Here’s how to plan for retirement. Count what you have, then decide what you want your money and your time to do. Test whether the numbers hold. Adjust where they fall short. Then prepare for surprises and review the plan each year. The eight steps below walk you through each move.
Most of us start with a few account logins and a hunch that it’ll all work out. A plan turns the hunch into numbers you can check. Whether you’re well ahead or still catching up, you can build one.
What Are the 8 Steps in a Retirement Planning Guide?
A retirement plan comes together in eight steps. Each step answers one question and hands you something to use, from a planning tool to an annual checkup. The table shows all eight at a glance, with links to go deeper on any step.
Retirement planning is the work of estimating what retirement will cost and lining up income to cover it. Financial mapping lays your money and your time side by side, which makes that work easier to see.
When Should You Start Planning for Retirement?
Start now, whatever your age. In your 30s and 40s, the plan centers on your savings rate. By your 50s, the plan also covers Social Security timing, healthcare, and a target retirement date. Close to retirement, the plan turns into an income plan. The same eight steps work at every stage.
If you’re starting later than you’d hoped, you still have real levers to pull, and Step 5 lays them out. Saving comes first for most people. Capture any employer match and automate your contributions. Then pick a few ways to save more for retirement that fit your budget.
Step 1: Choose How You’ll Build Your Retirement Plan
You can build a retirement plan in a spreadsheet, with an online planner, or with an advisor. A spreadsheet costs nothing and takes the most work. A planner such as the Boldin Planner handles taxes and withdrawals for you, and an advisor adds judgment. Choose the method you’ll keep updating.
| Factor | Spreadsheet | Online planner | Advisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free to start; paid tiers add features | Fees vary by advisor and service |
| Time | Longest to build and update | Faster to set up and update | Meetings follow the advisor’s schedule |
| Depth | Only what you build into it | A good one models taxes, withdrawals, and scenarios | Judgment and personalized advice |
| Best for | People who enjoy building formulas | Do-it-yourselfers who want the math checked | People who want a professional’s eye on the whole plan |
An online planner suits DIY retirement planning when you want taxes, withdrawal order, and changing spending handled in one place. If you’d like a professional’s eye on your plan, Boldin Advisors connects you with a CFP® professional.
Step 2: Take Stock of What You Have Today
List every account, income source, expense, and debt. If you’re married, keep your spouse’s list separate. Include Social Security, pensions, and one-time costs, and start with rough numbers. You can add detail as you find it. A fuller list gives the plan more to work with.
Use this checklist:
- Each person’s accounts and benefits, listed on their own. Two lists show each person’s balances and benefits, which matters if one of you ends up managing the money alone. A few planning conversations for couples also bring differences in goals to the surface early.
- Every retirement account. Note the balance, the savings rate, and the expected return. Small differences in return add up over decades.
- All future income. That covers jobs, pensions, annuities, investment income, and passive income. Each source starts on its own date and carries its own tax treatment.
- Social Security statements and benefit estimates. Your statement shows what you’d receive at different claiming ages.
- Expenses, by category. Spending changes as the years pass, so estimate retirement expenses in phases.
- Inflation, by category. Healthcare, housing, and everyday costs rise at different rates.
- One-time costs. A new roof or a family wedding lands in a single year, so the plan should show it there.
- Debts, with payoff dates. Each balance and interest rate shapes your cash flow until it’s gone.
Enter the list in the Boldin Planner and it projects your savings, income, and spending year by year.
Step 3: Set Goals for Your Money and Your Time
Goals shape every number in your plan. Decide when you want to stop working and what a good week looks like once you do. Those answers set your spending target and your timeline. Start with how you want to spend your time, and the savings number gets a reason behind it.
A good plan answers two questions: how much money you’ll need, and what you’ll be doing with your days. You could retire sooner and make trade-offs now, or work past 65 and keep more flexibility later. Each choice changes the math.
Without something to look forward to, an open calendar can feel empty fast. Ideas for what to do in retirement can spark a few answers, and finding meaning and purpose sometimes takes time.
It also helps to think about who you’ll be at 75. Small habits can help you make friends with your future self, which makes today’s trade-offs easier to accept. Write your goals on three horizons: short, medium, and long term. Each choice you make today then connects to something you want.
Step 4: Check Whether Your Plan Holds Up
A plan holds up when your money lasts to the age you’re planning for. Check four things: the year your savings run out, annual cash flow, withdrawal pace, and balance over time. A planner can show all four once your list is in. If one falls short, the next steps show you how to fix it.
