Coordinating With Your Spouse About Retirement

Retirement is something that most of us look forward to with great relish: the prospect of having the freedom to relax, to travel, to pursue dreams, to take up new occupations... indeed, retirement means something different for each of us. But for most people, retirement is not solitary act. Our spouses or partners will have just as much to say about how we pursue our retirement dreams as we do.
It happens time and again that a couple will live together for decades and develop completely different ideas about what their eventual retirement will look like. The rush of day-to-day life, especially if both people are working, prevents a couple from sharing each other's dreams and ideas about retirement in any significant way, beyond the occasional idle chit-chat. When retirement age finally rolls around, there may be serious misunderstandings. In order to prevent a marital crisis at the age of 65, it's best to do some serious advance planning in tandem with your spouse or partner.
Most important, talk openly about what you both want. Starting a small business will require tapping into funds that are important for both of you. Even if you are not equally passionate about the prospective business, you must be in complete agreement about risking a portion of your retirement nest egg to fund it. Talk about the business, talk about the funding, and talk about how it will be run. Don't discourage your entrepreneurial spouse from pursing a lifelong dream, but make sure that he or she fully understands what role you intend to play -- or not play -- in chasing that dream.
Likewise, perhaps you own a beach house that you've been using for years as a getaway destination; it just "goes without saying" that you'll move there full-time when you retire, right? Don't be so fast. Maybe your spouse quietly dreams about selling that beach house for a bundle and buying a stone villa in Tuscany. Talk, talk, and talk some more. It may take a long preparatory period for your dreams to come into synch with those of your spouse. Be prepared to compromise, and to envision alternative futures for the two of you together.
You also need to be in synch about your money. Among most married couples or partners, it usually works out that one side takes on the role of money manager while the other takes a back seat. Alternatively, some couples, particular if both are high earners, manage their respective incomes separately, even investing separately. In either case, make sure that you both know how much you have as a couple, and how much you each have separately. Educate each other about where this money is. It's remarkable how many couples don't have a clue. The reality of family finances may render some retirement dreams just that: dreams. You have to know how much that villa in Tuscany is going to cost, and how it's going to get paid for, before you base all your hopes for the future on it.
If you and your spouse or partner invest separately, coordinate with each other at least to the extent that your combined investments are allocated logically. There are various techniques for allocating investments among different categories of stocks and bonds, depending on your income, age, years to retirement, and risk tolerance; most portfolios for thirty-somethings are at least 80 percent invested in stocks, with some investment in international stocks and more volatile small-company stocks; as one nears retirement, the portfolio should become more heavily weighted in bonds and other fixed-income vehicles. Your investments combined with your spouse's should follow an allocation pattern that is suitable for the two of you as a couple.
Finally, you have to agree on when to retire. This will to some degree be determined by your financial situation. If you both work, one of you may well want to work longer than the other, meaning in most cases that you'll stay in your preretirement home until the partner who works longer is ready to call it quits. What will the retired partner do with his or her time in the meanwhile? Again, talk it over, and be realistic and honest with yourself and with each other.
If you and your spouse or partner have never talked about these issues, then start now. You can begin by each drawing up a list of ideas and scenarios for retirement that are appealing -- find those ideas that are common between the two of you, and build from there. Don't wait so long that the first item of business in your retirement is a separation agreement.



Robert Mccormack has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Retirement Guidelines, Coordinating with Your Spouse About Retirement. you can also check out his latest website about:
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