One of the biggest times in life that people look forward to is – believe it or not – retirement. A time in your life you can set your schedule, enjoy long and luxurious vacations and spend that nest egg that you’ve been keeping to one side your whole life. For most, retirement is a time to reflect on the life gone by and be excited about the future, for some, it’s a time to stress.

We live in a world now where pensions and retirement funds aren’t as utilized as they used to be. We start saving later, living for right now and not the future that’s coming lightning fast. It’s not a surprise. We work harder, for longer hours and we do it while raising a family and keeping a social circle at the same time. We miss out on the appointment with the bank to open a savings account and we forget to book in with a living trust lawyer. Life gets away from us and it just isn’t ideal.

Here’s the thing: retirement is the one thing in life that you should be planning for from the day that you start your first job. The earlier you start, the happier your retirement will be. Work can be stressful, retirement is the time to let go of that stress and below, we’ve got four secrets to having a happy retirement.

Here Are 4 Of The Best Secrets To Having A Great Retirement

Get Paid

When you’re in college, you work toward having a job that’s going to pay you the wage that you want to be comfortable with, not the wage you have to live on and get by. Money may not buy you happiness, but it does allow you to save up so that your retirement pot is overflowing by the time the years fly past. Engineer a steady income and you can feel cushioned by the time you get there.

Work For You

When you do finally reach retirement age, you need to decide whether you do want to stop working at all. Retirement is the time you’re supposed to relax and live a little if you are able, but it’s also up to you if you want to keep working for yourself. You could switch to consulting instead of working for a company; either way, it should be a choice and not a must.

Stay Busy

Hobbies are so important when you’re a retiree. You can’t just sit indoors and never head out anywhere else. Pick four things you love to do and roll with those things. Make them work so that you can keep as busy as you can and maintain a social life while you’re at it.

Sell Up

Even if you’ve owned your own home your whole life, sell up early and rent for the remainder. You can give the kids a little nest egg and you can let go of the hassle of home ownership.

Retirement should be something to look forward to, not dread, and you can look forward to yours in a big way with a little forward thinking.