What to Consider for Life After Retirement

A message from your credit union’s financial planning partner

Retirement isn’t a single decision. It’s a series of smaller decisions that, made in the right order and at the right time, add up to a secure and comfortable next chapter of life. As a CFP® professional working directly with credit union members, I sit down with people every week who are approaching retirement and ask the same honest question: “Am I actually ready?”

The answer can depend on more than your account balance. Below are the areas I encourage every member to think through before your life after retirement begins: typically, five to ten years out.

1. Know Your After Retirement Income Sources

Before you can plan a retirement budget, you need a clear picture of where your income will actually come from. For most people, that means some combination of:

• Social Security
• A pension, if you have one
• Retirement accounts like a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA
• Personal savings and investments
• Part-time work or a phased retirement plan

Each of these has its own rules, tax treatment, and timing considerations. Coordinating them well, rather than tapping accounts in a random order, can meaningfully change how long your money lasts.

2. Understand Your Social Security Timing Options

You can claim Social Security as early as 62 or delay it until 70, and the difference in your monthly benefit can be substantial. There is no single “right age” for everyone. The best claiming age depends on your health, your other income sources, whether you are married, and how long you expect to need income from your portfolio.

This can be one of the most consequential and most permanent decisions in retirement planning, so it deserves real analysis rather than a guess.

3. Plan for Healthcare Before Medicare Begins

If you retire before age 65, you will need a bridge strategy for healthcare coverage until Medicare eligibility. Even after Medicare begins, most retirees benefit from evaluating supplemental coverage, prescription drug plans, and out of pocket cost estimates. Healthcare is one of the largest and most underestimated expenses after retirement, and it deserves its own line item in your plan, not an afterthought.

4. Review Your After Retirement Investment Allocation

The investment mix that helped you build wealth during your working years is often not the right mix for drawing income from that wealth. As retirement approaches, it’s worth reviewing:

• How much risk your portfolio is taking relative to your time horizon
• Whether you have enough set aside in stable, accessible assets to avoid selling investments during a market downturn
• Whether your accounts are positioned to support a sustainable withdrawal strategy

5. Think About Taxes, Not Just Savings

How your income is taxed in retirement can be just as important as how much you have saved. Required minimum distributions, Roth conversion opportunities, and the order in which you draw from taxable, tax deferred, and tax-free accounts can all influence your long-term tax bill. A little planning here, especially in the years before required distributions begin, can make a real difference over the course of retirement.

6. Update Your Estate and Beneficiary Documents

Many people are surprised to learn that beneficiary designations, not a will, determine who inherits most retirement accounts. As you approach retirement, it’s a good time to confirm that your beneficiaries, power of attorney, and any estate documents reflect your current wishes and family situation.

7. Define What Life After Retirement Actually Looks Like to You

Finally, the financial side of retirement only works well when it’s built around a clear picture of how you want to spend your time. Will you travel, relocate, work part time? Your spending needs, and therefore your income plan, will look different depending on the lifestyle you’re funding.

A Partnership Built for Members

As your credit union’s financial planning partner, my role is to help you connect these pieces into one coordinated plan, not a collection of separate decisions. Whether retirement is two years away or ten, the earlier we start this conversation, the more options you have.

If you would like to talk through where you stand, consider scheduling an introductory phone call or reach out to our office at 216-621-4644 X1607.

Written By: Nichole Coyle, CFP®, CSLP®

Managing Partner, Financial Planner

2300 St. Clair Ave NE

Cleveland, OH 44114

216.474.0379 x1607 office

330.607.2213 cell

nichole@impactcfp.com

Securities offered through Cetera Wealth Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, a registered investment adviser. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. Cetera is not affiliated with the financial institution where investment services are offered. Investments are: Not FDIC/NCUSIF insured * May lose value * Not financial institution guaranteed * Not a deposit * Not insured by a federal government agency. Some IRAs have contribution limitations and tax consequences for early withdrawals. For complete details, contact your tax advisor or attorney. Branch phone number 440-617-6427

The opinions contained in this material are those of the author, and not a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell investment products. This information is from sources believed to be reliable, but Cetera Wealth Services, LLC cannot guarantee or represent that it is accurate or complete.

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