Planning Ahead for Retirement
What would your life look like if you retired at 60, 65, 70, or 75? The answer starts with the money you live on today. Then you can see how income, health coverage, housing, care, and your daily routine might change when work ends.
You do not have to settle on a date now. This page is a heads-up about the choices worth examining while you have time to make them.
1. Start with your finances today
Find your current monthly income after taxes and your real monthly spending. Include the less frequent bills too: insurance, home repairs, car costs, travel, and help you give family. Note your debts, savings, retirement accounts, pension information, and what you save each month.
Start with one useful number: What does it cost to run your household now? That is the starting point for a retirement estimate, even though some costs will change.
2. Estimate the income that will replace your paycheck
List each likely source: Social Security, a pension, part-time work, and money you may draw from savings or retirement accounts. If you plan with a spouse or partner, include both incomes. Note when each source begins, whether it changes later, and what taxes may leave you with to spend.
Use your own Social Security estimate to compare starting ages. Check your pension estimate and account statements too. A balance in a retirement account is not the same thing as a monthly paycheck; you need a plan for how long withdrawals may last.
3. See what your retirement age changes
The year you stop working affects how long your savings may need to last, when income starts, and what you pay for health coverage. Stopping work and starting Social Security are separate decisions.
- Around 60: You may have more years free from work, but need income before Social Security retirement benefits can begin at 62 and health coverage before Medicare eligibility, generally at 65.
- In your mid-60s: Compare the cost of continuing employer coverage or replacing it, Medicare timing, and the monthly Social Security amount at the age you would claim. Full retirement age depends on birth year.
- Around 70: Waiting to claim Social Security after full retirement age can increase the monthly benefit up to age 70, if it fits your circumstances.
- At 75: More years of work may mean more earnings and savings and fewer years drawing on them. Delaying Social Security beyond 70 does not add further delayed retirement credits. Consider health, energy, and what you want time to do outside work.
Try two or three realistic dates using your own numbers. If you might retire before 65, price the health coverage gap. If you plan to work past 65, check how your employer plan and Medicare work together before choosing when to enroll. Medicare’s starting guide explains the different paths.
4. Will your home and location fit retirement?
Do you own a house or condo, rent an apartment, or live another way? Count the full cost: mortgage or rent, property taxes, insurance, HOA fees, utilities, maintenance, and transportation. Consider future rent increases or major repairs. Also look beyond the front door: groceries, health care, friends, family, and ways to get around if driving becomes difficult.
Compare staying put with a smaller place nearby or a move to another area. Include selling and moving costs, new housing costs, insurance, taxes, travel to see loved ones, and access to services. A cheaper property does not always make for a cheaper or easier life.
Where do retirees do best? AARP’s 2024 survey found that 75% of adults 50 and older wanted to stay in their current home and 73% in their community. Bankrate’s 2025 survey-informed ranking favored New Hampshire, Maine, Wyoming, Vermont, and Idaho. WalletHub’s 2026 ranking put Wyoming, Florida, South Dakota, Colorado, and Minnesota on top. Different methods produce different lists. Use them to find communities to investigate, then check actual local costs and support. The AARP Livability Index and BEA regional price data can help.
Sources: AARP survey; Bankrate; WalletHub.
5. Leave room for health and future care
Begin with regular health expenses: coverage premiums, prescriptions, visits, dental and vision care, and what you pay when you receive care. Then plan for the possibility of needing more support later. There is no assumption that you will need every kind of care.
- Help at home: Rides, meals, cleaning, and occasional or regular personal care may make staying home possible.
- Assisted living: Housing, meals, and help with daily activities may come together in a residential community. Check what the fee includes.
- Nursing care: A long-term nursing home stay involves more ongoing support. Short-term skilled rehabilitation after illness is a different service.
How would it be paid for? Medicare generally does not cover ongoing help with daily activities at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing home, although qualifying short-term skilled care may be covered. Medicaid may help people who meet their state’s financial and care rules. Savings, income, and qualifying long-term care insurance are other possible sources.
For a sense of scale, CareScout’s 2025 national medians were $35 an hour for a non-medical caregiver, $6,200 a month for assisted living, and $10,798 a month for a private nursing home room. Those are examples, not local quotes or a prediction of your needs. Check costs in the area where you might live and read Medicare’s coverage explanation.
6. What will fill your days?
A job often provides a schedule, people to talk with, and a sense that your time has a purpose. When work ends, what will replace those things? Picture an ordinary Tuesday: who will you see, what will get you out of the house, and what will you look forward to?
That might be time with family, part-time work, volunteering, a class, a hobby, travel, or a slower pace. If you have a spouse or partner, talk about time together and time apart. Try an activity before you retire to learn what you actually enjoy. Add any cost to your spending estimate. You do not need to fill every hour.
Make your first retirement picture
Put a simple comparison on one page for your present life and two possible retirement ages:
- Monthly income after taxes at each age.
- Monthly spending, including your housing choice and health coverage.
- What savings you might need to draw from and for how many years.
- A separate note for how you might handle future help at home or residential care.
- What you want your ordinary week to feel like.
If there is a gap, you have choices to explore while you still have time: saving more, paying down debt, changing your housing plan, working longer, or choosing a different date for benefits. Start with estimates, then refine them with benefit statements and local costs. This is a plan to revisit, not a test to pass.