Knowing it’s time to retire can be a challenge for most people. Questions abound: Am I able to work a couple more years? What will I do with my free time? How much income can I expect from my savings and social security?

In short—whether you’ve had enough, and if you have enough?

Step 1:

Run a couple income scenarios before you decide when to retire. Most people don’t like doing their own projections, they simply come to us with a stack of retirement account statements and a social security estimate. Projecting retirement income over multiple years provides guidance and clarity, which helps determine the best timing for retirement.

Step 2:

Evaluate your investments for risk and income. We’ve met so many people who literally never changed their retirement investment holdings, and they still have the risk level of a 30-year-old. As people get close to retiring, they usually change their investment goals from growth to current income. If you’ve done an excellent job of saving and investing over your lifetime, you might not need to continue to dial up the risk. Why keep playing a game you’ve already won?

Step 3:

Look at the burn rate. If you’ve got debt payments and a lifestyle fitting for someone making 6 figures, but you’re retiring to 50k, something must give. Controlling expenses in retirement is the key to making sure you don’t run out of money. Making a list of current cash flows is a great place to start looking for ways to control future spending.

Retiring from a life’s work can be bittersweet, and overwhelming to grasp. However, with a little preparation and planning, the money aspect doesn’t have to seem so complicated.