Will I Run Out of Money If I Retire?
That's the question on pretty much everyone's minds as they near retirement. The right retirement planner can answer it, and all the rest of your scariest questions.
When it comes to planning our retirements, many of us lose sleep over what will happen when we no longer have regular paychecks coming in and have to rely on our investments. We often struggle with making the transition from working full time to retirement — and plenty of pre-retirees can’t even imagine life without a salary.
All of us face a number of questions as we move through our 50s and early 60s.
- Can I quit working?
- Is it OK if I retire?
- I want to retire in the near future, but can I afford to?
- How do I make sure the money I have saved my entire life is going to last?
- Do I have enough saved?
- When should I start taking Social Security?
- How much should I take from my portfolio?
We all have questions, and none of us knows all the answers.
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.
Income is the answer
That’s where a good retirement planner can help. Simply put, the cornerstone of any good retirement strategy is income planning. So much of our retirement hopes depend on how we manage our money, especially since most of us want to continue living our current lifestyles while in retirement. We want to stop working, have enough income to remain comfortable even without paychecks coming in, and, most important, know we are financially secure. We want to know we are on the right path and ensure we don’t outlive our money, something that is increasingly common as people live longer.
No matter how good we are at managing money, many of us simply don’t understand how much we are going to need to withdraw from our portfolios to enjoy a comfortable retirement. We look at our expenses from our working years and come up with a guess.
But, even with all our number crunching, we often underestimate how much we will actually need to sustain our lifestyles in retirement. Too often, we tell ourselves that we will spend less in retirement, but that’s not the case for many of us, especially if we want to travel or do things we never had a chance to do while working. We also do not factor in rising medical expenses and long-term care costs.
Ensuring a comfortable retirement
All of this underscores why a retirement planner should be consulted. A good one can offer a realistic appraisal of your finances and your lifestyle to ensure you enjoy a comfortable retirement, instead of just giving you strategies to withdraw a certain amount of money each month from your portfolio.
A retirement planner also can offer you a survivability analysis, which provides answers on what happens to Social Security, pensions and other sources of income that could be lost when a spouse passes away. As unpleasant as it is to think about, you need to consider what will happen if a spouse is left on his or her own and factor that into your plan.
An experienced and knowledgeable retirement planner also can help you turn your savings into income. Many of us have structured our income plans for retirement on the assumption that the stock market will consistently go up. Of course, as anyone who remembers 2008 can tell you, that’s not going to happen. You need to make sure your retirement can survive the volatility that remains a core part of the market. A retirement planner can help you examine how much downside there is to your investments and how much risk you can manage, helping ensure you have a secure retirement. He or she can stress test your current financial plan and analyze where you might be vulnerable.
By looking at your income and analyzing your lifestyle needs, retirement planners can help you find the right path to a secure retirement. When you draw closer to ending your career and starting on this next step of life, you should consult a retirement planner.
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.

Tad Hill is the founder and president of Freedom Financial Group, a retirement planning firm in Birmingham, Ala. Hill is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®) and a Registered Financial Consultant (RFC). His clients are those who are either already retired or who are within five or 10 years of retirement.
-
To Keep Your Retirement on Track, Control These Three LeversThink of investing in terms of time, savings and risk. By carefully monitoring all three, you'll keep your retirement plans heading in the right direction.
-
Stocks Hit Fresh Highs Ahead of the Fed As Earnings Pump Optimism: Stock Market TodaySHW and UNH were two of the best Dow Jones stocks Tuesday, thanks to solid earnings reports, and MSFT closed with a $4 trillion market cap.
-
I'm a CPA: Control These Three Levers to Keep Your Retirement on TrackThink of investing in terms of time, savings and risk. By carefully monitoring all three, you'll keep your retirement plans heading in the right direction.
-
Debunking Three Myths About Defined Outcome ETFs (aka Buffered ETFs)Defined outcome ETFs offer a middle ground between traditional equity and fixed-income investments, helping provide downside protection and upside participation.
-
This Is Why Judge Judy Says Details Are Important in Contracts: This Contract Had HolesA couple's disastrous experience with reclaimed wood flooring led to safety hazards and a lesson in the critical importance of detailed contracts.
-
A Lesson From the School of Rock (and a Financial Adviser) as the Markets Go Around and AroundIt's hard to hold your nerve during a downturn, but next time the markets take a tumble, remember this quick rock 'n' roll tutorial and aim to stay invested.
-
I'm a Financial Pro: This Is How You Can Guide Your Heirs Through the Great Wealth TransferFocus on creating a clear estate plan, communicating your wishes early to avoid family conflict, leaving an ethical will with your values and wisdom and preparing them practically and emotionally.
-
To Reap the Full Benefits of Tax-Loss Harvesting, Consider This Investment Strategist's StepsTax-loss harvesting can offer more advantages for investors than tax relief. Over the long term, it can potentially help you maintain a robust portfolio and build wealth.
-
Social Security Wisdom From a Financial Adviser Receiving Benefits HimselfYou don't know what you don't know, and with Social Security, that can be a costly problem for retirees — one that can last a lifetime.
-
Take It From a Tax Expert: The True Measure of Your Retirement Readiness Isn't the Size of Your Nest EggA sizable nest egg is a good start, but your plan should include two to five years of basic expenses in conservative, liquid accounts as a buffer against market volatility, inflation and taxes.