Benistar Resources | Benistarfaq.blogspot.com

One of the many great things about retirement is that you finally have time to do the things you’ve always dreamed about. You have time on your hands, hopefully a little nest egg and also a lack of self-consciousness that perturbs the young- all of these contribute to a sense of freedom and entitlement to realize your goals and plans. Whats nice too is many bucket list items don’t even require a lot of money, just a bit of creativity. There are loads of fun, engaging activities and adventures that are affordable for retirees. Here, we give you a few suggestions to spark ideas for your own life.

Many older Americans move among state, national and private parks and campgrounds, staying for extended visits. In exchange for free camping, these retirees help park managers and campers with chores like leading nature walks, tidying campsites, collecting fees and offering a friendly welcome to other campers. This is a great and frugal way to explore nature and have plenty of social opportunities.

If you enjoy children/adolescents and would like to try your hand at teaching a specific course (or multiple ones), consider being a teacher’s aide. Teachers’ aides are paid to help in classrooms in many ways- tutoring, supervising play or grading papers. Aides take tasks off teachers’ hands so they can focus on teaching. Or if you’re interested in full-time work, consider becoming a teacher in the more traditional sense. You don’t necessarily need a teaching degree to become certified as a K-12 teacher these days. Alternative certification programs help potential teachers with degrees in other fields get into the classroom.

If painting, drawing and crafts are your thing, you might find it useful to sample different classes and approaches before settling on one. Cities are full of academies and workshops that offer classes to beginners. Community colleges classes and arts and crafts stores have classes, too. Also if you get into crafting, consider selling your wares via the online arts and crafts market, Etsy.

Even if you’ve been cooking all your life, it's always fun to try something new, like a class in Asian or Italian cooking, in knife skills or fermented foods or maybe holiday baking. Look for classes at community colleges, higher-end grocery stores and kitchen supply stores like Williams Sonoma.

Most people have a country that they find themselves inexplicably fascinated with and drawn to. Retirement is a great time to finally visit. Your schedule is freed up at last and you can visit during off-peak times, making the stay less expensive. You are also freer to stay for longer periods of time, which lets you really soak up the culture of the country; it also gives you the option to stay in an apartment instead of a costly hotel. Check out airbnb for apartments/houses to stay in all over the world.

Your 401(k) is set up to allow you to start putting money in it that will grow, tax-deferred. How funds are invested may be limited due to administrator policies, but you can still start contributing funds now. The contribution limit for 401(k) plans as of 2017 is $18,000 for those under age 50, and $24,000 if you’re over 50. Check out your employer’s (and administrator’s) guidelines for employer match policies. Make sure you donate enough to have it matched (up to an extent, usually around 3 percent) by your employer, if possible. The contributions allotted via employer match policies are also not taxed. However much you provide, it will grow until you need it for retirement, so consider investing now.

Most people decide upon term life insurance policies, because they’re cheap, but if you feel you can afford it, opt for a whole life insurance plan. With a term policy, you pay a certain amount for a fixed period of time (up to 30 years, usually). If you die during the period, your beneficiaries receive compensation. If you survive the period, you simply owe the cost of premiums because the term policy has no innate value. With a whole life policy, you have permanent insurance- it doesn't disappear. Subsequently, premiums are more expensive, but its value builds by growing in account without taxation. You can borrow against the policy, and if interested, you can even cash in. This is a great way to create a nest egg that could turn into a luxurious retirement lifestyle or a bucket list realized.

Investing is a good (albeit risky) way to save money for retirement. Investing in real estate is even better, because you won’t pay taxes on appreciated real estate until you sell it, and even then, it is possible to be exempt from a large percent of taxation. You can subtract the gain from the sale of your home so long as you’ve lived in it for two of the five years before the sale. You can exclude up to $250,000 if you’re single and $500,000 if you’re married and paying taxes together. If the property isn’t your primary residence (i.e. a second or vacation home), you can’t exclude the gain, but instead of exemption, it can be deferred, meaning you won’t pay taxes until you sell it. Renting out the property is also a good tax strategy. If you rent out the property for less than 15 a days a year, you aren’t required to report the income achieved by renting.

While a health savings account is obviously intended for health, if you don’t get sick or require medical care often, you can use it to provide for your retirement. This is done by adding pre-tax contributions to your HSA from your paychecks- in some cases, your employer might opt to contribute as well. Employer contributions are not classified as income, so they’re tax free (your two new favorite words). An HSA is transferrable, so it will not only stay the same but continue to prosper, even if you switch professions or retire. And you can be sure it will continue to grow, untouched by federal taxes.