Retiring

Looking forward to a happy retirement? Use these checklists to ensure you've got your financial considerations covered.

Retirement can be a mixed blessing. Many people embrace retirement, relishing the opportunity to travel, visit with family, volunteer, take classes, and enjoy a slower pace of life. Others face feelings of loss and uncertainty, grieving over the separation from their social connections (and feelings of usefulness) at work and facing financial stressors, such as reduced income and increasing health care costs. Most people experience a mixture of both.

The best way to ensure a happy retirement is to plan for it and, of course, the earlier the better. But no matter where you are in your working life, there are things you can do to help create a viable and rewarding retirement. In fact, the more you learn about your options for retirement, the clearer you can be about what makes sense for you. There are plenty of ways to do retirement, just as there are plenty of ways to do a career. Your goal should be to create the ideal version for your life, your needs, your desires and, if applicable, your family.

The following checklists will help you get started on planning the financial aspects of retirement.

Time & Working

• What is my ideal retirement age?
• What is a realistic retirement age?
• What do I want my retirement to look like?
• What will I do with my time?
• Do I want to ease into retirement by working part-time, on a freelance basis, or from home?
• Do I want to accelerate retirement by working part-time?

Finances

• How much money do I need to retire?
• What financial resources will I rely upon once I retire?
• What are my current assets?
• Do I want to (and can I) retire early?
• What is semi-retirement, and is it for me?
• How can I retire while continuing to provide for my spouse and/or children?
• Do I have health conditions now that will require special planning?
• Am I caring for a parent now, or might I be in the future?

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