Book or Blog Suggestions - Retirement Transition T-Minus One Year

[NYCMiniBee133]

Do any of you have book or blog recommendations for those transitioning into retirement and what sorts of logistics they should be tackling a year out from their target retirement date? Thanks!

[RetiredAt63]

Sorry, nope.  But I have a few comments from my transition.  And you might want to post on the Post-FIRE sub-category - where us retired folks now hang out  ;-)

Look at your health/dental insurance now and future.  If there are big changes, get anything optional done while you are well covered.

Car insurance (if you have ditched the car, ignore this, and if you are in NYC you may well not need a car) - discuss this with your insurance broker well ahead of time - even if your mileage doesn't change much in retirement, your driving category does.  Mine went down a lot.

Are you planning a move?  Start working on it well ahead of time - decluttering to make the move easier, and make selling easier if you are an owner.  Start getting a feel for where you would like to move to - local papers give a good feel, I find.

Staying put?  You will be home a lot more - do you like your present accommodations?  Or would you have cabin fever if you were not out working? And maintenance - home during the day means not turning the heat down while you are at work - is the insulation good?  How are your utility costs?  Is there room for hobbies that may expand and take up space?

Social life - activities.  Who will you hang out with during the day?  Do you have friends who will be free?  Or will everyone else still be working, and only available evenings/weekends?

I'm sure others who have retired recently will also have thoughts on what they did well/could have done better in prep.

[NYCMiniBee133]

Sorry, nope.  But I have a few comments from my transition.  And you might want to post on the Post-FIRE sub-category - where us retired folks now hang out  ;-)

Look at your health/dental insurance now and future.  If there are big changes, get anything optional done while you are well covered.

Car insurance (if you have ditched the car, ignore this, and if you are in NYC you may well not need a car) - discuss this with your insurance broker well ahead of time - even if your mileage doesn't change much in retirement, your driving category does.  Mine went down a lot.

Are you planning a move?  Start working on it well ahead of time - decluttering to make the move easier, and make selling easier if you are an owner.  Start getting a feel for where you would like to move to - local papers give a good feel, I find.

Staying put?  You will be home a lot more - do you like your present accommodations?  Or would you have cabin fever if you were not out working? And maintenance - home during the day means not turning the heat down while you are at work - is the insulation good?  How are your utility costs?  Is there room for hobbies that may expand and take up space?

Social life - activities.  Who will you hang out with during the day?  Do you have friends who will be free?  Or will everyone else still be working, and only available evenings/weekends?

I'm sure others who have retired recently will also have thoughts on what they did well/could have done better in prep.

This is great advice, thank you! I will also post on the Post-FIRE board

[Cassie]

Start thinking about what you will be retiring too. It takes about 6 months to decompress but then you want to have some idea of how you will fill your days.

[Bardo]

Sorry, nope.  But I have a few comments from my transition.  And you might want to post on the Post-FIRE sub-category - where us retired folks now hang out  ;-)

Look at your health/dental insurance now and future.  If there are big changes, get anything optional done while you are well covered.

Car insurance (if you have ditched the car, ignore this, and if you are in NYC you may well not need a car) - discuss this with your insurance broker well ahead of time - even if your mileage doesn't change much in retirement, your driving category does.  Mine went down a lot.

Are you planning a move?  Start working on it well ahead of time - decluttering to make the move easier, and make selling easier if you are an owner.  Start getting a feel for where you would like to move to - local papers give a good feel, I find.

Staying put?  You will be home a lot more - do you like your present accommodations?  Or would you have cabin fever if you were not out working? And maintenance - home during the day means not turning the heat down while you are at work - is the insulation good?  How are your utility costs?  Is there room for hobbies that may expand and take up space?

Social life - activities.  Who will you hang out with during the day?  Do you have friends who will be free?  Or will everyone else still be working, and only available evenings/weekends?

I'm sure others who have retired recently will also have thoughts on what they did well/could have done better in prep.

Thanks for this.  I'm 13 months away myself, and have just started thinking through the logistics of the transition including cross-country move.  It's exciting, but also somewhat intimidating.