Retirement Isn’t One Chapter: Planning for the Phases Ahead 

For many people, preparing for retirement means working toward a date or a number. When can I stop working? How much do I need to save? Will my income support the life I want? 

Those are important questions, but they mostly focus on getting to retirement. What happens after you get there could span decades. 

Priorities change. Spending changes. Where you want to live may change. Even your idea of what retirement should look like may be different at 75 than it was at 60. 

Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning and author of “How to Retire,” joined Savant’s Chief Investment and Advice Officer Zach Ivey on the first episode of “The Real Return” to talk about those changes and why it can be useful to think about retirement not as one long chapter, but as a series of phases. 

Start Before Your Retirement Date 

One idea Benz shares is to think of the years leading up to retirement as a runway, rather than waiting for a specific date to make a major change. 

For some people, that might mean looking at what they still enjoy about their work and what they would rather leave behind. Depending on the job and employer, flexible work, reduced responsibilities, or consulting could make a more gradual transition possible. 

It is also a chance to think about what you want retirement to look like beyond your finances. 

During the conversation, Benz encourages people to think about what they are retiring to, not just what they are retiring from. Work can provide routine, relationships, and a sense of purpose in addition to a paycheck. When work changes or ends, it is worth thinking about what may take its place. 

That could mean more time with family, travel, volunteering, hobbies, continued professional work, or something else entirely. 

Ivey compares the process to putting together a puzzle. It is much easier to arrange the pieces when you know what the picture on the box looks like. In the same way, having an idea of the life you want in retirement can give the financial pieces of your plan more context. 

Retirement Can Look Different Over Time 

The picture you have in mind when you first retire may not be the same one you have 10 or 20 years later. 

Ivey raises the commonly used idea of the “go-go,” “slow-go,” and “no-go” years to illustrate how retirement can change over time. Not everyone will experience retirement in those exact stages, but the concept highlights how priorities and spending may change as you age. 

Early retirement might include more travel, activities, or helping adult children. Later, decisions about housing, health care, long-term care, or living closer to family may become more relevant. 

Where you want to live is one example. Staying in a longtime home may make sense at the beginning of retirement. Changes in mobility, family circumstances, or personal preferences could lead to a different decision later. 

You do not need to know exactly what life will look like decades from now. The point is to recognize that your needs and priorities may change throughout retirement. 

Going From Saving to Spending Can Be an Adjustment 

After years of earning, saving, and investing, retirement introduces a major shift: You may need to start using the money you spent decades accumulating. 

For longtime savers, that can take time to get used to. 

During the conversation, Benz notes that predictable sources of income, such as Social Security or income provided by certain annuities, may feel more comfortable for some retirees to spend than money withdrawn from an investment portfolio. 

That is one reason a retirement “number” does not tell the whole story. The value of your portfolio matters, but so do your expected expenses, sources of income, inflation, taxes, market risk, and how those factors could change over time. 

Your spending may change, too. Someone who wants to travel frequently during the first several years of retirement may have different expenses later. Accounting for those changes is another part of thinking through how you may use your money throughout retirement. 

You Don’t Have to Plan 30 Years at Once 

Trying to picture what your life will look like decades from now is difficult. In the “Real Wrap Up” following the interview, Savant’s Chief Experience Officer Rob Morrison and Managing Partner and Financial Advisor Jack Phelps discuss breaking a long retirement into shorter periods, including looking five years ahead. 

What would you like to have happened during those five years? What would you like your life to look like at the end of them? 

Thinking in shorter periods gives you a chance to focus on what matters to you now and revisit those priorities as your circumstances change. 

Your family situation could change. You might decide to move. Travel could become more or less important. You may decide that you want work to remain part of your life in some capacity. 

If your priorities change, your financial plan may need to change with them. Retirement planning does not have to end when retirement begins. 

Planning for What Comes Next 

It can be difficult to know exactly what every stage of retirement will look like before you get there. 

Preparing for retirement can involve more than reaching a certain age or account balance. It can also mean thinking about the life you want when work is no longer at the center of it, recognizing that those priorities may change and revisiting your financial plan along the way. 

And there is much more to the conversation. In the first episode of “The Real Return,” Ivey and Benz dig deeper into what it means to prepare for retirement, including how market conditions can affect retirement spending decisions, the role of relationships and purpose in retirement, and why the transition from saving to spending can be difficult for longtime savers. 

Hear the full conversation on “The Real Return” to explore these ideas and more, and subscribe to follow future conversations about the financial decisions that shape life before and throughout retirement. 

This is intended for informational purposes only. You should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this document serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Savant. Please consult your investment professional regarding your unique situation.