Most people have a target age for when they’d like to retire, but many worry they may have to work longer to better ensure their financial security. Usually, people worry they haven’t saved enough yet, but that’s only one important factor to consider when deciding the right time to retire. And so, the question becomes: Can you ever really be sure the time is right, and retire at that time with financial confidence?
Fortunately, the answer is yes, but it doesn’t happen by accident. It requires planning, education, and taking the right steps. Here are seven steps you can take to help make sure you can retire when you want to:
- Define What Retirement Looks Like for You
In other words, set specific, individual goals for your retirement. Do you want to stop working completely, or just slow down? Do you plan to downsize and move? Do you want to travel? The point is, identifying your specific goals for retirement will help better ensure you have a financial strategy designed to achieve them.
- Save as Much as Possible
That sounds obvious, but many people put their savings efforts on autopilot during their working years and do little to enhance those efforts as retirement gets closer. If you’re within 10-15 years of your target retirement age, it’s time to take a close, hard look at your savings and make sure it’s where you want it to be, respective of your goals and retirement timeline. If it’s not, it’s time to take steps to bring it up to that level.
- Maximize Retirement Accounts & Catch-Up Contributions
Hopefully, you’ve been making the maximum contribution to your employer-sponsored 401(k) or other retirement account, especially if your company matches the contribution. If you’re over 50 and feel you need to save more, take advantage of catch-up contributions. In 2025, participants in 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans who are 50 or older can make catch-up contributions of up to $7,500. If you’re ages 60 to 63, you can make even larger catch-up contributions (known as a “super catch-up”), up to $11,250.
- Know Your Number
All your catch-up savings efforts will be more effective once you’ve done some calculating to determine how much income you’ll need in retirement. A common rule of thumb is that you’ll need 70-80% of your pre-retirement income annually, but that varies based on your goals. Now that you’ve identified those goals, you can determine if the estimate makes sense for you. Online retirement calculators can help – and so can a financial advisor who specializes in retirement income. Getting professional guidance will help make sure you factor in crucial considerations such as inflation and longevity.
- Plan for Social Security
Don’t take your Social Security benefits for granted. They can be a major factor in determining whether you’re able to confidently retire when you want to, but only if you have a strategy in place to maximize the value of your benefits and align them properly with your other sources of retirement income. In addition to your investments, those other sources might include income from a pension or part-time job.
- Plan for Healthcare Costs
Our need for healthcare increases as we age. At the same time, healthcare costs increase over time at a much faster and steeper rate than general inflation. Therefore, feeling confident that you have a savings and income strategy good enough to allow you to retire when you want to requires taking healthcare costs into consideration. Look into your Medicare coverage and supplemental insurance options, and don’t forget about long-term care coverage.
- Re-examine Your Investment Strategy
Although investing for growth through capital appreciation makes sense when you’re in your 30s and 40s, once you pass age 50 and get closer to your target retirement age, it’s a smart idea to reexamine your investment strategy to determine if it still makes sense for you at this stage of life. For most people, it can make much more sense within 10-15 years of retirement to make a shift in their strategy from growth to income-first, growth-second. A financial advisor who specializes in retirement income can help you make this shift by working with you to create a customized portfolio of investments designed to better protect your principal while generating reliable interest and dividend return regardless of market conditions. In addition to more reliable income return, an income-first portfolio can also help you continue growing your portfolio more effectively and with less risk through strategic reinvestment.
Summary
Retiring when you want to is about control, and control comes from preparation. It comes from identifying your goals, committing to saving, planning for all possible contingencies, and making sure you have a financial strategy that is aligned with your goals and right for your stage of life. Once you’re within 10-15 years of retirement, that could mean a strategy designed to better protect your hard-earned savings, grow it more strategically, and generate reliable income for as long as you need it!