Run these questions against your own numbers:
| Question | A good result | A result to work on |
|---|---|---|
| When, if ever, do your savings run out? | The run-out year falls after the age you’re planning for | Savings run out before that age |
| Do your expenses exceed your income? | Income covers expenses each year, or a named source covers the gap | Gaps appear year after year with no source to cover them |
| Is your early withdrawal pace sustainable? | Early withdrawals stay close to the gap between income and expenses, with no large one-time draws | The balance falls fast in the first years from a high draw or a big one-time cost |
| What will your savings be worth each year, and is that on track? | Your balance follows the benchmark your own plan sets for each year | Your balance trails that benchmark |
A rule of thumb can’t tell you how much to have saved by now, because the answer depends on your spending, taxes, and retirement date. Your plan sets a benchmark for each year, and that benchmark tells you whether you’re on track for retirement. You can also compare yourself with what other pre-retirees have done to see where you stand. If your date is near, ask whether you’re ready to retire with those numbers in hand.
Almost nobody’s first result looks perfect. A weak spot tells you where to focus, and Step 5 shows you how. The Boldin Planner shows your run-out year, cash flow, and balance over time as soon as your list is entered.
Step 5: Pull the Levers That Move Your Plan Most
Saving more is one lever of many. Delaying Social Security, converting some savings to a Roth in a low-income year, or tapping home equity can each change the outcome. So can trimming expenses, working an extra year, or paying down debt. Test one lever at a time to see which one matters most.
Try each lever on its own in your plan:
- Delay Social Security. Each year past full retirement age adds 8% to your benefit, up to age 70, according to the Social Security Administration. The best claiming age depends on your health, your spouse’s benefit, and your other income. Test a few Social Security strategies in your plan before you commit to a claiming age.
- Convert to a Roth in a low-income year. A Roth conversion moves pre-tax savings into a Roth account. You pay income tax on the amount you convert, and low-income years can shrink that bill.
- Tap home equity. If you own your home, home equity can fund part of retirement. A reverse mortgage is one route if you plan to stay put, so weigh its costs first.
- Rethink where you live. Downsizing can cut costs and the work of a large home. Taxes, climate, and living costs vary by place, so compare the best places to retire for your situation.
- Move your retirement date. Another year of work adds income and shortens the years you need to cover. A retirement job can do the same on your terms.
- Add passive income. Passive income from a few sources can ease the pressure on your withdrawals.
- Pay down debt. Accelerating a payoff can sometimes use your money better than saving more. Compare the debt’s interest rate with the return you expect.
- Trim expenses. Lower spending improves cash flow in every year of the plan. Start with the largest categories in your own plan.
- Save more. If you’re 50 or older, catch-up contributions let you put extra into your 401(k) and IRA each year.
Try a few combinations and keep the ones that push your run-out year furthest.
Step 6: Stress-Test Your Plan for Surprises
Markets, inflation, health, and family change in ways you can’t predict. Test your plan under optimistic and pessimistic assumptions. Then check four risks: income that falls short, medical costs, long-term care, and emergencies. Aim for a plan that works under both sets of assumptions.
Does your plan work under optimistic and pessimistic assumptions?
Nobody can know future inflation or investment returns, so build two versions of your plan. Use generous assumptions in one and cautious ones in the other. In the Boldin Planner you set both yourself. Your choice of rate of return changes how long the money lasts. If your plan fails either version, go back to Step 5 and test the levers there.
Does your income cover your expenses for life?
Social Security, pensions, and lifetime annuities are built to pay for life. Most other income can stop or shrink. If that steady income falls short of your essential expenses, a lifetime annuity can cover part of the shortfall. Then check the rest of your income sources:
- Can you work as long as you plan to?
- Are your savings withdrawals protected from market drops?
- Is the company behind your pension well funded?
Several retirement income strategies address each of those risks, and you can model them side by side.
Can you afford medical care in retirement?
A 65-year-old retiring in 2026 can expect to spend about $185,500 on healthcare over retirement, according to Fidelity’s latest estimate. For a couple retiring at the same age, double the figure to about $371,000. The estimate assumes Medicare and leaves out long-term care. It rose 7.5% in a year, so give healthcare costs in retirement their own line in your plan. Review your Medicare drug and health plan choices each fall, during open enrollment from October 15 to December 7. Plans and your health both change.
How will you pay for long-term care?
Someone turning 65 has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care, according to the federal Administration for Community Living. Model a few ways to cover it:
- Buying long-term care insurance
- A lifetime annuity that pays a steady income
- Savings you set aside for care
- Family support
- Selling or downsizing your home to free up equity
What other surprises could knock your plan off course?
