Retiring at the age of fifty can be a daunting task, but if you make smart choices about investing your money, you will be able to achieve this. Cut your expenses as much as possible now, to save and invest more in your future. Read on to find out more and get more details.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Part 1: Save and Invest your Money
Step 1. Get started early
The earlier you start investing in your future, the more likely you are to be able to save enough to retire at 50. The ideal time to start is as soon as you enter the world of work in your 20s.
Put simply, if you start saving for your retirement late, you will have to set aside, annually, a larger sum than you would be required to start saving at 25
Step 2. Save more
The average savings rate in Italy is 11%, but if you want to retire at the age of fifty, you may have to save as much as 75% instead.
- In order to save more, you have to live below your means. Besides the fact that you can save more money, another benefit of living below your means is that by doing so, you will prepare yourself to live more modestly in retirement. Instead of 80% of your current income, you will be able to survive well on 50%, as it is already possible for you to do so now.
- By the time you reach the age of fifty, it will take you about 33 times as much as you would expect to spend in your first year of retirement, after subtracting all social benefits.
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The amount of money you need to save to have enough funds before age 50 will vary depending on the annuity or interest you receive from your savings accounts or bonds. The capital required according to the percentage of the annuity is estimated as follows:
- You will need € 714,286 in savings with an annual return of 7%.
- You will need € 833,333 of savings with an annual return of 6%.
- You will need € 1,000,000 in savings with a 5% annual return.
- You will need € 1,250,000 in savings with an annual return of 4%.
- You will need € 1,666,667 in savings with an annual return of 3%.
- You will need € 2,500,000 in savings with an annual return of 2%.
Step 3. Make other investments besides your retirement plans
If your official retirement plans have penalties that prohibit withdrawing capital earlier than agreed, you can avoid incurring these penalties by investing in other industries, and use that money during the early stages of your retirement instead of your own money. official retirement plans.
- It may be tempting to play it safe with tax shield subsidized savings accounts, but these usually won't be enough.
- Consider investment opportunities such as stocks, real estate, bonds, and peer-to-peer lending. It also tries to invest in tax-free or deferred-tax axes, instead of investing in taxable ones.
- Make sure your investment portfolio is broad and diverse, and made up of a diverse range of axes. This is the best way to ensure that your investments can sustain losses and survive poor market conditions.
- The older you get, the more cautious you should be about investing. The riskier the various investments you make as you mature, the more plentiful your losses will be if the market is against you.
Step 4. Be aware of some key factors
There are some considerations beyond savings and investments that you need to keep in mind when calculating how much money you need for your retirement.
- Think about your life expectancy. Plan your retirement taking into account a long wait. There is a 45% chance that one person in a couple will be able to reach the age of ninety, and a 20% chance that they will reach the age of ninety-five. Make sure you have enough cash on hand to last a long time.
- Be aware of any medical expenses. As we get older, our medical needs increase - and so does the cost of treatment.
- Pay attention to inflation. You can be sure that inflation will cut your purchasing power in half over the next thirty years.
Method 2 of 4: Part 2: Think Outside the Box
Step 1. Buy a smaller house
Instead of buying the largest and most beautiful home you can afford, opt for a more modest-sized home that provides you with only the bare essentials.
- Similarly, move to an inexpensive neighborhood. It is not necessary to live in the slums, but you should opt for a middle-class neighborhood instead of an upper-class one, and move to a poorer region than the big cities like Rome or Milan.
- Another way to reduce the costs inherent in your home is to choose a short-term mortgage. If you can pay for your house in fifteen years rather than thirty years, you would be saving a significant amount of interest money.
- If you can rent part of your home, take this option seriously. This income can help you pay off your mortgage, allowing you to save more money for your retirement.
Step 2. Go and live in a country where taxes are lower
Some European countries have much lower income tax, VAT and property tax than others. Living in one of these states will allow you to save more money and help you live with little means during retirement.
Some options to consider include Germany, Luxembourg, and Malta
Step 3. Cut your overspending
Check your monthly expenses and determine if there are any that you can eliminate. These could include landlines, pay-per-view subscriptions and an expensive mobile phone subscription.
- Look for free ways to enjoy your hobbies. In many cases, you may find volunteer opportunities that allow you to do the things you love at no cost. For example, if you love horses, volunteer at an equestrian center instead of buying your own horse.
