen multi-window ability like the LG V20 can help keep all these revenue streams organized. Most income streams have associated apps, and a good phone with a generous data plan makes it much easier to manage.

If you are not used to self-employment, be aware that the taxes can be a little more complicated. Be sure to visit the IRS page for sharing and gig economy workers.

With a little creativity, you can diversify your income for a more comfortable retirement. You just may be able to have fun and meet new people by monetizing a hobby. 

Who knows? You might find that your side hustle leads to a lucrative business.

Contributor

Dan Cormac knows how to make his money go further. A freelance financial journalist, Dan is passionate about personal finance. Whether you hope to escape the chains of debt, to save for a house, or to retire within a decade, Dan explores the most effective ways you can achieve your financial goals.