How and when to retire may be the most complicated financial decision that most of will have to face. There are a number of variables, many of which require estimates that are subject to unexpected future events. Perhaps the most difficult factors include, estimating your (and a partner’s) life expectancy, inflation and investment returns over an extended period. There are many other factors that should be understood in order to determine an appropriate retirement strategy.
Creating a viable and satisfactory retirement plan is very personal. While there are any number of generic recommendations available, from a wide range of sources, individual circumstances and objectives are so varied that retirement is not a do-it-yourself project, based on generalizations. In most situations, individual-specific advice has the best chance of producing the most workable solution.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA