Retirement Planning Checklist

Find the category that best describes you. After answering the questions, bring the list to a qualified financial professional who can help make sure your retirement plan is on target.Saving for Retirement

1. Have you performed a comprehensive retirement needs calculation?
2. Are you contributing enough to potentially reach your financial goal within your desired time frame, by maximizing contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, such as your employer-sponsored retirement plan and an IRA?
3. Is your asset allocation aligned with your retirement goal, risk tolerance, and time horizon?
4. Have you determined if you might benefit from contributing to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA?
5. Do you review your retirement portfolio each year and rebalance your asset allocation if necessary?

Nearing Retirement
1. Do you know the payout options available to you (e.g., annuity or lump sum) with your employer-sponsored retirement account, and have you reviewed the pros and cons of each option?
2. Have you considered your health insurance options, (i.e., Medicare and various Medigap supplemental plans or employer-sponsored health insurance), out-of-pocket medical expenses, and other related health care costs?
3. Have you contacted Social Security to make sure your benefit statement and relevant personal information are accurate?
4. Should you purchase long-term care insurance? If so, have you investigated which benefits are desirable?
5. Is your asset allocation properly adjusted to reflect your need to begin drawing income from your portfolio soon?
6. Have you determined an appropriate withdrawal rate of your assets to help ensure that your retirement money might last 20, 30, or more years?
7. Have you figured the amount of your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) and developed a strategy to reduce your tax burden once you're required to begin taking RMDs?
8. Have you appointed a health care proxy and durable power of attorney to take charge of your health and financial affairs if you are unable to do so?
9. Have you reviewed all your financial and legal documents to make sure beneficiaries are up-to-date?
10. Are you making effective use of estate planning tools (such as trusts or a gifting strategy) that could reduce your taxable estate and pass along more assets to your heirs while also benefiting you now?

Summary
Planning for retirement is a lifelong process. Determining your retirement needs by identifying your potential retirement expenses and sources of retirement income is an important step.
Starting to invest early for retirement and contributing as much as possible to tax-advantaged employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs are two ways to leverage your retirement dollars.

Determining an appropriate asset allocation -- how you divide your money among stocks, bonds, and cash -- is a time-tested strategy for helping you pursue your financial goal.

It's essential to determine an appropriate annual withdrawal rate of your assets during retirement so you don't outlive your money.

After age 70 1/2, you must begin making an annual required minimum distribution from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts. Preparing for this phase ahead of time may help reduce your tax burden.

Developing an appropriate estate plan is the important final stage of crafting an effective retirement plan.

Checklist
Try to accumulate enough emergency savings and insurance coverage so that you can address unexpected financial crises without spending money earmarked for retirement.
Update beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts and other financial paperwork.
Consider changing the date of your retirement if it would make it easier to retire with enough money for the future.
Rebalance your retirement account's asset allocation if necessary.