CarlosBarquero \/ Shutterstock <\/p>\n
Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.<\/p>\n
You prepare for retirement your whole life \u2014 maybe as far back as your teenage years and your first paycheck. You put cash aside. You invest. You live within your means, and when the time comes, you downsize. So are you really, truly ready to retire?<\/p>\n
That depends.<\/p>\n
According to an April 2025 study by Northwestern Mutual, Americans believe they need to save around $1.26 million for a comfortable retirement. While this figure is $200K less than what was reported last year, 25% of Americans say they have one year or less worth of income in retirement savings.<\/p>\n
Even with decades of planning and saving, surprises are likely to come your way that first year of retirement.<\/p>\n
Here are five strategies retirees \u2014 and those about to take the plunge \u2014 should consider following.<\/p>\n
Even if you have a smart plan for retirement, there\u2019s still an adjustment period, where leaving the labor force means far less money coming in and more going out. And let\u2019s face it, pre-retirement habits and assumptions can be difficult to change.<\/p>\n
Make sure to look over your budget before you retire, not after. Where and what do you spend on? What\u2019s your projected cash inflow?<\/p>\n
Crunching these numbers might feel overwhelming, especially if it looks like you\u2019re going to have to make some big changes to your lifestyle, so it\u2019s a smart idea to sit down with a financial advisor and take stock of your situation.<\/p>\n
If you don’t have one yet, researching and calling multiple advisors can be a hassle, but there are easier ways to find one fast.<\/p>\n
Advisor.com<\/a> connects you with vetted fiduciary financial advisors near you. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about your finances, and Adivsor.com matches you with a short list of certified experts to choose from.<\/p>\n You can then set up an introductory meeting with no obligation to hire<\/a>.<\/p>\n No one ever feels ready to start thinking about life insurance.<\/p>\n But the truth is, the younger you are when you purchase a policy, the lower your premiums will be. Life insurance can be used by your loved ones to make up for lost income, pay outstanding debts, cover unexpected expenses and pay for funeral costs.<\/p>\n With Ethos<\/a>, you can get term life insurance in just five minutes \u2014 no medical exams or blood tests required.<\/p>\n And, you can get up to $2 million in coverage, starting at just $2\/day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more: Here are the 7 top habits of \u2018quietly wealthy\u2019 Americans<\/a> \u2014 how many do you follow?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you take your Social Security starting at age 62, you\u2019ll miss out on additional funds you\u2019d reap at a later retirement age, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).<\/p>\n If you wait until you hit 66, the SSA calculates that you\u2019d receive $1,000 instead of $750. Further, you could receive delayed retirement credits should you wait until full retirement age, which stops when you reach 70.<\/p>\n To be sure, managing your bills might not make deferment possible, but you may be able to strengthen your savings by regularly contributing to a retirement account.<\/p>\n You know that an IRA is one of the best savings vehicles for retirement and can help you to be less reliant on Social Security benefits when the time for retirement comes. However, you may not know there are different types of IRAs.<\/p>\n A gold IRA is one option for building up your retirement fund with an inflation-hedging asset.<\/p>\n Opening a gold IRA with the help of Goldco<\/a> allows you to invest in gold and other precious metals in physical forms while also providing the significant tax advantages of an IRA.<\/p>\n With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers free shipping and access to a library of retirement resources. Plus, the company will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious whether this is the right investment to diversify your portfolio, you can download your free gold and silver information guide today<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want to travel? It\u2019s a delicious luxury but it\u2019s incredibly expensive when you factor in food, lodging, flights and frequency of trips. Want to renovate your home or buy a seaside getaway? Interest rates on first and second mortgages these days are through the roof.<\/p>\n Before you break open the coffers and live it up, get a sense of your \u201cnice to haves\u201d versus your \u201cneed to haves.\u201d You can also take steps to lower the cost of those \u201cneed to haves\u201d so that you\u2019ve got more money leftover for the fun stuff.<\/p>\n One beneficial way to lower those costs is to shop around for a better deal on your home insurance. OfficialHomeInsurance<\/a>, an easy-to-use platform, helps you compare home insurance rates in your area.<\/p>\n Shopping for a better policy fast and easy: all you have to do is answer a few quick questions<\/a> about yourself and your home, and you\u2019ll see get a list of quotes tailored for your needs.<\/p>\n A report by MarketWatch found that 82% of Americans struggle to keep the monthly cost of car ownership below the recommended threshold of 10% of their monthly income.<\/p>\n When you use OfficialCarInsurance<\/a>, you can ensure that you\u2019re cutting your insurance costs down to size, and keeping them within the scope of your fixed income by comparing available policies and prices.<\/p>\n Getting started with a quote is easy: When you enter your age, your home state, the type of vehicle you drive and your driving record, OfficialCarInsurance will sort through the leading insurance companies in your area, including top providers like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO<\/a>. You can then easily compare rates and choose the policy that best suits your needs and budget.<\/p>\n The platform is 100% free to use and it can help you ensure you aren\u2019t overpaying for insurance every month.<\/p>\n Once it\u2019s time to retire, many folks throw their savings plan out the window of the cruise ship or dream home. That\u2019s the wrong way to go. Saving not only offers a buffer but also a means to make even more aspirations possible.<\/p>\n If you once put 10% of each paycheck aside, you could now aim for 10% of each Social Security check. Even just 5% is better than nothing, especially if you invest it wisely.<\/p>\n Yes, the stock market may be rocky these days, but there are other ways to invest for your future than just dumping your savings into stocks.<\/p>\n Even small amounts of money can grow over time with tools like Acorns<\/a>, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.<\/p>\n Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: link your cards, and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference \u2014 your spare change \u2014 into a diversified portfolio. With Acorns, you can invest in a dividend ETF with as little as $5 \u2014 and, if you sign up today, Acorns will add a $20 bonus<\/a> to help you begin your investment journey.<\/p>\n