Will I Have Enough to Retire?

This is always the question, many who plan to retire are faced with. Do I have enough to retire well? 
How do you begin to approach this? Do we base it on our life expectancy? Do we base it on our lifestyle after retiring? So many factors. But here's a few guidelines I think I'd like to apply. 

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• COST OF LIVING EXPENSES 
• WHERE YOU'LL BE LIVING 
• TYPES OF ACTIVITIES 

I think to start a conversation with these few key items will help you decide if you have enough to retire. 

COST OF LIVING EXPENSES

I think this would be based on your personal circumstances. For me, I think as I retire and age in place, my expenses will become much lower. Say, less expenses when it comes not working anymore. No more real transportation costs, clothing, dry cleaning, lunch expenses, etc. Anything that has to be an expense when traveling or dealing with work, expenses will be minimal or way less. 

But on the other side of the coin, you'll be home more, so most likely you'll incur more electricity costs, or water bill - simply because you are at home more, so living expenses may go up a tad. Also consider your grocery bill, you'll be having more meals at home, snacks, drinks, as well as personal care will be added to the costs. Overall, there's going to be some savings in one area, but another area will go up. So, this are things one must consider when you are retired. 

WHERE YOU'LL BE LIVING

The only reason why you live somewhere is because of work in my case. As I no longer have a job to go to, you'll have more flexibility to move elsewhere. If you so choose, housing may be a little more affordable but again there are positive and negative things that will come of this change. If you move somewhere that isn't familiar to you, that will be a challenge. You'll need to get familiar with area for shopping, activities, culture, you name, it will be work to be in a less than familiar location. Leaving where your at will lose people who are in that area, the shops, the arts, culture will be left behind, I think that would be a problem for me. Where I live has all the bells and whistles but cost is currently high, but moving elsewhere will save much more. The only thing that was constant was your job. Not having one in the current location will be a bit odd, I guess, but who knows, you won't experience the change until your fully in it. By then you might be at odds on your decision on where you ended up landing. 

TYPES OF ACTIVITIES

This one might be really hard for me. My social aspect if any will be left behind. Friends, family will also be left behind. Sure, my gym is here but it's a chain so I can be at another location with no issue. How about hospitals, access to your doctor. What about going to the theater, another place might not have the caliber of what you have in your current setting. About those renowned or go to restaurants? Will I be open to new ones and leaving the others behind? Who knows. 

One thing for sure in all of these is that it will be different, but making the change to retire elsewhere will allow me to retire more comfortably. One financial planner mentioned that I should save 8 times my salary to retire comfortably. For example. If I made $100k a year, I need $800k to live through a 25 year life span, basically, $32k a year as your living expenses. If your lucky, you have a pension that can cover that same about, so your looking at $64k. Not too bad, but remember, taxes.....then when you are ready for receiving Social Security that can add up to your yearly income, it may work for some but not everyone is lucky with a pension - some will require saving their funds for their own retirement account, so some will be prepared, others not so much. 

To answer that question, will I have enough to retire? I would say yes and no. We have to consider the topics above to see if we can do it, as we have no other choice or do we?