Sixties are popularly referred to as double 30’s. You get to live and fulfill your dreams; you once had as a 30 year old sans the worries. You’ve worked your fingers to the bone, for a large portion of your life and saved enough to live this moment. Now that retirement is inching closer, you feel a bit anxious. Have I saved enough? Will I be able to truly enjoy my retirement years reminiscing about the good old days? Banking new memories without having to spend your days worrying about piling financial woes. To help you ease into retirement, here’s an ultimate guide to financial planning in sweet sixties-  

Step 1: Before you fly, plan your journey

It’s time to take an in detail and all angle view of your finances – your assets, liabilities and financial calendar. When are your investments maturing? Analyze your financial standing. Do you have any debts to pay? Any short-term, long-term or a priority goal that needs attention- financially? Start with recording your wants and needs. Follow it up by scheduling your financial instruments maturity. 

With all your retirement funds coming in, what should be your next step? It all begins with defining your goals. Do you want to simply ensure a debt-free life? Did you always want to surprise your better half with a trip round the world? But before you do that, you want to ensure your finances are in place and you are in control of them. You want to encapsulate all safety nets before the no work; all play, happy retirement flight takes off. 

Step 2: Transitioning the ground

Before you take off, and switch modes from working to flying, you need to wheel the plane on ground.Financial protection at any age is important. Start with securing your essential income to cover all expenses, even the unpredictable one’s. This should include your medical requirements, health check-ups and long-term medical care. Your retirement savings and choices will define your standard of life in the sixties and years to follow. 

Step 3: Take-Off. Buckle your seat belt

A crucial step in takeoff is safety. Your finances need to be protected before you take off on your retirement journey. Few steps you must ensure are:

A) Your investments should not be in danger of losing capital. Marginal profits are better than endangering your hard-earned money in risk of higher profit anticipation.

B)   At this point, opting for investments that are invested in safe instruments with a marginal portion in equity is a good idea. This ensures, safe return to low risk ratio. 

Another one such bittersweet truth of growing old is realizing that your health will deteriorate, as you grow older. At this point, you need to be adequately covered with health insurance. Given your source of living are accrued savings as opposed to a monthly income; you cannot risk losing your funds to a medical requirement. Along with health insurance, it becomes important to have a separate medical corpus in place, so that your corpus for regular expenses don’t see a dip for medical requirements.

Step 4: Climb, Cruise and Descent  

A) Opt for Ancillary Income

You’ve planned your finances well, however to always keep the uncertainties in mind, you can look for ways to make passive income. If accumulated assets or your skills can help in generating additional income, that will just be an add on. Your reliable financial planner can advise you various ways, how you can utilize your current assets to generate additional income. 

B) Invest in Instruments that help you generating regular income 

Schemes like Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojna are specifically designed for senior citizens. You can park your savings to generate returns without risking your capital. Also, investments like mutual funds can be looked at where SWP (Systematic Withdrawal Plans) can be opted for regular income.

Step 5: Landing 

No one knows what tomorrow will bring. To ensure your assets are well distributed in your absence, draft a will, ahead of time. Financial planners can guide you the right way to go about it. 

Step 6: Panoramic View 

Retirement is the rainbow at the long end of the working roadway. It’s time to capture unfathomable panoramic views, enjoy enviable moments and bank unforgettable memories. Don’t let your unplanned finances get in the way. Consult an advisor today to help you with financial planning in your sixties.