- Sell your car. Even a cheap car can cost you twice as much as the initial price you paid when you take depreciation, taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs into consideration. Rent a car when needed. For your daily needs, use public transport.
Step 4. Trade or trade when possible
If you have special skills that can be useful to others, trade them with people who have different skills, instead of paying for services with money.
- For example, if you are computer literate, you can offer to build a website or network for someone who, in return, can fix a broken sink or damaged door.
- Bartering can also extend to your holidays, if you want to allow yourself the luxury of getting one. Swap your home when you go on vacation, instead of paying money for a hotel. Connect with people who live elsewhere and swap homes during the summer holidays - this will provide you with free accommodation when you go on vacation.
Step 5. Consider an early retirement job
Although pensions are quite rare nowadays, some high-risk jobs offer early retirement. The obvious downside is that you have to risk your life at work.
To take advantage of this option, you should consider a job such as carabiniere, firefighter or a military career
Method 3 of 4: Part 3: What Not to Do
Step 1. Avoid having children before you start saving for your retirement
Children will not make early retirement an impossible goal, but raising them costs. If you have children before you start saving and investing in your future retirement, you will be less likely to be able to set aside enough money each year to retire in your fifties.
- A family with an income of € 59,300 per year spends around € 11,000 for every child under eighteen. Families with higher incomes spend even more.
- By investing before you have children, you would be doing it with a different frame of mind, which would make it easier to treat investments and savings as a part of your monthly budget.
Step 2. Try not to draw on your retirement fund ahead of time
If you are facing financial difficulties, you may feel tempted to use the money to get out of a bad situation.
- It would be wiser to look for ways to cut costs and earn more, however, to avoid draining your retirement funds.
- If you tap into your fund prematurely, you may lose interest compounding benefits and may even have to pay a withdrawal penalty.
Step 3. Don't get into credit card debt
If you can't afford to buy something by the end of the month, try to avoid using your credit card to buy it.
If you have to pay your credit cards slowly, you will lose a lot of interest money. This means that you will have less money to save for retirement
Step 4. Prevent yourself from turning the art of saving into a routine
You don't have to live like a medic while saving for retirement. If saving becomes too much work for you, you will be much more likely to give up and give up over time.
Your budget should include some things you enjoy doing. The key is to go back to the cheapest way to do the things we love, but not to stop doing them completely
Method 4 of 4: Part 4: Before Taking That Last Step
Step 1. Create your own post-retirement budget
Determine this budget based on the amount of money you have saved. Try living off this budget for six months. If you can do this without too much difficulty, you may be able to retire with your current savings.
- This is, in fact, to be considered a test. If you can't survive on this budget without draining your savings and without using credit cards, you are not ready to retire.
- You need to understand what your liquidity will look like after you retire in preparing your budget. Try to figure out how much money you need each month, quarter and year, while trying to figure out how much money you can afford to withdraw from your savings each month based on the amount of savings you currently have.
- Take inflation into account in your budget. It could easily get up to 5%.
Step 2. Make sure you have reliable insurance
Insurance that you won't be able to use before you're sixty-five isn't going to help you much. Since you will no longer have the insurance provided by your employer after retirement, you will need to have your own affordable and reliable insurance plan, unless you want to rely on the mortgage.
- Keep in mind that health insurance costs go up faster than inflation. Business plans are harder to find today than they were a decade ago.
- If possible, look for insurance that has low deductibles and that at least partially covers prescriptions, doctor's visits, hospitalizations, dental and eye care expenses.
Step 3. Wait until your children are financially independent
Raising children costs a lot. If you have children who are financially dependent on you at the age of fifty, your savings may easily not be enough.
The same is true if you have parents or other dependent relatives
Step 4. Pay off your debts
If you still owe money to lenders or creditors by the time you turn 50, you could end up wasting a significant portion of your retirement budget on repaying these debts.
- Make sure you've paid off your home and car debt if you have one.
- If you have other debt, such as a student loan, you may not be able to retire in your fifties.
Advice
- Consider getting a part-time job. If you can't stop working entirely after turning 50, consider quitting your full-time job you hate and get a part-time job. This way, you can earn enough money to live while your retirement savings continue to grow.
- If you are married, make arrangements so that both you and your spouse can work. It will be much easier to earn enough to retire in your fifties if you both work together to achieve this goal.