{"id":2672,"date":"2025-09-05T09:52:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T09:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-7-things-now-bankrate\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T09:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T09:52:50","slug":"planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-7-things-now-bankrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-7-things-now-bankrate\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning To Retire In 2025? Do These 7 Things Now | Bankrate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>A wonderful retirement is the goal of many people, and you want it to come off without any major snags. But retirement plans always face challenges, whether it\u2019s the volatility of the markets, the affordability of healthcare or the risks posed by inflation. Plus, you\u2019re likely to face decades on a fixed income, and won\u2019t have the financial flexibility you had before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething that will surprise upcoming retirees is how long retirement actually is,\u201d says Craig Cecilio, CEO and founder of DiversyFund, a real estate investing platform based in the San Diego area. He notes that retirement has been lasting longer over time as people live longer.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking about your golden years and how to plan for them can feel overwhelming, given the intricate nature of retirement planning. You have to juggle a variety of factors, like unexpected changes in the stock market, rising healthcare costs and the ever-present pressure of inflation. That\u2019s why it\u2019s vital to be fully prepared before you retire, and even make room in your plans for the unexpected.<\/p>\n<p>Here are seven things to do now to ensure your golden years really are golden.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"1\" data-position=\"1\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-1-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"1. Review your retirement financial plan\" data-outcome>1. Review your retirement financial plan<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Get your retirement plan in order<\/li>\n<li>Have a retirement advisor review your plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A good retirement starts with a good retirement plan, and before you leave the safety of a steady salary or income, you want to make sure your plan is as rock solid as you can make it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you haven\u2019t already, the first thing anyone needs to do before retiring is to devise a retirement plan that is tailored to their goals and factors in things like cost of living, medical expenses, and Social Security,\u201d Cecilio says. He also recommends paying off your debt before retirement to give you more financial flexibility.<\/p>\n<p>And if you have a plan in place already, make sure you review it so that it\u2019s up to date with the latest figures and estimates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou must revisit your retirement income plan to make sure your retirement income is enough to exceed expenses so that you do not risk having to unretire or, worse, run out of money,\u201d says Beau Henderson, a retirement income certified professional and founder of RichLife Advisors in Gainesville, Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>Retirement planning is a tall task for many individuals, especially given the complexities around what you\u2019ll earn with Social Security, the costs of Medicare and potential investment returns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave a specialist help you look at your situation,\u201d says Sharon Duncan, CFP with Selah Financial Services in Houston. \u201cYou\u2019re likely to be retired 20, 30, or more years. Inflation will make your cost of living go up, but your retirement income will probably not go up as fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A financial advisor, particularly a fee-only fiduciary advisor, can help you avoid common mistakes, such as having the wrong allocations early in your retirement or not having enough income.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"2\" data-position=\"2\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-2-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"2. Prepare for the impact of inflation\" data-outcome>2. Prepare for the impact of inflation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Your retirement plan needs to factor in inflation<\/li>\n<li>Inflation will take a big bite out of your income over time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the last few years showed, inflation can pick up at unexpected times and really hurt those who aren\u2019t prepared. Inflation can absolutely devastate a financial plan that relies heavily on fixed-income investments such as bonds. If you need to spend all your retirement income and can\u2019t reinvest any of it, inflation will grind down your purchasing power over time, making your dollars worth much less.<\/p>\n<p>So you need a financial plan that factors in inflation. Social Security does raise its payouts in response to rising prices, but that won\u2019t likely be enough to protect your standard of living.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll need to build a financial plan that has some growth assets in it, so that your income can rise over time and you won\u2019t be left making the same income you did 10 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can run retirement cash flow reports that will analyze the current income needs of the client and their available assets, and it projects forward 20-30 years with some reasonable growth assumptions for the investments,\u201d says Ben Barzideh, a chartered financial consultant and wealth advisor at Barzideh and Nadeau Wealth Management in Barrington, Illinois. \u201cWe can add a cost of living increase each year to their income and see how that would affect the long-term projections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to be sure that your financial plan is not too conservative and allows you to grow your money over that longer retirement period. Otherwise, inflation may eat up your income.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"3\" data-position=\"3\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-3-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"3. Protect your assets from the market\" data-outcome>3. Protect your assets from the market<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep money you need to spend soon out of the market<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While it would be nice to live off the earnings of investments and not have to dip into principal, that\u2019s not likely to be an option for most retirees. So it\u2019s important to make sure any income that you\u2019ll need in the near future (that is, at least over the next year) is protected from the market. You don\u2019t want to rely on the market to be up (so you can sell stock) to fund your expenses, as the bear market of 2022 painfully demonstrated.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you have Social Security and other retirement income of $30,000 a year, but you need $35,000 in income, you want to set aside $5,000 from investment accounts, which are more volatile than bank accounts. You can put this money in a high-yield savings account or dump some of it into a short-term CD so that it may earn interest until you need to use it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"4\" data-position=\"4\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-4-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"4. Plan healthcare carefully\" data-outcome>4. Plan healthcare carefully<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Healthcare expenses regularly bust the budgets of retirees<\/li>\n<li>Retirement advisors can help you figure out healthcare, too<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWhat might surprise someone retiring this year is how much health insurance costs these days,\u201d says Barzideh. He says many people put off retirement until they\u2019re old enough to get Medicare, unless they can find a cheaper alternative before then.