Many people make plans to save but never make plans to spend.
Over the years, experience has taught us that individuals fall into different groups when it comes to planning for retirement; saving and spending.
There are those with great intentions and who have exceled at planning. But for a variety of reasons (many times due to unexpected life events) have had challenges saving as much as they hoped. For them, we continue to provide encouragement, advice, and guidance as they pursue their goals.
Then there are some who were great at saving but now struggle about where to spend. They know how hard they worked to accumulate assets and are at a loss about if, when, and how to spend. This group seems to be largely made up of The Greatest Generation and their baby boomer children who remember their stories. Often, these folks have a fear their money will run out. Though this concern is sometimes warranted, it frequently results in hoarding instead of rewarding themselves for a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears.
Others are great at saving and have also developed a plan of where and when to spend after retirement.
Just like it is important to put together a budget to determine monthly income and expenses, it is also important to make plans of how you want to spend your savings after retirement.
Maybe you want to travel. Maybe you want to buy a second home. Or maybe you want to scratch some things off your bucketlist that you never had time to do when you were working.
Sometimes people just want to make sure they have enough at retirement to live comfortably and spend more time with their family and friends.
Whatever the case may be, as you save also consider how you want to use it later.