Retirement Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide to a Confident Future
The real danger in retirement isn’t daily market noise—it’s drifting without a roadmap. A thoughtful plan can help you balance security with freedom, so you can live on your terms. Here’s how to build it—step by step.
Step 1: Start with Your Retirement Vision
Retirement is personal. Before you run the numbers, define what success looks like for you:
When do you want to retire?
Where will you live?
How do you want to spend your days?
This vision becomes the anchor for your savings targets and investment approach.
Step 2: Know Your Target Number
Estimate annual retirement spending at roughly 70–85% of your pre-retirement income. Be sure to account for:
Housing (including downsizing or relocation)
Healthcare beyond Medicare
Travel, hobbies, and lifestyle upgrades
Inflation and unexpected expenses
Step 3: Map Your Income Streams
List every potential source of retirement income and how they fit together:
Social Security (optimize timing to maximize benefits)
Pensions and annuities
Workplace and individual accounts (401(k), IRA, Roth IRA)
Taxable brokerage assets
Rental, business, or other passive income
Step 4: Maximize Contributions Now
Strengthen future flexibility by front-loading savings today:
Contribute as much as possible to employer plans—don’t leave any match on the table.
Use catch-up contributions if you’re 50+.
Diversify where you save (tax-deferred, tax-free, and taxable) to create withdrawal options later.
Step 5: Invest for Growth and Resilience
Earlier in your journey, tilt toward growth to harness compounding. As retirement nears, shift to a balanced mix that tempers volatility while still pursuing reasonable returns.
Step 6: Create a Smart Withdrawal Plan
The order and location of withdrawals matter. A tax-aware strategy can:
Extend portfolio longevity
Reduce lifetime taxes
Coordinate with Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Step 7: Protect What You’ve Built
Guard your plan against the unexpected:
Review insurance needs, including long-term care considerations
Keep wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations current
Hold 6–12 months of essential expenses in readily accessible cash
Step 8: Review and Adjust Every Year
Life changes, markets evolve, and tax laws shift. Schedule an annual review to recalibrate contributions, investments, withdrawals, and protections so you stay on course.
Retirement planning isn’t a one-time task—it’s a continuous process that rewards consistency, flexibility, and smart decisions. The earlier you start, the more control you’ll have over your future.
At FMD Wealth Advisors, we design custom retirement strategies that integrate investments, taxes, and estate planning—so you can step into retirement with confidence. Schedule a Free Financial Assessment and take the first step toward the retirement you deserve.
Disclosures: FMD Wealth Advisors LLC (“FMD Wealth Advisors”) is a Registered Investment Adviser.
This material is for general information only and is not individualized legal or tax advice. Consult your attorney and CPA regarding legal and tax matters specific to your circumstances. This content is intended to provide general information about FMD Wealth Advisors. It is not intended to offer or deliver investment advice in any way. Information regarding investment services is provided solely to gain an understanding of our investment philosophy, our strategies and to be able to contact us for further information.
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