<\/p>\n<p>So if you\u2019re planning on retiring before Medicare kicks in at age 65, make sure you have an affordable healthcare plan. But it\u2019s not as easy to know what your options are and set up the plan as it was when you were working.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re used to your company providing a few choices during open enrollment and then you\u2019re done, you\u2019ll find that health insurance requires more leg work during retirement,\u201d Duncan says. \u201cIt\u2019s not an impossible task, it\u2019s just frustrating and time-consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here again, a good financial advisor may be able to help you find quality, affordable options and compare the costs and the effects on your overall financial plan. Bankrate\u2019s AdvisorMatch can connect you to a professional advisor to help you achieve your financial goals.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"5\" data-position=\"5\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-5-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"5. Shift your perspective from saving to spending\" data-outcome>5. Shift your perspective from saving to spending<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Your mindset needs to shift to one where you can spend without guilt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You\u2019ve gone your whole life working and saving, but now that you\u2019re in retirement you\u2019ve made it to the time you\u2019ve been saving for. You\u2019ll have to shift to a spending mentality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp until retirement, we think spending what we have saved is \u2018bad,\u2019\u201d says Duncan. \u201cIn retirement, it\u2019s just the opposite. It\u2019s actually OK to spend, and not save, during retirement. Although this seems simple enough, it is a hard emotional change for many people because we feel like we\u2019re breaking the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duncan says the feeling usually goes away after a few months of living in retirement.<\/p>\n<p>For others who have been trained in saving their whole lives, it might be useful to set up a minimum spending budget, at least at first. With this budget, they can purposely spend with an easier conscience and still know that they have money left in reserve if they need it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"6\" data-position=\"6\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-6-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"6. Reestablish your purpose\" data-outcome>6. Reestablish your purpose<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Find what you love to do in order to make your retirement meaningful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Having a successful retirement is not all about getting the financial details right, though those details do make it all a lot easier. It also revolves around finding new purpose away from the work world, perhaps with new friends, or in a different context altogether.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have had purpose during each phase of our life, and retirement is no different,\u201d says Duncan. \u201cRetirement offers a freedom and flexibility like never before. You can even change your purpose whenever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Without purpose, you may find yourself dreading your free days and even feeling bored.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind a purpose and live retirement intentionally. It improves your health, vitality and happiness,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"7\" data-position=\"7\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-7-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"7. Plan to stay on top of finances in retirement\" data-outcome>7. Plan to stay on top of finances in retirement<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A fixed income means that a budget and planning are even more important<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You might think that once you\u2019re retired with a solid financial plan, you\u2019re ready to kick back, but it\u2019s still important to manage your finances. Given that many live on a fixed income, it might be more important to stay on top of your finances and how changes to the law may affect them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe proactive with your retirement and take it upon yourself to know what applies to you and your household in retirement,\u201d says Henderson, pointing to potential changes in taxes, laws and Social Security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you know the rules you can put yourself in the best position possible,\u201d he says. \u201cThe problem is that most people are passive in their retirement planning and only address issues after the fact, and that is where the major mistakes are made.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s another example of how a qualified fiduciary advisor could add value to your retirement. Or a low-cost robo-advisor could also help you avoid spending a lot of time managing your finances.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"faqs\" data-position=\"8\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-8-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"FAQs\" data-outcome>FAQs<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li x-id=\"['panel-what-are-the-best-states-to-retire-in', 'heading-what-are-the-best-states-to-retire-in']\" x-data=\"{ expanded: 0 }\">  <\/li>\n<li x-id=\"['panel-what-should-i-do-three-months-before-retirement', 'heading-what-should-i-do-three-months-before-retirement']\" x-data=\"{ expanded: 0 }\">  <\/li>\n<li x-id=\"['panel-how-do-i-know-if-im-ready-to-retire', 'heading-how-do-i-know-if-im-ready-to-retire']\" x-data=\"{ expanded: 0 }\">  <\/li>\n<li x-id=\"['panel-how-do-people-retire-with-no-savings', 'heading-how-do-people-retire-with-no-savings']\" x-data=\"{ expanded: 0 }\">  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-position=\"9\" data-beam-element-viewed data-id=\"br-h2-9-onpage-placement\" data-type=\"h2\" data-location=\"Editorial\" data-name=\"h2_all\" data-text=\"Bottom line\" data-outcome>Bottom line<\/h2>\n<p>Setting up a retirement plan can be daunting for many people, particularly if they think they don\u2019t have enough to retire or retire how they want. But you may have more than you think. And even if you don\u2019t have enough, you may be able to adjust your plan to maximize your savings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOften we see with our clients that they are pleasantly surprised the first time we run the retirement projection for them and they realize they can retire and they\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Barzideh says.<\/p>\n<div data-cta-initial data-helpful-cta data-beam-element-viewed id=\"did-you-find-this-helpful\" data-type=\"cta\" data-location=\"article-bottom\" data-position=\"banner\" data-text=\"Did you find this page helpful?\">\n<div>\n<p>             Did you find this page helpful?             <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Help us improve our content<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A wonderful retirement is the goal of many people, and you want it to come off without any major snags. But retirement plans always face challenges, whether it\u2019s the volatility of the markets, the affordability of healthcare or the risks posed by inflation. Plus, you\u2019re likely to face decades on a fixed income, and won\u2019t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now.jpg",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now.jpg",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now.jpg",1280,720,false],"morenews-featured":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"morenews-large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-590x410.jpg",590,410,true],"crawlomatic_preview_image":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2672-Investments-Planning-to-retire-in-2025-do-these-things-now-260x146.jpg",260,146,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"henry","author_link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/author\/henry\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/category\/latest-news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Latest News<\/a>","tag_info":"Latest News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}