US News and World Report had a little piece where they discussed some good New Year’s resolutions related to retirement and I thought that I’d put each of them through their paces. The eight retirement resolution was to plan for the financial transition into retirement.
It’s important to develop a plan to transition your retirement savings into a stream of retirement income. “It’s the way you take it out that will determine how much you and your family keep and how much goes to the government,” says Slott. “If you take it out the wrong way, it all goes back to the government.” A financial adviser can help you determine the most tax-advantaged way to withdraw money from retirement accounts. You’ll also want to double-check the beneficiary forms on all your retirement accounts. “The beneficiary form is the key document that’s going to determine who gets all this money you’ve saved,” says Slott. “Most people think that somebody else took care of this, and then they are surprised to find out that they didn’t.”
Retiring is difficult and it’s important that you establish a plan for your finances before you make the move to retire so that when you do start tapping your savings, you don’t make the mistake of drawing it down too quickly or too slowly.
Another important tip they recommend is to double check the named beneficiary on your accounts the event of your departure, checking the named beneficiary is something I discussed before in the past.
Source: US News and World Report