Countdown to Retirement

published 3 January 2019

For most of your life, retirement may seem so far off that you give it only a passing thought when glancing at your 401(k) statement. Your twenties, thirties and forties are likely preoccupied with more-pressing life events—building a career, getting married, buying a house, raising children and saving for college.

But once you enter your fifties and retirement is no longer a fuzzy concept looming on the horizon, it’s important to make sure you’ll be prepared for the day when you wrap up your career and move on to the next phase of your life. As retirement comes into focus, use this list of financial steps to follow 10 years, five years and one year before retirement to prepare for the transition. For each time frame, we’ve also listed key moves to make in your portfolio.

COUNTDOWN TO RETIREMENT: 10 Years Away | 5 Years Away | 1 Year Away

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Ambrose joined Kiplinger in June 2017 from AARP, where she was a writer and senior money editor for more than three years. Before that, she was a personal finance columnist and reporter at The Baltimore Sun, and a reporter and assistant business editor at The Indianapolis Star. Ambrose has a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a bachelor's degree in art history from Indiana University.