5 Retirement Prep Questions for Retiring Within 10 Years
The decade before retirement is often the most consequential stretch of your financial life. If you’re within 10 years of leaving the workforce, retirement prep isn’t something to get to eventually. The decisions you make now about savings, investments, taxes, healthcare, and legacy shapes everything that comes after. Understanding where you actually stand in the financial planning process is crucial.
Below we provide five direct questions to work through that reveal where a retirement plan is solid and where the gaps are hiding.
Question 1: Am I Saving Enough to Maintain My Current Lifestyle?
The honest answer requires knowing your number. Specifically, what monthly income you'll need in retirement and whether your current savings trajectory can produce it.
Start by mapping every income source you anticipate in retirement:
- Social Security: Your benefit amount depends on when you claim. Claiming at 62 reduces your monthly benefit by up to 30% compared to waiting until your full retirement age. Delaying to 70 increases it by 8% per year beyond full retirement age.
- Pension income: If applicable, confirm whether it's a single or joint survivor benefit and how inflation affects it over time.
- Portfolio withdrawals: A commonly used starting point is a 4% annual withdrawal rate from a diversified portfolio.
- Part-time work or business income: If you plan to phase into retirement rather than stopping work abruptly, factor in how long that income continues.
If the gap between your projected income and your projected expenses is significant, the next 10 years are your most powerful window to close it.
Question 2: Are My Investments Aligned With My Retirement Timeline and Risk Tolerance?
Your portfolio should reflect where you are in life, not where you were a decade ago.
As retirement approaches, the cost of a major market loss increases significantly because you have less time to recover before you begin drawing income. That doesn't mean abandoning growth entirely. A retirement that could last 25 to 30 years still requires assets that outpace inflation over time.
A practical framework is to think in time segments:
- Assets needed in the first five years of retirement should be positioned conservatively.
- Assets needed in years 6 through 15 can carry moderate risk.
- Assets beyond that horizon can remain growth-oriented.
Question 3: Do I Have a Tax-Efficient Retirement Withdrawal Strategy?
A tax-efficient retirement withdrawal strategy helps determine the order, timing, and source of your withdrawals so taxes do not unnecessarily reduce your retirement income.
The sequence in which you draw from different account types has a direct impact on how long your money lasts and how much you pay the IRS along the way.
A few key considerations for the decade before retirement:
- Roth conversions: Converting traditional IRA or 401(k) funds to a Roth in years when your income is lower can reduce future required minimum distributions and create tax-free income in retirement
- RMD planning: Required minimum distributions begin at age 73 and can push retirees into higher tax brackets if not anticipated.
- Account placement: Holding tax-inefficient assets like bonds and REITs in tax-deferred accounts while keeping tax-efficient investments in taxable accounts can meaningfully reduce your overall tax drag over time
Question 4: Have I Planned for Healthcare and Long-Term Care Costs?
Planning for healthcare and long-term care costs means preparing for medical and care expenses that Medicare doesn’t fully cover. Medicare helps cover hospital and doctor services, but it leaves gaps in areas like dental, vision, hearing, and most long-term care needs.
Because long-term care is typically not covered, it requires separate planning for services such as in-home care, assisted living, or skilled nursing care. These costs can vary widely depending on health and longevity.
Common approaches include long-term care insurance, hybrid insurance policies, or setting aside dedicated assets to self-fund potential care needs.
Question 5: Is My Estate Plan Current and Clearly Communicated to My Heirs?
An estate plan that hasn’t been reviewed in the last three to five years may no longer reflect your current wishes. Beyond the documents themselves, the question of whether your heirs know what exists, and where to find it, is equally important.
A complete estate plan for a pre-retiree with significant assets should include:
- A will or revocable living trust that clearly directs asset distribution
- Durable power of attorney and healthcare proxy designations
- Updated beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and transfer-on-death accounts
- A letter of instruction that communicates your wishes, account locations, and key contacts to your family
Be aware that beneficiary designations on retirement accounts override your will. For example, an outdated designation on a $500,000 IRA can send assets to the wrong person regardless of what your will says.
How to Use These Retirement Prep Questions
Work through each question above honestly and document your answers. Where the answer is clear and well supported, note it. Where the answer is vague, that's a gap to address.
The value of this exercise comes from seeing how all five areas fit together as one coordinated plan. Professional guidance helps connect income, taxes, healthcare, investments, and legacy planning into a cohesive strategy that builds confidence in the overall picture.
Find Out Where You Actually Stand
The team at Granite Wealth Partners works with pre-retirees navigating the 10 years before retirement when the decisions you make carry the most weight.
If you’d like a clear read on where your plan stands across all five of these areas, we invite you to schedule a discovery meeting by calling 973-625-1112, emailing info@granitewealthpartners.com, or booking online here.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start preparing for retirement?
Ideally, retirement prep should begin at least 10 years before your planned retirement date. This period gives you time to evaluate your savings rate, investment strategy, healthcare plans, tax situation, and retirement income sources. The earlier you identify potential gaps, the more options you have to make meaningful adjustments before retirement begins.
How do I know if I'm financially ready to retire?
Financial readiness depends on more than reaching a certain account balance. You should understand how much income you'll need, where that income will come from, how taxes may affect withdrawals, and whether your savings can support your desired lifestyle. Working with a financial advisor can help you evaluate these factors and determine whether your retirement plan is on track.
What are the most important retirement prep steps to take within 10 years of retirement?
Some of the most important retirement prep steps include reviewing your savings progress, aligning your investments with your retirement timeline, developing a tax-efficient withdrawal strategy, planning for healthcare and long-term care costs, and updating your estate plan. At Granite Wealth Partners, we help pre-retirees coordinate these moving pieces into a comprehensive retirement strategy designed to support both their financial goals and long-term peace.
About Michael
Michael J. Guarino III, CDFA®, AIF®, is the Founder and CEO of Granite Wealth Partners in Denville, New Jersey, where he helps pre-retirees and retirees bring clarity, structure, and confidence to their financial lives. Through the firm’s Rock-Solid Financial Framework™, Michael and his team coordinate investments, retirement income, tax awareness, estate and legacy planning, and protection planning into one organized strategy. He is driven by the mission to help families stop second-guessing their finances and move toward retirement with a clear, coordinated road map for the future.
