This week, I’m talking about the What To Do Before You Retire In 2021. 

Today’s must-do checklist item you’ll need to tick off before retirement is eliminating all debt. 

One of the worst things you can do for yourself financially is enter retirement with loads of debt. If you have debts right now, you’ll give yourself so much more freedom in retirement, not being obligated to monthly payments - sometimes at astronomically high interest rates. 

If you have credit card debt, that’s a must go, since interest rates are so high. You’ll also want to eliminate car loans and other types of debt that you have even if the interest rate is pretty low. If you’re married, you might find that you only need 1 car in retirement depending on your lifestyle and where you live. 

Lastly, if you can pay off your mortgage before retirement, that would be a game changer for many of you. Since most of us spend about ⅓ of our income toward housing, not having a big monthly mortgage payment to the bank will free you up to spend your retirement years travelling more and spending money on the things we value the most.

It’s important to think and plan ahead here - maybe downsizing or moving will eliminate your remaining mortgage. Maybe if you are disciplined and drastically reduce your spending, you can pay off your remaining mortgage in the next 1-3 years. 

No matter what your situation, I would explore every avenue possible to pay off ALL debts before retirement so you open yourself up to the freedom that too many people never experience - freedom from debt and monthly payments. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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