The insidious eventuality of aging isn’t just a challenge for policymakers and national governments, but also an important consideration for individuals. Retirement is one of the realities that’ll catch up with each one of us as we advance in age. You may now be accustomed to taking two to three weeks off each year. However, when you retire, you find yourself with 52 weeks of free time.
Perhaps you’ll adopt a new pastime, relocate to a different city or state, or discover that all of your pals are still employed. That’s a lot of change thrown at you all at once, which can be unsettling. For this reason, it’s wise to make plans for ensuring financial stability, healthy living, safety, long-term home improvement hacks, and more before the current day. Think of it as retirement practice. Below are 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
1. Give Yourself the Privacy You Deserve
You’ll need the peace of mind that comes with having proper security as you approach retirement, especially if you are living alone. Remember, you’re planning for a smooth lifestyle away from the routine that has been your order of the day for a long time. Therefore, privacy is among the 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement. To keep intruders away, it may be necessary to invest in installations like CCTV, alarm systems, and sensor security lights. To ensure your perimeter isn’t compromised, always get professionals for your fence installations.
2. Make sure Nothing Is Backed Up
As you look forward to retirement and making your home your sanctuary, pay attention to your drainage system, as it’ll soon be in use more regularly. A clogged-up drainage system can be a nightmare. The inconvenience, stench, and water damage can be unbearable. Among the 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement is to consult or engage some plumbing services to check for weak points and ensure your pipes, drainage, and sewer system are in good condition and that everything is flowing flawlessly.
3. Get Your Energy Efficiency Sorted Out
Regular electrical check-ups are an efficient way to ensure home electrical safety and function. For this, call up a residential electrician to get you sorted out. The electrician will not only do your AC repairs but will also provide insights into the condition of the other electric circuits in your home. You don’t want to suffer house fires and life-threatening electrocution in your final years of service or later on. If there are signs of damage, such as wearing out of the insulation, splits, and cracks, have these fixed for optimal performance of your energy system. This qualifies including your energy efficiency in the list of 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
4. Make Repairs Around the Property
Some people think that home repairs aren’t necessary since, after all, they’ll be moving to a retirement home soon. However, before downsizing to your retirement home, you may need to have some maintenance done to live comfortably and make the most of your current property, and also to ensure it fetches good returns should you decide to sell. Consider the sensitive, practical, or frequently used places first, like re-modeling the toilet, sinks, hot tub repairs, and all the drainage systems. Also, have your garbage disposal inspected to keep it stench-free and hygienic. It’s also important to check for leaky roofs, cracked joints, and rusty components and have them addressed by professionals to ensure longevity.
5. Clean Out Your Tank
Tanks, whether for roof water catchment or for storing township water supply, need to be clean and void of cracks. Consider involving the help of repair experts to provide insight into weak points, check the inlet and outlet pipes, and make suggestions on how improvements can be made efficiently. Contaminated water, often resulting from dirty tanks, is a leading source and cause of preventable infections in many homes. For this reason, among the 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement is septic cleaning, which almost always requires hiring a veteran plumber for effective and thorough work. This is crucial to ensure your tanks keep water fresh for longer.
6. Live Lavishly
As you approach retirement and plan to sell your house in an effort to downsize, you might as well go wild with home remodeling ideas and live large, as they say. This will not be an investment in futility as the house could fetch you more in the long run. Think of modern and lush interior designs and decor. If you love books, put up stunning polished woodwork for your display, and have your wooden floors and doors painted with a shiny ivory hue to bring out an exuberant look. If you prefer a different floor finish, consult with marble floor services. If you have some wherewithal, go ahead and get some fancy furniture as well, play with the lighting, think about every room, and make it as classy as your pockets allow. If you have a taste for the finer things in life, you’ll have so much fun with this. Include this among the 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
7. Stay Healthy Enough to Care for Yourself
Your golden years don’t have to be marred by body aches and caregivers turning you to bed all day long. Although there are inevitable situations that can render anyone incapacitated to those extents, it doesn’t need to be because of poor choices regarding taking care of ourselves. Staying healthy, therefore, has many benefits you can enjoy, like your independence and the joy of feeling good. These golden years can be blissful, filled with a lot of time and resources to enjoy some of life’s best things, like traveling, spending more time with your grandchildren, engaging more in your hobbies, and so on. To achieve this, the best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now. It’s never too late to start. If you’ve never cared for a healthy regimen, today is the day to draw up a plan as part of the 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
Sit down and put together a simple meal plan you can follow. Sign up for a dance class, a swim class, or a Yoga class. Look up and get linked with 55+ communities in your area; you may find they organize activities that won’t cost you a dime, like hikes to the park, walks every morning for an hour, or even gathering together for a good belly laugh, which is said to add some years to one’s life.
