Some individuals approaching age 60 start thinking about the prospect of their own retirement. This is an ideal time to look ahead to the future and try to answer as many questions as possible about whether or not you have set enough aside. The answer to whether or not you are able to retire now is unfortunately, that it depends.

There are several different questions that you need to consider in the process of determining whether now is the right time or whether this is something you should push off to the future. The first question has to do with whether or not you can afford to delay social security. Not everyone, however, is physically or financially able to delay social security until full retirement age.

Retiring at age 66 versus age 62 could give you more options. You may consider delaying your social security till age 70, which would give you the maximum possible monthly benefits and would increase chances that a spouse would get the largest possible widow or widower’s benefit should you pass away before them.

The other critical question to answer in determining the right retirement age for you is how long you might expect to live. This is a very difficult question to answer, however, those individuals who live longer tend to spend more on health care expenses over the course of their lifetime than those individuals who pass away before the average.

ThinkstockPhotos-622064048Create a plan for age 95 or 100. For a couple in which both parties are 65 years old, there is actually a 50% chance that at least one of them will live until age 91 and a 30% chance that one will live till age 95. Looking ahead to the future can tell you where you are at with your finances now and what you need to consider going forward.

 

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