The 4 Most Important Questions You Must Ask Yourself Leading into Retirement

(don’t forget to checkout the video of this blog too)

There are a lot of unknowns leading into retirement.

And retirees often have more questions than answers…

What’s going to happen in the market during my retirement⁉️

How will taxes affect my income withdrawal strategy⁉️

How much do I need to have saved to retire comfortably⁉️

These are all important but really there are 4 crucial questions you must ask yourself leading into retirement:

✅ How much (after-tax) monthly income you NEED (and how much you really want)⁉️

Determining your retirement income need is the most important retirement planning objective of all.

Your entire Retirement Plan should be built around this number.

Knowing this number gives you the peace-of-mind to know when you “have enough”….

it also allows you to do planning that extends far beyond your own retirement (like transferring wealth to loved ones tax-free)!

✅ How much exposure to market losses are you comfortable with⁉️

This becomes a very important question leading into retirement.

The market is the one of the best places to grow wealth long-term.

But having 100% of your retirement money exposed to potential losses leading up to retirement is a very bad idea.

What happens to your Retirement Income Plan if the market drops 30% of more (like it did in 2008) in the month you are planning to retire?!

Very few portfolios can support this type of market loss.

That’s why I stress the importance of Safe Money as a critical element of your retirement plan.

It’s just smart to have a segment of your wealth protected from large losses (especially as you close in on retirement with MUCH LESS time to recover).

✅ When is the optimal time for you to take Social Security⁉️ (and how to maximize it)

Social Security is often the largest source of guaranteed income in most people’s retirement plan.

So not making these critical Social Security mistakes and taking your income at the right time is incredibly important.

If you take it too early you might not be protecting yourself from inflation as well as you should, however by delaying it as long as you can, you end up maximizing your own retirement income (but also other benefits like the spousal & survivor benefits).

✅ What’s your plan for inflation⁉️

There are multiple ways to protect against inflation…

🔵 Delaying Social Security Income (as it’s usually outpacing inflation on a year-to-year basis)

⚪️ Keeping more wealth in the market for longer (invested aggressively for growth)

🔵 Staggering other sources of guaranteed income that can be activated at a later date (as needed)

These are all options that can be used individually or in conjunction with one another.

All you need is a plan. 📝

Let’s Chat 💬 😎