{"id":188076,"date":"2025-08-30T22:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T22:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188076\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T22:48:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T22:48:19","slug":"4-life-changes-that-could-disrupt-your-retirement-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188076\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Life Changes That Could Disrupt Your Retirement Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

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No matter how much time and effort you put into planning your retirement<\/a>, a single life change can throw those plans into disarray. In fact, this is probably more the norm than the exception.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential to plan for the unexpected, starting with understanding the types of life changes that have the greatest impact.<\/p>\n

Here are four major life changes that could disrupt your retirement plans.<\/a><\/p>\n

Illness or Injury<\/p>\n

A serious illness or injury to you or your spouse could change your retirement plans in a couple of ways, according to a blog from Farm Bureau Financial Services (FBFS).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One is if you miss work while being treated or recovering, and your lost earnings aren\u2019t covered through sick pay or disability insurance. You\u2019ll likely take a financial hit that could delay retirement<\/a>. Beyond that, you \u201calmost certainly\u201d won\u2019t contribute to your retirement savings, either, FBFS noted.<\/p>\n

The other major impact is if you have to go into a lot of medical debt. In this case, you might need to work longer to pay down the debt.<\/p>\n

Death of a Spouse<\/p>\n

First off, the death of a spouse is a \u201ctraumatic emotional event\u201d from both a personal and family perspective, said Nancy Gates, lead educator at Boldin<\/a>, a financial planning platform that can help you strategize a retirement plan.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also a major financial event<\/a> that can disrupt your retirement plans if you haven\u2019t properly prepared for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially the case if the deceased spouse was working and was the primary breadwinner,\u201d Gates said. \u201cIt is essential for individuals approaching or entering retirement to discuss their plans with their spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Boomerang Kids<\/p>\n

\u201cBoomerang kids\u201d are adult children who move back home, often for financial reasons. While most parents are happy to help out by giving their kids a place to live while they get back on their feet, it can have a major financial impact.<\/p>\n

Gates related the story of a client whose 25-year-old daughter lost her job and moved back home.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[Her parents] had been saving an extra $500 a month in catch-up contributions to their retirement savings and are worried that they\u2019ll fall behind as they support their child through this transition,\u201d Gates said. \u201cBoomerang kids are a common factor that can lead to a change in your life before retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family Changes<\/p>\n

This covers a lot of potential ground. For example, you might marry (or remarry), or you might get divorced. You might have a child you hadn\u2019t planned on, or take on the responsibility of a grandchild or the child of a loved one.<\/p>\n

Whichever the case, these kinds of major life changes can have a big effect on your retirement plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanges like these may impact your work life and your expenses before and after retirement,\u201d FBFS noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"gorodenkoff \/ Getty Images\/iStockphoto Commitment to Our Readers GOBankingRates’ editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":188077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[64,8726,255,615,700,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-188076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gobankingrates","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-planning","12":"tag-retirement","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115120157798411816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}