Tips and Facts About Retirement - Some Interesting things to Know

I have been doing some research on retirement and found out some different things. A few interesting facts have been pointed out to me in this process that I am sharing here. There is much to consider and times are certainly changing and continue to change for all of us. If you compare our lives now say to 100 years ago, the differences are astounding and retirement and all that surrounds that is no different. Here are some tips and facts I found:

* We all can expect to live a longer life (on the whole, in general) than our grandparents and as a result of that, we will spend more time in our retirement years than they did.

* There are estimates out there that show that up to one third of all families are not saving up enough money for retirement. Some people however, that have been listening to financial advisers for years and using their calculators for all kinds of things, may have more than they even need in retirement. So there are some on both sides of that coin.

* Many Americans are not necessarily retiring to the warmer weather climates (though many do), and some statistics are showing that many stay right where they are. This makes sense as they want to be nearer their families. I know of some that have moved closer to their families as well and not to the warmer weather climates. Perhaps money comes into play there.

* Retirement is still a relatively new phenomenon, when you look back just a century ago. We have come to look at work very differently, on a lot of levels. A century ago, a very small fraction of people actually retired from their work.

* Experts say it is good to approach retirement as a whole new fresh phase of your life, as opposed to looking at it as an end to a prior way of life. Its good to embrace the many opportunities and excitement that retirement can hold for people.

* For the most part, those that are actually retiring in the last few years, are happy and healthy both. So they have a whole new way of life to consider for many years ahead.

* There are a greater number of choices than ever before that come with retirement now. People that are retiring often consider working in some form or capacity or returning to school. I know of many that help with their families or volunteer doing all kinds of things and it brings a great satisfaction and joy to them. There are some that are returning to school as well. How great is that? I think its wonderful and have heard some amazing stories in that regard.

* Think about retirement holistically. Address both the non financial issues along with the financial issues in your life.

* Though the age of retirement has come down in recent years, people are still continuing to retire at a great range of ages.

* With retirement comes a greater individual responsibility as well. That includes responsibility to ourselves to think carefully about retirement and to plan it with great care, no matter where we are at in life.

* Health care and insurance is very critical to many retirees of course. They have often timed their retirement to make sure that they have medical coverage, which is very wise.

* Social Security (for now anyway) continues to be a large part of what retirees continue to rely on for their primary funding source. Lets hope our country tries to help steer the country's finances back toward the right direction. So many are paying into it now but may not have the same benefit.