Steps Clients Should Take Before Retirement

The decisions that a person makes in the critical years leading up to retirement can have a tremendous impact on the level of comfort that person enjoys in retirement.  This column discusses some of the biggest financial-planning issues that clients will face when preparing for retirement.  Clients need to understand the difference between revocable and irrevocable choices.  They will need to consider which assets they want to spend and when they would want to spend them. 

It is very important to think about ways of diversifying investments to gain tax benefits.  Clients need to be aware of how their benefits will affect the heirs and beneficiaries that will inherit them.  It is a good idea to speak with an estate planning professional to come up with an individualized retirement plan that fits with the clients unique circumstances.

See Jane Hodges, The 4 Things to Do Before Retirement, The Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.