Surprises arrive as expenses you didn’t expect and windfalls you didn’t plan for. In the Federal Reserve’s 2025 household survey, published in May 2026, 63% of adults said they’d cover a $400 emergency with cash or its equivalent. The rest would pay another way, and some couldn’t pay at all. Emergency savings keep a car repair or a family need from touching your retirement accounts.
Imagine your future in as much detail as you can, then budget for it. A few questions to ask:
- Will your kids finish school and be on their own?
- Might you need to help your parents with care?
- Will you receive an inheritance?
- Could you sell a vacation home?
- Is a divorce or remarriage possible?
- Are you ready for the loss of a spouse?
Step 7: Tune Your Investments, Taxes, and Estate Plan
Check three areas for extra room: your asset mix, your tax bill, and your estate plan. Your mix should match how you’ll use the money. Taxes shape how long your savings last, so model them every year. Name your heirs and review your beneficiary forms now.
Does your asset mix match how you’ll use the money?
Your mix depends on whether you’ll live off income from your assets or draw down savings to cover spending. Each approach leans on different investments. An investment policy statement puts your mix in writing. Mixes tend to shift toward stability as retirement nears, so compare yours with typical allocations by age.
Can you lower your tax bill?
Taxes can take a large bite of retirement income, and the bite changes with how and when you withdraw. Retirement tax planning turns on withdrawal order, Roth conversions, and required distributions. Each one moves your bill in a different year, so model them together every year.
Is your estate plan ready?
Start with the people. Name who inherits what and check the beneficiary on each account. For most retirement accounts, the beneficiary form overrides your will, so a stale form can send money to the wrong person. A basic estate plan includes a will and powers of attorney. The full list of estate planning documents makes a good checklist for your own.
If three areas feel like a lot, start with the one you’ve put off longest.
Step 8: Review Your Plan Every Year
Review your plan once a year and after any big change in health, income, or family. Check that your investments, inflation assumptions, debt payments, and spending match the plan. Small drifts compound over 20 or 30 years. A check each year keeps them small.
Each annual review covers three things:
- Update balances and income to today’s numbers.
- Compare your actual spending and saving with the plan.
- Rerun your optimistic and pessimistic cases.
Review sooner after any of these:
- A job change or layoff
- A move
- A marriage or divorce
- A health change
- An inheritance
- The death of a spouse
Some people add a short quarterly financial review of spending, investments, and debt. A plan you’ve already built makes each check-in short.
A first version is enough to start, and each review makes it sharper. Build yours in the Boldin Planner, then ask a CFP® professional at Boldin Advisors for a second opinion. Put your first annual review on the calendar today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Planning for Retirement
How do you plan for retirement?
Planning for retirement means projecting your savings, income, spending, and taxes year by year, then testing the result under better and worse conditions. Eight steps cover the process, from counting your accounts to a yearly review, and the Boldin Planner runs the projection so you can compare choices first.
When should you start planning for retirement?
Start planning for retirement as soon as you have savings to track. Early on, the plan focuses on your savings rate. Each decade adds decisions. Retirement milestones run from catch-up contributions at 50 to Medicare at 65 and required withdrawals in your 70s.
What should a retirement plan include?
A complete retirement plan starts with a target date and a spending goal built from estimated retirement expenses. It then adds every income source and projects the total year by year. Taxes, healthcare, inflation, and long-term care belong in that projection. An emergency fund and a current estate plan round it out.
How much money do you need to retire?
The amount you need to retire depends on your spending, your taxes, and how long you’ll live. Social Security and pensions cover part of the cost. Subtract that guaranteed income from your spending, then test whether savings can cover the difference. A rule of thumb skips your taxes and health, so start with a simple retirement calculator.
Can you plan for retirement on your own?
A spreadsheet or an online planner is enough to build your own retirement plan. The plan needs to cover taxes, Social Security, healthcare, and inflation. A one-time review from an advisor can catch what you missed. Later updates go faster than the first build, which makes DIY retirement planning easier to sustain.
How often should you review your retirement plan?
An annual review keeps a retirement plan current, because the rules reset every year. Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment, Medicare premiums, and contribution limits all change. Many people also run a quarterly check on spending and debt. Review right away after a move, a health change, or a job change.
Is it too late to start planning for retirement at 55 or 60?
At 55 or 60, a retirement plan still has years to act on. Another year of work or delayed Social Security can each move the numbers, and workers aged 60 to 63 can use a higher 401(k) catch-up limit. Anyone starting at 50 or later can model all of it.
Sources: Fidelity, 25th Annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate (2026) · Administration for Community Living, How Much Care Will You Need? · Federal Reserve Board, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 (May 2026) · Social Security Administration, Early or Delayed Retirement · IRS, 2026 retirement plan limits
