10 Years Before Retirement: A Complete Retirement Planning Checklist”

What to Do 10 Years Before Retirement: A Practical Planning Checklist

The final decade before retirement is often called the “critical window.” Decisions made during these ten years can have an outsized impact on your financial security, lifestyle, and peace of mind in retirement. While retirement planning should begin much earlier, this period is when strategy becomes execution.

Below is a comprehensive 10-year retirement planning checklist designed to help you move from preparation to confidence.

1. Define What Retirement Really Looks Like for You

Before focusing on numbers, define your vision. Will you travel extensively, downsize, relocate, start a small business, or work part-time? Retirement is no longer a one-size-fits-all concept. Clarifying how you want to live will shape every financial decision that follows, from income needs to healthcare planning.

2. Calculate Your Retirement Income Target

Estimate how much annual income you’ll need in retirement. A common guideline is 70–80% of pre-retirement income, but this varies based on lifestyle, debt, and healthcare costs. Include housing, food, insurance, taxes, travel, hobbies, and a buffer for unexpected expenses. This number becomes your financial north star.

3. Stress-Test Your Savings

Review your current retirement accounts—401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, brokerage accounts—and project their value at retirement using conservative assumptions. Run different scenarios: market downturns, longer life expectancy, or higher inflation. If there’s a gap between projected savings and income needs, now is the time to correct course.

4. Maximize Contributions and Catch-Up Options

The last ten years are prime time to accelerate savings. Take full advantage of employer matches and IRS catch-up contributions available after age 50 for 401(k)s and IRAs. These additional contributions can significantly boost retirement readiness, especially when combined with disciplined investing.

5. Reduce and Restructure Debt

Entering retirement with high-interest debt is risky. Prioritize paying off credit cards, personal loans, and auto debt. Evaluate whether carrying a mortgage into retirement makes sense for your situation. Reducing fixed obligations increases flexibility and lowers the income you’ll need later.

6. Refine Your Investment Strategy

As retirement approaches, your portfolio should evolve. This doesn’t mean abandoning growth, but it does mean reducing excessive risk. Diversify across asset classes, rebalance regularly, and ensure you have sufficient liquidity. A well-designed strategy balances growth, income, and capital preservation.

7. Plan for Healthcare and Long-Term Care

Healthcare is one of the largest and most underestimated retirement expenses. Understand when Medicare begins, what it covers, and where supplemental insurance may be needed. Consider long-term care planning—whether through insurance, self-funding, or hybrid strategies—to protect assets and family members.

8. Optimize Social Security Timing

Deciding when to claim Social Security is a strategic choice, not just an age decision. Claiming early reduces benefits permanently, while delaying increases them. Evaluate your health, marital status, income needs, and other assets. Coordinating Social Security with other income sources can materially improve lifetime outcomes.

9. Review Tax Strategy and Withdrawal Order

Taxes don’t disappear in retirement—they shift. Plan how and when to draw from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts. Roth conversions, required minimum distributions (RMDs), and capital gains planning should be addressed well before retirement begins to avoid costly surprises.

10. Update Estate and Legacy Plans

Your final decade before retirement is also the time to revisit wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations. Ensure your documents reflect current wishes and tax laws. If leaving a legacy is important, clarify how assets will transfer efficiently and according to your intent.

Retirement planning isn’t about guessing the future—it’s about building flexibility, resilience, and control. The last ten years before retirement offer a powerful opportunity to align your finances with the life you want to live. With a clear checklist and proactive decisions, retirement can be less about worry and more about freedom.

Schedule your appontment with me by clicking here. Together we will evaluate your personal housing goals.

Warm regards,
Sharon Ben-David
Your Safe Money Lady™
Licensed Mortgage Broker | Certified Professional Retirement Planning Adviser
NMLS #2308601
Protecting Your Nest Egg, Inc.
📞 (954) 261-5200

Because your home is more than a mortgage — it’s your peace of mind.