How to Be Financially (and Physically) Healthy in Retirement

When planning for retirement, it is wise to first set aside an emergency fund that can be accessed for urgent eventualities. Your emergency fund can be at least three to six months of your household expenses or even as much as two years. Then, determine one’s cash flow (income and expenses), as well as income-generating assets and expense-generating liabilities.

Find out how much available funds can be set aside for one’s retirement, as well as other financial needs. Set short-, medium-, and long-term goals. A good idea would be to save money, pay off debts, and invest for the future. Then commit to an amount for one’s retirement fund. Also consider the time value of money, such as inflation and the rate of return on savings and investment vis-à-vis your retirement date.

Once all these are set, have an action plan in the form of a budget to manage one’s income and expenses. Be careful not to overspend and be practical. Learn to live within your means. Your spending habit is one of the factors that can affect your age of retirement. If you spend a substantial amount of your earnings on big-ticket items, instead of, for example paying off your mortgage early, then it follows that you will need to retire later.

Consistency and perseverance in sticking to the savings and spending plan will help one to stay the course toward one’s goals. One of the best way to stay in control of your expenses is to have a tracking system. You can do it with a simple program like Excel, but there are also tons of apps and tools that will do it for you and keep track of each part of your budget throughout the entire month.

Being financially healthy is important to make sure one's retirement is comfortable and worry-free. After all, retirement does not have to mean the end but is actually a new beginning. It is also important to continue living a life with purpose and meaning so that one does not become idle or bored. There are many ways that one can enjoy and live a full life after retirement.

• Find work. Pursue a passion, or have a second career doing what one loves.
  
  
• Embark on a business. Try out an idea for a product/service or offer business advice.
  
  
• Volunteer. Contribute to a cause you believe in, find ways to give back to society, and share one's knowledge, experience, and skills.
  
  
• Travel. Explore and discover new places, meet new people, and learn new cultures.
  
  
• Stay active. Learn a new sport, activity, or hobby that keeps one physically and mentally active.
  
  
• Be involved as a grandparent. Spend more time with the grandkids and create memories with them.

Living a full life also means taking care of one's health so that you're able to do everything you plan to do after retirement. Schedule checkups and preventive exams to work out with your health care provider how to improve and maintain your health.

In order to live a full life in retirement, one needs to be healthy—physically and financially. Being healthy has its own rewards, in that it enables one to do and experience all that one would like to in life.