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Pre and Post-Retirement Checklist

Whether you're retiring in 10 years or you've been retired for 10 years, getting organized, planning ahead, and being in control of your money-related matters, goes a long way toward making your retirement experience rich and rewarding. This section includes checklists for individuals who are planning to retire and for those who are currently retired.

Plan and act on what you know - and what you can control. Be careful with assumptions about the future. Your assumptions may mislead you into being either overly-optimistic or overly-pessimistic about your future which can lead to decisions that could negatively affect the quality of your life during retirement.

What we know (Be careful not to confuse assumptions with what you actually know):

  • Our retirement date
  • What we can expect from guaranteed income sources, (Social Security and pension benefits)

What we don't know:

  • Future expenses including our healthcare costs
  • Future returns for stocks and bonds
  • Inflation and tax rates
  • Our date of death

What we can control:

  • Our debt
  • Discretionary spending
  • Oversight and management of our retirement money