Ensure your Lifestyle!  Most people don’t seriously plan for retirement until approximately 10 years or less before their desired retirement date.  In fact, the majority don’t really understand or think through the whole idea or retirement until it’s entirely too late.  I can sum it all up in one sentence.  “You only need to be concerned with how much income you need in retirement.”  As long as you have enough income to live the way you want to live during retirement, you will be a happy person.  The problem arises when you don’t plan far enough ahead to Ensure your Lifestyle in retirement.
For instance, if you never save anything to supplement your retirement income, your best hope for retirement income is Social Security Benefits or keep working.  Some people cannot physically continue to work after retirement age due to health issues.  So, will SS be enough to Ensure your Lifestyle?  That depends!

Many people that I consult with at or near retirement age fear that what they have saved won’t be enough.  That depends! It depends on your cost of living and the type of lifestyle you expect to have.  I had a client once who grew up in the 60’s and had not done a good job of saving, say to me that she was going to sell her house and buy a VW micro-bus and travel around the United States for the rest of her life.  Groovy!  The cool thing about it was, her standard of living, after calculating the costs and what she could get from the sale of her house, would allow her to survive just fine until about age 86 without running out of money.  I bet she will be one of the happiest clients I’ve ever had.

Remember, the most important priority is to match your lifestyle with your income, or your income with your lifestyle.  If you still have enough time to make adjustments to your saving habits, do a calculation of what you might need to spend at age 66 or 67, or whatever age you expect to actually quit working and retire.  After you have that number, get together with a good Financial Advisor and work out a plan to make sure you have enough savings at your retirement date to provide the income you need to cover all the costs.

It’s your future, and most likely you will live for 20-30 years in retirement, if you plan well.  Plan Well!  Ensure your Lifestyle!