Planning for retirement is about more than just saving—it’s about building a future you can feel confident in. If you’re approaching your final working years, now is the perfect time to take control of your financial future with a plan that truly supports your goals.
Retirement may still be a few years away, but if you’re starting to seriously think about life after work, you’ve likely entered a new financial phase: pre-retirement. This transitional period—typically five to ten years before you retire—is a critical time to shift your financial mindset. Rather than focusing on accumulation, your attention should begin turning toward protecting what you’ve built, generating reliable income, and preparing for long-term stability.
Pre-retirees often find themselves facing more complex financial decisions than at any other point in life. Market fluctuations, changing tax laws, rising healthcare costs, and the need for estate planning all converge at once. Without a strategic, well-rounded plan in place, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or underprepared. That’s why this stage calls for a proactive, structured approach to planning that accounts for every piece of your financial puzzle.
So what does it mean to be a pre-retiree?
A pre-retiree is a person who is in their final years of their working life, and who is transitioning from accumulating wealth to preserving it and generating income for their post-retirement life.
If this describes you, you should know that when it comes to financial planning, you definitely have different needs from both earlier career employees and current retirees.
This is because, as recent stock market instabilities have evinced, pre-retirees are often in the most complex and challenging financial position, and can be the most susceptible to unexpected personal or market changes without adequate planning.
So if you are in this position, and you are looking to retire in the next five to ten years, you need to make sure you are taking a multi-pronged and comprehensive approach to retirement planning during these critical years.
While there are almost endless ways to do this, many financial experts recommend thinking about the five major pillars of retirement planning: income, investment, tax, healthcare and legacy planning.
If you can address each of these areas, you should be able to approach the coming years with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind; and with the financial standing you need to enjoy a long, happy and healthy retirement.
As a spokesperson for Goldstone Financial Group, a leading financial advisor headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace near Chicago, said, “The most important thing for pre-retirees is that they will be actually able to enjoy their hard-earned cash after life in the workforce. Retirees deserve not only to survive but to thrive and truly enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
To make sure you can enjoy this kind of retirement, one of the best first steps you could take is sitting down with an experienced advisor to evaluate your current financial situation and create a tailored strategy to help you get to the financial position you wish to be in.
A good advisor will take the time to understand your lifestyle goals, family dynamics, and long-term needs, and help you assess whether your current savings, income streams, and investments align with those objectives.
Beyond any specific service offerings, you should look for trust, transparency and open communication in your chosen financial planner, which are the cornerstones of good financial planning.
