By: Hannah Waters
When to retire is one of the biggest decisions that an individual must make. But when you are in a relationship with a significant other (married or otherwise), deciding when to retire as a couple is just as important.
Today, couples must make the decisions of whether to retire together or stagger their retirements in order to continue receiving income from at least one of their jobs. However, there are many additional benefits that can come from staggering your retirements.
An article from our partners at MainStreet.com lists the following as reasons that a staggered retirement may be beneficial to you:
Putting off IRA Withdrawals – If your spouse continues to work for a couple of years, they are able to bring in additional income and continue to contribute to their IRA. At this time, the additional income may prevent you from withdrawing from your own IRA account earlier than you would like. Also, if you or your spouse decides to stay at their job then the income can help you reach your retirement goals (if you haven’t already).
Delaying Social Security Benefits – For those that are close to retirement age, obviously Social Security is an important part of your retirement plan. For many, the required retirement age is 65 in order to receive Social Security. According to MainStreet.com, for every year that you stay at your job after 65 and delay your Social Security benefits, you raise your monthly check by 8% until you turn 70. That is a good amount of money! And once again additional money that could help you meet your goals or even put towards something else (such as a celebratory trip when you are both retired)!
Health Care – This is a huge concern for many, especially when you get to retirement age. Medicare will not start until you turn 65, so if you or your spouse has to retire before then, you want to seriously consider what the health care benefits yours (or your spouse’s) employer offers. If one of you stays at your job while the other retires, more than likely you will both be able to receive health care benefits from the employer of the person that is still working.
Check out further details at MainStreet.com here.
Some other benefits may include:
Time to Adapt – Retirement is a huge change for people and maybe you think that it would be easier to deal with if someone was making this change with you. However, it could also work the opposite. Having the other person in your relationship stay at their job may keep some of the routine in your life that you are already used to. This way, part of your life will be kept constant and you have time to adapt to the big change. When the other then decides to retire, you will have already adapted and can help them adapt as well.
Not Compromising Your Savings – Many retirees are already concerned before they can retire that they may not have saved enough money to survive or to keep the lifestyles they enjoy. One of the biggest (and most obvious) benefits is that you will still have an income. With your spouse (or you) staying at your job, you are able to supplement your savings instead of taking from it as soon as you retire. Also, couples can find a part-time job for the spouse that has retired if they feel as though a little bit extra would go a long way.
Retirement is an important decision and staggered retirement is one that you should discuss with your spouse. Some considerations that may impact your decision as to who should retire first may include job benefits, hours, how much time you spend traveling for the job, which one of you enjoys their job more…the list goes on, this is just a start. You may even decide that you would prefer to retire together, despite some of the benefits that you may gain from a staggered retirement. Everyone has their own personal preference!
Photo: Emily Roesly
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