/Finance

If you're about 10 years away from retirement, the timing is kind of perfect to start moving some strings. It's not so close that you need to panic, but you definitely can't ignore it and push it down the road anymore. I read a Morningstar article about this and thought it had some solid points worth sharing. One of the things they suggest that makes total sense is not stopping work cold turkey. Going from 40 hours a week to zero is a massive psychological shock, so it probably makes more sense to transition gradually into part-time or consulting. That helps big time since you won't have to immediately start burning through your investment portfolio in year one. You also need to start looking seriously at what you spend right now to figure out how much you'll actually need later. And check the fees on whatever you have invested, because those costs eat up a stupid amount of returns without you even realizing it. Then just map out what's guaranteed, like Social Security or a company pension, to see exactly how much your personal portfolio needs to cover. If you see that your nest egg isn't going to cut it for the lifestyle you want, you still have time to tighten the belt and boost your savings in these final years. The main thing in this home stretch is changing your investment strategy. You don't want to have all your money in risky stuff the exact year you retire, because if the market crashes right then, it's a disaster. The trick is to start shifting about 5 to 10 years' worth of expenses into safe, liquid stuff like cash or short-term bonds, and leave the rest in stocks so it keeps growing and beating inflation. It's a bit of extra work to think about now, but it saves a lot of headaches down the line. The original article is here if you want to take a look: [https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/5-things-do-now-retire-10-years](https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/5-things-do-now-retire-10-years)