top of page

Planning To Retire in 10 Years

Updated: Nov 11, 2021



This is it. You’re zeroing in on your retirement years. You’ve been planning this for decades, but are you really ready? If you’re five to 10 years away from retirement, it’s time to start getting specific about your plans after exiting your career. Here’s what you should be doing to prepare.


Invest for Growth and Cut Down Debt


Many believe that the two most important things to do for your financial health at this point in your life are investing for growth and cutting down your debt. Wherever possible, maximize your 401(k), IRA, or other retirement plan contributions—and be sure to assess your risk tolerance and diversify your investment portfolios accordingly.


Debt is the last thing that you want hanging over your head in retirement, so it’s a good idea to pay it down now, before living on a fixed income. Focus on paying off high-interest loans and credit cards first and foremost, even if it means not maximizing your retirement plan contributions for the time being. Once your highest-interest debts are paid off, you can start contributing more to your retirement savings plans while paying off any other low-interest debt. Have a goal for all debt to be paid off by the time you retire.


Determine a Retirement Budget


By this point in your life, you probably have a good idea of the level of income that makes you most comfortable. While your income might decrease in retirement, it’s important to start thinking about your lifestyle and expenses now, so you can properly plan for the funds that you’ll need to stay financially secure.


Be specific about your budget. Will you have mortgage or rent payments to make? What will the cost of living look like in your location, or are you planning to move in retirement? Are there unnecessary expenses that you can cut, if need be? Honing in on these details will make it easier for you to set and reach retirement savings goals before you get here.


Set Goals



Even if you already have retirement savings goals that you’ve been working toward throughout your career, it’s a good idea to revisit them and reevaluate. Did you plan for all the expenses in your retirement budget or are there new and unexpected funds you’ll need? Think about some of the things you may not have planned for early in your career, like medical expenses, mortgage payments, or higher education funds for your children.

Consider some of the life goals that you’d like to achieve in retirement. Are there destinations you’d like to visit or large purchases you’d like to make? These are things that should be built into your budget and set as specific savings goals. Over the next five to 10 years you can continue to build your retirement nest egg while also saving for the things that you haven’t been able to do while working a full-time job.


Establish a Legacy Plan


Planning your budget and goals during pre-retirement also provides a good opportunity to start your legacy plan. This means planning how to distribute your property and assets to your loved ones after your death. Start by creating a list of your assets and where they’re kept—this can include things like investment accounts, real estate, and insurance policies.

Once you have your list of assets, you should think about who you want to leave them to, or if there’s anything you want to donate to charity.


At Plan Wealth Creative, our estate planning process gets you thinking about what's most important to you and can help clarify just what you need to do now to leave a legacy for your family. Some estate plans can be very complicated, others are very simple. As a wealth management client, we spend time to help expedite the estate planning process so you can save time and money when it comes to finalizing the estate plan. Attorneys can certainly help, but they may also cost a lot of money if you're underprepared for the meetings.


Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Quick Links

Contact

Rise Financial Partners LLC (“RFP”) is a registered investment adviser offering advisory services in the State of Florida and in other jurisdictions where exempted from registration. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The presence of this website on the Internet shall not be directly or indirectly interpreted as a solicitation of investment advisory services to persons of another jurisdiction unless otherwise permitted by statute. Follow-up or individualized responses to consumers in a particular state by RFP in the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation shall not be made without our first complying with jurisdiction requirements or pursuant an applicable state exemption.

All written content on this site is for information purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of RFP, unless otherwise specifically cited. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources and no representations are made by our firm as to other parties’ informational accuracy or completeness. All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation.

All posts and comments are personal and conversational and are not meant to be recommendations in any way. Investors should seek professional advice before making any investment. Any discussion of markets, investments and asset classes is for discussion purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation in any way. All investments have risk and may lose value. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

© 2023 Rise Financial Partners

bottom of page