What You Should Do Before You Retire | First Volunteer Bank

Raise your hand if you are one of the many Americans ready to retire? The team at First Volunteer Bank wants to help you get to the point where you can walk away from your career and into the next stage of your life—retirement. However, there are a couple of things you need to do first.

Your Retirement To-do List

For starters, do you know your net worth? It’s important to create a balance sheet that lists your assets (including personal possessions like cash and real estate) and liabilities (such as debts). You want to know exactly where you are financially before you move forward into retirement.

Second, work on paying down the debt you have. Talk to a financial advisor on staff at First Volunteer Bank to discuss your options when it comes to your mortgage—should you or should you not pay off your home before retiring? Our knowledgeable staff can help you answer that question.

Third, when it comes to your home, is there anything you want to go ahead and take care of now instead of later? While you can’t predict a pipe bursting or a dishwasher breaking, you do know whether or not the home you are in now is the home you will want to live in for the rest of your life. Therefore, take care of any remodeling projects now before retirement, such as installing a shower with a shower seat or door knobs and faucets that will be easier to maneuver as you age.

Also, do you have a house with multiple floors? Then you might want to consider, instead of renovating, moving into a ranch-style home so that you won’t have to worry about the stairs. Or if you want to stay in your current home, consider installing a chair elevator so that you will easily be able to move from the first floor to the other floors as you and your loved one grow older.

Are you ready to start improving the status of your retirement account? Visit the First Volunteer Bank website to learn about our Individual Retirement Account.