Your 10-Step Checklist to Retire in 2018

 

Plot your transition.

 

Will 2018 be the year you finally retire and say goodbye to your job forever? If so, the next few months will come and go faster than you think. Use that time to do these 10 things, which will help ensure a smooth transition out of the workforce.

 

Calculate your retirement expenses.

 

First, you need to know whether you can afford retirement. Joseph Roseman, managing partner of financial planning firm O’Dell, Winskfield, Roseman and Shipp in Charlotte, North Carolina, says old planning models assumed people could live on 70 percent of their preretirement income. However, he finds that most new retirees have significantly greater expenses. “For the first five years, you pay as much or more,” Roseman says. Another common mistake is calculating expenses based on current costs and failing to consider how they will change over time. “I’ve seen folks who’ve done their own projections, and they’ve forgotten things like inflation,” says Jayme Meredith, senior vice president and financial advisor with Hefren-Tillotson in Pittsburgh….

 

Read the full article provided by Maryalene LaPonsie here.