There are three elements to keep in mind with every retirement decision you are making. This is an approach to use when you are dealing with income, tax management, estate planning, or investment choices.
1. Exit Strategy
First, with every decision, think about your exit strategy. If I buy an investment or set up a legal plan and later I decide I don’t like it, what is my exit strategy? How do I get out of this? Even with your current investments, what is the exit strategy? How do you know it has done well? How do you know when it is time to change? How do you know when it is time to add? Know your exit strategy.
2. Control (Freedom)
In every decision that you make, you should be asking yourself, how is this decision giving me more control or more freedom? The primary intention of an Estate Plan is to give you control. It gives you control of who has the privilege of helping you as you age, and it gives you control of where your stuff goes when you get your promotion (pass on). Paying attention to your income tax costs can allow you to control your tax cost.
3. Adapt and Adjust Your Retirement Plan
The third concept is the most important as you talk about retirement. We’ve been retired for a long time now. We are trying to make sure that we are doing everything right. This point especially comes into play as you age. How am I able to adapt and adjust over time? Things change, depending on how you age. You may not age as well as what you had hoped. Retirement plans can change depending on your family situation. Changes can occur if something is happening with one of your children, your grandchildren, or your spouse.
With all of these issues, you want to be able to adapt and adjust over time. With every decision you make, you want to be mindful of having more options and have more ability to adapt and adjust as you age.
