The holidays are a time focused on the holiday spirit. It involves consuming too much food, spending quality time with friends and family, or attempting to avoid family drama. For some families, family gatherings occur frequently. However, for other families, holidays are the only time where quality time is spent with their loved ones.

If family events are not common in your family, make sure to set aside time during the holiday season to discuss important topics. One that should be considered is the topic of retirement. Although financial planning is not the traditional topic discussed, families that avoid this topic are setting themselves up for a bigger problem in the future.

What to Ask

Begin by asking a simple question: What do you plan to do during your retirement?

In other words, why are they saving toward retirement? What goals are they trying to reach? It is important to ask what their dreams are so that adequate planning can be set up to reach these goals. Whether your mother wishes to travel to Paris or buy a luxury car, the idea is that they begin to set realistic steps to reach these goals in their retirement.

Can you maintain your current lifestyle in retirement?

Aside from their goals, do they have enough money to maintain a healthy lifestyle? According to a study by Financial Finesse, one in five employees in the workforce feel that they are on track to maintain a healthy lifestyle during retirement. On top of this, over half of American households are at risk for not maintaining their current lifestyle during retirement. With the expected limitations of Social Security and Medicare, it is important that financial planning for retirement is done adequately.

Timing

It is important that you do not discuss this topic after everyone has had a few drinks. Bring up this discussion the following day at a restaurant or a family get-away. Take these opportunities to at least bring awareness to retirement planning.

Remember that this conversation is not meant to be an easy topic. It is normal to feel uncomfortable discussing retirement. However, if done sooner than later, one will be better prepared for retirement.

 

Genivity is here to help. We place emphasis on helping advisors with goal-based financial planning that incorporates health wealth factors to provide personalized reporting. Genivity can assist you in determining the future costs of care, and provide you with more information needed to plan for retirement. To learn more, ask your financial advisor about Genivity’s HALO!