Making It All Work
Tips to help your retirement-spending plan run smoothly.
Here are some tips to make your retirement-spending plan run smoothly:
- Keep at least six months' to one year's worth of funds in a money-market account and other liquid investments to draw on for living expenses.
- Consolidate investments in a cash-management-type account, such as a SchwabOne account. That makes it easier for you and for your heirs.
- Organize information about your finances. Books such as Everything Your Heirs Need to Know (Dearborn Financial, $19.95) or computer software such as Personal RecordKeeper (Nolo Press, $35.97) can help.
- Finally, review your entire plan at least once a year or when there is a death, divorce, new tax law or major change in the stock market.
Which Money to Spend First?
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
-
Medicare Prior Authorization Expands to Ambulatory Surgical Centers
Starting in December, Medicare will begin requiring prior authorization for certain procedures when performed in ambulatory surgical centers.
-
Frontier’s GoWild! Annual Flight Pass: Is the $299 All‑You‑Can‑Fly Deal Worth It?
Frontier’s GoWild! Pass offers unlimited flights for $299, but blackout dates, standby rules, and fees apply. See who benefits and if it’s worth it.
-
AI Start-ups Are Rolling in Cash
The Kiplinger Letter Investors are plowing record sums of money into artificial intelligence start-ups. Even as sales grow swiftly, losses are piling up for AI firms.
-
What is AI Worth to the Economy?
The Letter Spending on AI is already boosting GDP, but will the massive outlays being poured into the technology deliver faster economic growth in the long run?
-
Kiplinger Special Report: Business Costs for 2026
Economic Forecasts Fresh forecasts for 2026, to help you plan ahead and prepare a budget on a range of business costs, from Kiplinger's Letters team.
-
Trump-Era Regulations Will Broaden Access to Crypto
The Kiplinger Letter The president wants to make the U.S. the leader in digital assets.
-
Breaking China's Stranglehold on Rare Earth Elements
The Letter China is using its near-monopoly on critical minerals to win trade concessions. Can the U.S. find alternate supplies?
-
America's Surprising Strengths in Manufacturing and Exports
The Kiplinger Letter Despite common perceptions that the U.S. doesn't build things anymore, American factories are still hard at work. A special report from The Kiplinger Letter.
-
The Economic Impact of the US-China Trade War
The Letter The US-China trade war will impact US consumers and business. The decoupling process could be messy.
-
What DOGE is Doing Now
The Kiplinger Letter As Musk's DOGE pursues its ambitious agenda, uncertainty and legal challenges are mounting — causing frustration for Trump.