These communities can be very useful as support groups in case you ail from a chronic condition. They can be a good source of accountability in making sure you take the trip to your doctor for the necessary routine checks and prescription refills. This will ensure your health doesn’t slip through the cracks. Moreover, they can arrange for carpooling during such errands, which lower your costs, is convenient, and allows you to enjoy the good company of other people. Living in a community has been proven to boost one’s quality of life in many ways. Look for healthy recipes and pointers as to where to find the freshest, organic, and healthy foodstuffs.
8. Let Water Run Freely Through Your Pipes
Flowing, clean water is a necessity in today’s world. Anything that interferes with this process can cause serious inconveniences and should be moved out of the way. Checking your gutters for debris is essential to prevent clogs, especially during Autumn when leaves tend to shed the most. Cleaning your sink and using a sink strainer to catch most of the food particles or hair that could cause clogs is also a great tip. While you can use home remedies such as a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to unclog your sink drain, making use of professional drain cleaning services is the best way to go.
During winter, use vent-sized foam to seal all crawl spaces. You can also apply electric heating tapes to exterior pipes to heat and melt the ice. Let the faucets that are connected to exposed pipes drip with water to help melt the snow. Also, insulate basements, crawl spaces, and attics and seal cracks in doors and windows to make such places warm, as they’re typically where pipes run through. Since water is life, having free-flowing water through your pipes should be among the top 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
9. Invest in a Place to Keep Your Favorite Possessions
After long years of toil and sacrifice, you may have collected some priced items, some of them with some sentimental value. These items could be jewelry, heirlooms, souvenirs, relics, sculptures, or expensive electronic gadgets. It’s important to keep these items safe and in the best condition you possibly can, and as such, include this among the top 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement. Set up an appropriate place to display or keep them, and if they’re too valuable to be kept in the open, consider installing a safe in your home, in a place that isn’t easily accessible or visible to others. Modern safes come in all sizes, styles, and security systems. They can be built in and set at temperatures that are safe and ideal for storing items that run the risk of damage from the elements. If you feel your home would not be ideal for storing some of your valuable possessions, opt for a self storage rental. These services are available at a fee for temporary or long-term storage.
10. Enjoy Your Time at Home Before You Move
Whether you’re a book lover, a movie enthusiast, or a gardening maverick, you deserve to enjoy your final days of active life. The home improvements suggested above are sure to keep you busy as you prepare for retirement. Tune in to your favorite channel, relax in your beautified yard or enjoy the lavish environment of your new interior design. In a nutshell, savor every moment of your last days in your home.
When the time comes to move, consider enlisting the services of local movers. They’ll save you the hustle, plus they have effective packing and moving hacks to ensure even your fragile and delicate items are transported safely. Storage services can also come in handy depending on what your moving arrangements are. Pod containers may be the most convenient since they come in various sizes to suit different storage requirements. They can stay safe at a separate property for the duration of time the storage service is needed. Eventually, when ready, the pod can be dropped off at your location, where you can then make arrangements for offloading. Others provide storage units with climate control, which is ideal for items that might get damaged by extreme temperatures, like furniture or appliances. As such, a plan for a smooth transition to your retirement location should be in your top 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement.
Retirement life is considered a time of relaxation after years of hard work. However, most of the perks that come with a job will no longer be available, and that calls for downsizing so you can live within your current means. It’s better to de-clutter and accept the transition to a new, more slowed-down lifestyle.
One of the most critical things to do as you stare down at retirement is downsizing. Since you’ll not be as active as you used to be, and perhaps you’re all alone now, you don’t need everything you own. Be frugal and carry into retirement only those things you’ll need. The rest you can store somewhere, or sell.
The 10 things to do within 5 years of retirement mentioned above attempt to provide you with a roadmap for enjoying the transition process and equipping you with the privacy you need, staying healthy, and living comfortably. When that time comes when you can’t engage as actively as you used to, remember to enjoy your retirement. It’s a new phase in your life that demands slowing down, but one that’s nevertheless as exciting as any. Go ahead and enjoy your retirement in peace and comfort; you’ve certainly earned it.