9 Items And Services You Should Buy Before Retiring

Moving into retirement brings a series of big changes into the lives of seniors. There's a seismic social shift that takes place when you stop commuting to the office every day and interacting with the coworkers you've grown and flourished with for years. This is a change that researchers think plays a key role in the development of mental health concerns, and particularly depression, in older adults. There are also many financial changes that retirees will need to be ready to handle. These can come into the picture quickly, and with extreme consequences for those who haven't taken the time to prepare for their arrival.

There are a few key items laying around the house that you should sell before heading into your golden years. There's also the question of downsizing when you exit the workforce or even selling your home and renting a new place instead of buying. Equally important is the decision to purchase a few new goods and services. Consumers at all stages of life need to make investments in their home and the lifestyle they wrap themselves in. From health and other personal care services to transportation tools and entertainment needs, you'll never stop spending money on the things that power your life. Buy there are some strategic buys that can be made before hitting retirement that will set your financial picture up for greater success. Buying these lifestyle tools and services while you're still drawing a paycheck offers an important defense of your nest egg and can turn the tide heavily in your favor as you finalize plans to lace up your work boots for the final time.

Once you turn 50, adding to your retirement accounts gains additional urgency, but you also gain access to an extra tool that can help bolster your retirement savings approach. In your 5^th decade, catch up contributions become available, raising the cap for your contributions to retirement accounts across the board. In 2026, IRA accounts will gain an extra $1,100 for those over 50, and your 401(k) enjoys a boost of $8,000 over the limit savers under this age.

The ability to pour extra funds into your retirement accounts allows you to pick up the pace on retirement saving in a big way. If you haven't been tracking with your goals, however, the ability to utilize something called a "catch up contribution" should act as an alarm bell. Once you hit 50, you're just 12 years away from being able to start drawing Social Security benefits. If you find yourself behind on your retirement savings goals, catching up is indeed a critical financial change that you need to make in your life. Investing as much as you possibly can in tax-advantaged retirement accounts in the years before you reach this transition will help develop the nest egg you need to support your hobbies and endeavors in retirement. You can still add money to your retirement accounts after you leave the workforce, but these assets will shift into a drawdown-driven function and whatever is already there is largely going to be what you have to support yourself financially. Bulking it up ahead of your retirement is critically important, no matter where you stand in pursuit of your retirement goals.

The younger you are when you buy a life insurance policy the cheaper this financial product will be, on the whole. There's an undeniable age curve when it comes to the likelihood of death. A person who is 35 is only marginally more likely to suddenly die than someone who's 30, But there's no getting around the fact that with all things being equal those extra five years do thumb the scale. The same can be said for people in their 60s or 70s, although savers who have reached retirement age are significantly closer to the end of average life expectancy figures than people still in their working years.

It's important to keep in mind that most retirees won't really benefit from the addition of a new life insurance policy to their financial mix and it instead acts as a waste of money. These tools are far more costly as you age, and they don't serve in the same support role for most older consumers that they do in your younger years. Even so, if you are heading toward retirement while supporting younger family members or carry other financial obligations, a life insurance policy may provide exactly what you need in terms of financial continuity and general peace of mind. However, the earlier you jump on this purchase the better so waiting until after you retire will only increase the cost of this expense.

As you head toward retirement you'll often start to think about your estate and long-term wishes. These include things like end-of-life decisions and care directives. They may also include important financial choices like initiating a transfer of ownership of investments or business assets you may have accumulated to family members or professional partners you've worked with. Meeting with a lawyer before you retire allows you to get ahead of these important decisions, clearing them from your plate once the leisure and enjoyment phase begins. Similarly, you'll be paying a lawyer to help draft these documents and authenticate your wishes, needs, and voice in this process. Paying for these services while you're still drawing salary checks helps mitigate the financial impact that additional, nonstandard expenses added to the budget can create on your retirement assets. Paying for this kind of service before retiring is great for your wallet, and it allows you to enter the next phase of life without additional worries hanging over your head.

The clean slate you are afforded can be an empowering thing. Because of mental health toll the transition can introduce to some retirees, thinking about morbid elements of your future like death and what you would like done on your behalf if you're incapacitated in a hospital bed may be a little much for someone who has already retired. But these are important decisions and thoughts to flesh out, and doing this while you're working gives you the mental breathing room necessary to make informed and complete decisions.

With your paycheck still coming, there are many big ticket items you might want to consider flashing the cash to tackle before that well dries up and you're left with just your retirement income sources to support you. Large scale home renovations are a great example of this type of expenditure. Importantly, many retirees will consider downsizing or even moving to a similar property in a different state or metropolitan community. There are a handful of states that won't tax your Social Security income, so moving can be a multi-pronged strategy to manage your finances in retirement with greater agility.

However, if you plan to stay put you might want to retrofit your home to better suit your new and ongoing needs. This might include additional outdoor leisure space, or converting one or more areas of the home that once served as home office space, bedrooms, or in other roles that are no longer required. You might knock down walls to make parts of the home larger or alter areas where steps feature in your home to make it easier to navigate as you continue to age. Regardless of your plans for the property, coming up with a comprehensive idea of what you're hoping to achieve and beginning to act on those strategies before retiring gives you greater financial decision making power. Paying for a major renovation like a kitchen upgrade or a mobility alteration with your retirement funds can be detrimental to maintaining the principal balance of your investment account, threatening the health of your long term financial resources in the process.

