What to Prepare for as a Couple in Your Later Years

As a newly married couple, you have a lot of financial planning to do: buying your first house, starting a vacation fund, putting money aside if you plan on having children and of course, saving for a dream vacation. With so much going on, it’s easy to overlook planning for your shared retirement.

No one wants to think about getting older, but it happens to the best of us. If you start now, you can make your golden years some of the best years of your marriage. Here are five tips for planning for old age as a couple.

Discuss Your Career Goals

Try sitting down with your significant other and talk about how you would like to retire. You might want to retire as you reach a certain age while your spouse wouldn’t mind working for as long as they can. Another example is that you may want to move to a peaceful part of the suburbs, while your other half would love to experience life in the big city. Once you both become aware of each other’s retirement plans, there will be more time for both of you to come up with a way to compromise.

Plan Separate Retirements

Retiring at the same time may sound like a lot of fun, but in reality, it can cause a lot of unnecessary tension. Going from work to being at home isn’t always as easy as it sounds. In fact, it can be downright awkward and require a period of adjustment. Staggering retirement gives both of you the chance to get your feet wet as a retiree and get a better sense of how you will spend your free time.

Planning for your future now will save you a lot of headaches down the road. And although putting off some of those sensitive conversations may seem like the right thing to do now, you never know what the future holds.

Consider Shared Income Needs

When it comes to retirement, it’s not impossible to try and sort out how much money you’ll need. Keep in mind, however, this all depends on what stage you’re at in your life. You may even be convinced that you can work out a budget using half of your current income. Your spouse, on the other hand, may not view things the same way. Perhaps your significant other wants to live a lifestyle that needs the same income you already earn. It’s important to align both expectations in order to come up with a plan that suits both of your needs.

Save for Retirement Together

Of course, you’re both responsible for how you choose to retire. However, as a married couple, it’s important that you both make financial decisions and save for your retirement together. Having a 401k retirement plan will help make both of your lives easier. Without it, you’d best be prepared to add a little more pre-tax income.

If one of you is working outside of the house, it’s highly recommended that get a spousal IRA. A spousal IRA is what’s going to allow you to deposit and save money in a tax-deferred account for the spouse that’s unemployed.

Verify Your Beneficiaries

Everyone remembers when they started their very first 401k. They have to include the name of one or multiple beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are people who obtain the money should you pass on. It’s crucial that you keep this kind of information updated in the event of a child’s birth, a divorce or separation or a death in the family. Changing your desired beneficiaries is also easy. Simply contact your brokerage firm if you’re in possession of an IRA or the representative that set up your 401k.