Once a foundation has been put into place, several years (at least) before retirement commences, it makes sense to take a step back and take a look at the state of your financial plan and evaluate a few questions:

• How are your assets positioned?
• What has changed since the time you put those building blocks into place?
• Are there any new goals that need to be accounted for?
• The time before retirement is an important stage to reflect on where you stand and reposition yourself for the impending life change.

In the financial sense, there are specific actions to consider before retiring. How can you take advantage of the Social Security benefits that have accrued during your career? How are 401(k) and other pre-tax accounts positioned, and what will be the best strategies to allow those to grow, while also planning to start withdrawing money from those accounts and paying taxes on the funds?

There is the mental and emotional side of retirement that should be addressed. For many clients, finding a new purpose when their career is gone can be a difficult adjustment. For married clients, we like to make sure that both partners are on the same page regarding goals and expectations for retirement. If one spouse desires travel, while the other is more focused on providing funds for grandchildren, it’s important to have those conversations during the preparing for retirement phase, so that a shared set of goals can be established.