Many retirees seek out social clubs in their golden years. Adding a club membership of some sort provides an important outlet for all kinds of pursuits. At a basic level, joining a club allows for routine social interactions with other, likeminded people. Getting out to play a sport you've always loved or joining others in an art club or some other kind of hobbyist effort also provides some exercise for your mind and body.

Lots of people are playing lower impact sports today, and club-focused hobbies like golf, paddel, tennis, or even something more unique like archery or skeet shooting can easily become a weekly routine. With more time on your hands, there's no reason not to get out to the range, course, or courts one or more times every week. Joining a club before you retire allows you to start your first year's membership while you're still working and drawing a paycheck though. It's also a great way to get the paperwork and other hurdles out of the way before you actually want to start using the perks. In some cases, you may need to be referred or seconded by existing members in addition to your application. As a retiree, your network may fall by the wayside in some areas, while those still commuting to the office may find it far easier to get a coworker or two to sign off on your application.

As is the case with life insurance and some other products, the older you get before investing in this tool the more expensive it will become. Long-term care insurance is a protection tool that keeps retirees from worrying how they'll pay for a sudden need for extensive medical support. Almost 70% of people 65 and older will rely on medical treatment and other services that constitute long-term care at some point in the future according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Boston College's Center for Retirement Research pegs this at 80%.

Investing in insurance specifically designed to provide coverage for this costly and expansive need before you retire will help you lock in a better rate for the insurance product. This is something that will be personal to everyone's individual needs. CRR also notes that just 15% of those 65 and older have long-term coverage and 3% of all American adults have invested in this type of insurance, suggesting that it's undervalued by a large portion of the population. If your family medical history points to a high potential for complicated health care needs as you age, this should be a non-negotiable addition to your financial picture.

Americans at all stages of life can find themselves at a medical crossroads. The Roosevelt Institute reported in May 2025 that 62% of American bankruptcy filings were at least partly the result of medical debts weighing down financial mobility. In fact, the need to restructure your finances in order to better handle or minimize crushing medical debts is one of the most direct signs that bankruptcy might actually work in your favor.

Seniors already in retirement often find it exceedingly difficult to manage the daily financial needs they already face when additional, costly medical needs come into frame. There's no way to predict when or what kinds of medical treatments you might need heading into the future, but those who've been carrying lingering issues for a while will want to tackle their medical needs while still employed. For one thing, many people will have access to better health insurance options through their employer. Ramping up your coverage for a year or more at the tail end of your working years can give you cost effective coverage to handle both medically necessary procedures (like a hip replacement or ligament repair) and elective improvements (such as Lasik surgery). 

Waiting to initiate coverage under Medicare might leave you suffering or dealing with discomfort for longer than you can accept, and wait times for procedures may also be a bit longer than the alternative. All these benefits come before the reality of covering co-pays and other related expenses. Tackling these with funds from your retirement accounts can generate an imbalance that lingers for the rest of your life while swinging a procedure with the help of your paycheck can mitigate the hardship significantly.

The average American keeps their vehicle for roughly eight years. Some drivers will naturally change more often, especially when lots of miles get logged on a regular basis. But retirees frequently find that their annual mileage retracts by a notable margin. According to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, those over 65 drive around half as many miles as those between 20 and 54 (per 2022 figures). As such, retirees may reasonably expect their car to last a little longer than the average. Buying a new vehicle before you retire allows you to make an important change to your transportation tool as you plan the lifestyle you'll enjoy after this transition. While all cars are, at their heart, a simple tool for personal transportation, they perform this function in various, unique ways. A pickup truck adds the ability to haul equipment while a minivan or SUV might be an ideal ride for those frequently adding extra passengers into the mix.

Your needs will change when you leave work behind, and a new car can be a means of adding extra comfort or introducing extra trunk space or seating to support other needs. Those with expensive models might also look to trade in a luxury car for something with a lower price tag, getting a car that can deliver great mobility long into the future while extracting a bit of capital from a tool that typically hemorrhages cash value. If you know you'll be in the market for a new car in the leadup to your retirement, buying before leaving the workforce delivers more options to swing the transaction. You may have better financial availability, and your paycheck allows you to protect your retirement assets.

You can sign up for an AARP membership at 50. This isn't a purchase that's necessarily more valuable for those before retirement, especially since retiring at 50 is something that is a possibility for diligent savers (especially those who have hit a streak of good luck in their investment accounts). However, AARP membership unlocks plenty of benefits that can help improve your financial wellbeing, and so signing up as soon as you're eligible can be a major opportunity. AARP membership provides a raft of discount pricing options at a number of retailers and service providers that you might already frequent. Paying for the membership can give you access to a heap of cost reducing opportunities elsewhere, swinging your financial balance into slightly more favorable territory.

As is the case with any kind of membership discount program, AARP benefits might not provide an abundance of value to you personally. However, once you are eligible to receive your membership card from this juggernaut of a retirement and old age support network, it would be unwise to overlook its potential value to you and your lifestyle. Considering your options once you turn 50 doesn't have to cost you anything, and it allows you to explore whether or not these benefits may be worth your investment.