Retirement planning i🍸s tricky. As you close 🧸in on retirement, it’s especially important that you have your ducks in a row.

If you 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:plan to retire within 10 years, here’s a retirement checklist full of tips and tricks to help make sure you💎’re ready for ꦰthe next phase.

Contribute to Your 401(k) and IRA

For many 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:retirement savers, these are the highest-income years of their careers. This is the time to contribute the maximum amounts possible to your employer’s retirement plan, indiv🧔idual retirement accountsღ (IRAs), and the like. While these contributions will not have the years to compound as those made in your 20s and 30s,ꦺ every bit helps.

Check Social Security

While there is some discussion about the future solvency of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Social Security, it’s likely that those currently in their 50s will receive their benefits. You can get your statement and check your benefits on the Social Security Administration website.

It’s a good idea to check that you have received full credit for all of your earnings. Moreover, it’s important to know 🏅and understand what your benefits will be if claimed at different ages.

If you are married, there are a number of strategies to consider in terms of the timing of claiming your benef🌳its. A good calculator can help you decide. Two worth trying are the Social Security Administration’s and AARP’s .

Gather Info for All Your Retirement Accounts

These days, it’s not uncommon for someone to have worked at five or more jobs over the course of a career. This can lead to a number of retirement plans with former employers. If you’re married and your spouse works, this number can easily double. This is, of course, in addition to your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Social Security benefits.

Over the years, I’ve seen people with old pensions in which they have a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:vested benefit, that they𓄧 have basically left with their old employer and ignored over the years, multiple IRAs, and so on.

This is a good time to make sure you have a list of all of these old plans. It’s an even better time to develop a strategy to make sure that old 401(k)s and IRAs are consolidated and properly invested, and that your old employer has your current contact information for 𒊎any old pension accounts.

While many of these old accounts might be relativ𓂃ely small, if you have several, they can add up to real money for your retirement.

Figure in Your Other Financial Resources

This is also a good time to get your arms around your other financial🐲 as💮sets that are potentially available to support your retirement lifestyle. These might include:

• Taxable investment accounts
• An annuity
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Life insurance with cash value
• Interest in a business
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Stock options from your employer

If your 401(k) account contains company stock, you might benefit by using the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) rules. Also, determine if𓃲 your company offers retiree health insu⛄rance. Will you work full- or part-time during retirement?

It’s not uncommon for companies to offer incentives for longer-tenured employees to take an early retirement. If you’re the recipie🔥nt of such an ꦓoffer, consider taking it on two counts.

First, the offer might be quite financially attractive, and second, if you don’t take the initial offer, the next such offer in most cases💜 is not n🐟early as lucrative. And make no mistake, after that first offer, you likely are “on the list,” so to speak.

Some folks might be lucky enough to be in line for an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inheritance from parents or others. I generally urge caution in including this as a retirement asset. Things can happen. Your parents might live longer than expect♉ed, and the cost of their care could eat away 𒁏at much of their wealth.

Determine How Much You’ll Need to Retire

You probably thought about thiꦆs a long time ago. But this is the time to start making some choices about how you will live in retirement and, more importantly, to put some dollar figures onto this lifestyle.

Will you be moving or downsizing your house? Will you be debt-free by the time you hit retirement? Will you have adult children to support? Another way to say this is to start thinking in terms of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:a retirement budget.

Use a Retirement Calculator

There are many retirement calculators available online, perhaps even through your company’s retirement plan provider. Some are better than others, so do a little checking in terms of the methodology and the underlying assumptions. The better ones are great tools to give you an idea of whether your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:plans for retirement are realistic or not.

Most reti🔥rement projection tools will ask you to input your retirement plan assets, any pensions, Social Security, and any other investments. Based on variables such as your investment allocation and other factors, these programs will give you an idea of how much retirement cash flow your resources might be able to support.

While you may not like the answer, it’s far better to know you have a potential 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:shortfall as early as possible prior to retirement. This might be a good point to find a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:competent fee-only fina𓃲ncial advisor to assist you. Besides their expertise, a qualified a🧔dvisor can add a detached third-party perspective to your retirement planning.

Think About a Retirement Withdrawal Strategy

One of the more complex aspects surrounding retirement can be determining which of your accounts to tap and in what order. Different types of accounts have different 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:income tax consequences.

Traditional IRA and 401(k) account withdrawals are usually taxed as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:ordinary income. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roth IRAs, on the other hand, will generally not be taxed as long as you follow certain rules.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Annuities may be taxed in part or totally, depending upon how you take the money. Taxable investments can qualify for preferential long-term 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:capital gains treatment if certain rules are followed. The point is that the rules can be complex, and making poor c𒀰hoices can result in adverse consequences t൩o your financial health in retirement.

Consulting with a qualified tax or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financial advisor is a really good idea here, especially if you expect to be in a high 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tax bracket during retirement.

Stress-Test Your Plan

Even the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:best-laid plans don’t 💯always💃 work out. Gi♉ve some thought as to what could go wrong. What happens if you suffer a serious medical setback that preventsꦦ you from working until retirement? What if your company decides to lay you off prior to your desired retirement age? Will your plans for retirement still work financially?

The Bottom Line

The 10 years leading up to retirement is the time for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investors to get their ducks in a row, so to speak. Get a handle on all of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:your resources for retirement,𒆙 including Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, an💯d other assets.

Determine ☂what you will need to support your lifestyle in retirement. If you need the help of a financial professional, get it. A successful retirement takes planning, and this time period is crucial to help ens🌼ure a successful retirement.