Your Retirement Countdown Starts Now

One year from retirement, okay? Here's five things you should do right now.

If you're getting ready to retire within the next 12 months, okay, and you are, you know, in that position to where, you know, hey, we wanna congratulate you.

You've spent all these, this time saving and planning, you know, hopefully and you're in that final stretch, you know, um, and you don't wanna put things on autopilot at, at this last, uh, stretch of the way, right? In many ways, the decisions that you make in the last 12 months before you retire, you know, they can have a huge impact on how comfortable or confident you feel when that, uh, full-time paycheck stops coming, okay? So the first thing you wanna do is focus in on, number one, build your retirement income plan, okay? What does your retirement income plan look like? Where is the money coming from? What paychecks are coming in based upon, uh, your pension, based upon Social Security, your retirement accounts? Are there investment accounts, annuities? You know, do you have the income plan mapped out that is gonna have to replace what you have been used to with those, um, weekly or biweekly, uh, checks? You know, you, you've got to put that in place now before you walk out that door on that retirement date.

[clears throat]Also, a withdrawal strategy.

You wanna create that, right? Decide which accounts you're gonna tap into first, right? How much are you gonna withdraw from each one? And put together a withdrawal plan that can help your money last, you know, potentially for 20, 30 years.

You, you never know, right? At the same time, you want to put in place some, uh, tax planning, okay? Y- y- you don't wanna push yourself into higher tax brackets with money that potentially could continue to stay invested that you don't need for your monthly budget, right? Now, that budget that you are living on, you wanna test that, okay? You wanna make sure your expected retirement income comfortably covers both your essential expenses, the lifestyle you've been looking forward to, you know, your fixed, your variable, you know, expenses.

You wanna make sure that you can test that and make sure that you have a comfortable retirement income plan before you leave the job.

All right.

Number two, build up your cash reserves, okay? You wanna have money set aside, especially for those early years, one to three years of, uh, expenses, uh, possibly in cash, uh, that you have right there.

Uh, if, if it's not in cash, in conservative investments that you can access, uh, you know, while, let's say, the stock market went down and, you know, you wanna cover your, um, living expenses and you're now in a position to where you're not used to this style of income distribution, okay? And so you wanna make sure you have a good cash reserves, you know, set aside, you know, because there are gonna be unexpected costs.

There are gonna be some things that you've dealt with with your current income that now you're still gonna have to deal with with now a retirement income.

Now, the unexpected, you know, always shows up, right? Especially in those first few years of retirement, you know, you never know.

You might have healthcare expenses or, hey, home projects that you wanna do.

You're sitting around, you're looking at the things that you wanna, uh, have done around the house.

This is an unexpected potential expense.

Hey, what about travel? Okay, now you have time to do some of that travel that you weren't able to do while you were working full time.

Uh, also, what about some family members that, that might need help, right? You know, you wanna have a healthy cushion of cash that gives you the flexibility you need when life starts life-ing and you know life is going to happen, right? So you think of this cash as a buffer, not as an investment.

This cash on hand, right, is designed as, you know, it's not designed for you to get 10, 20, 30%.

You're not trying to max out the returns, right? Something stable with this particular account.

Let's call this your peace of mind money when the unpredictable, uh, shows up, which can often happen when you are a new retiree.

All right.

Number three, review your Social Security strategy, okay? Don't assume just because you turn 62, that you have to claim this immediately, okay? You're eligible at 62, okay? But many people retire, you know, before they can, uh, you know, even before they reach 62, right? Before they can claim.

You know, some people can't claim right away.

That may or may not be you.

But the best choice is gonna depend upon your health, how long do you think this, this money is gonna last, okay? It's gonna depend upon what other income sources you have, you know, um, your marital status, your long-term, you know, goals.

One year from retirement, okay? Here's five things you should do right now.

If you're getting ready to retire within the next 12 months, okay, and you are, you know, in that position to where, you know, hey, we wanna congratulate you.

You've spent all these, this time saving and planning, you know, hopefully and you're in that final stretch, you know, um, and you don't wanna put things on autopilot at, at this last, uh, stretch of the way, right? In many ways, the decisions that you make in the last 12 months before you retire, you know, they can have a huge impact on how comfortable or confident you feel when that, uh, full-time paycheck stops coming, okay? So the first thing you wanna do is focus in on, number one, build your retirement income plan, okay? What does your retirement income plan look like? Where is the money coming from? What paychecks are coming in based upon, uh, your pension, based upon Social Security, your retirement accounts? Are there investment accounts, annuities? You know, do you have the income plan mapped out that is gonna have to replace what you have been used to with those, um, weekly or biweekly, uh, checks? You know, you, you've got to put that in place now before you walk out that door on that retirement date.

[clears throat]Also, a withdrawal strategy.

You wanna create that, right? Decide which accounts you're gonna tap into first, right? How much are you gonna withdraw from each one? And put together a withdrawal plan that can help your money last, you know, potentially for 20, 30 years.

You, you never know, right? At the same time, you want to put in place some, uh, tax planning, okay? Y- y- you don't wanna push yourself into higher tax brackets with money that potentially could continue to stay invested that you don't need for your monthly budget, right? Now, that budget that you are living on, you wanna test that, okay? You wanna make sure your expected retirement income comfortably covers both your essential expenses, the lifestyle you've been looking forward to, you know, your fixed, your variable, you know, expenses.

You wanna make sure that you can test that and make sure that you have a comfortable retirement income plan before you leave the job.

All right.

Number two, build up your cash reserves, okay? You wanna have money set aside, especially for those early years, one to three years of, uh, expenses, uh, possibly in cash, uh, that you have right there.

Uh, if, if it's not in cash, in conservative investments that you can access, uh, you know, while, let's say, the stock market went down and, you know, you wanna cover your, um, living expenses and you're now in a position to where you're not used to this style of income distribution, okay? And so you wanna make sure you have a good cash reserves, you know, set aside, you know, because there are gonna be unexpected costs.

There are gonna be some things that you've dealt with with your current income that now you're still gonna have to deal with with now a retirement income.

Now, the unexpected, you know, always shows up, right? Especially in those first few years of retirement, you know, you never know.

You might have healthcare expenses or, hey, home projects that you wanna do.

You're sitting around, you're looking at the things that you wanna, uh, have done around the house.

This is an unexpected potential expense.

Hey, what about travel? Okay, now you have time to do some of that travel that you weren't able to do while you were working full time.

Uh, also, what about some family members that, that might need help, right? You know, you wanna have a healthy cushion of cash that gives you the flexibility you need when life starts life-ing and you know life is going to happen, right? So you think of this cash as a buffer, not as an investment.

This cash on hand, right, is designed as, you know, it's not designed for you to get 10, 20, 30%.

You're not trying to max out the returns, right? Something stable with this particular account.

Let's call this your peace of mind money when the unpredictable, uh, shows up, which can often happen when you are a new retiree.

All right.

Number three, review your Social Security strategy, okay? Don't assume just because you turn 62, that you have to claim this immediately, okay? You're eligible at 62, okay? But many people retire, you know, before they can, uh, you know, even before they reach 62, right? Before they can claim.

You know, some people can't claim right away.

That may or may not be you.

But the best choice is gonna depend upon your health, how long do you think this, this money is gonna last, okay? It's gonna depend upon what other income sources you have, you know, um, your marital status, your long-term, you know, goals.