10 New Year’s Resolutions for Retiring Next Year
‘You gotta have your ducks in a row’
Planning on retiring next year? If you are, gear your New Year’s resolutions around financial promises that position your nest egg for the best odds of success.
Retiring is a huge financial – and life – decision, says Jonathan Thomas, private wealth adviser at LVW Advisors. It’s not the type of thing you decide on a whim one morning.
“You gotta have your ducks in a row,” says Thomas. “You need to have the data that’s going to make you confident that it’s 100% possible to move forward.”
If retiring is at the top of your 2026 to-do list, this isn’t the year to resolve to eat healthier or exercise more. Your 2026 New Year’s resolutions should be all about getting your money muscles in the best possible shape before you retire.
Still, you must first address the emotional aspects of leaving the workforce for good, says Paul Stanley, a certified financial planner and co-founder of Granite Bay Wealth Management.
“We can do the math and make sure you’re going to have the money you need, but the biggest mistake a lot of people make is not really thinking through their purpose,” says Stanley. “Retirees should resolve to figure out what is the next stage of their life.”
The next step is to determine if you have the financial wherewithal to retire.
Tips for retiring next year
Here are 10 money-related New Year’s resolutions for 2026 to boost your odds of a secure retirement.
1. Map out a plan
You can’t retire without running the numbers, without doing a Monte Carlo analysis. This type of test runs thousands of simulations to estimate your odds of success, regardless of how markets perform and accounting for worst-case scenarios.
“You must have a financial plan that supports your decision to retire,” says Stanley.
If you don’t have a retirement plan, your No. 1 New Year’s resolution is to get one. If you already have a plan, now’s the time to review it to make sure all systems are go to retire.
The key components of a retiree’s financial plan include budgeting, savings, investing and withdrawal strategies, tax and estate planning, debt management and risk mitigation.
2. Size up spending needs in retirement
While many Americans resolve to count calories at the start of a new year, would-be retirees need to prioritize figuring out exactly how much they spend now and will spend in retirement.
“Having a really good understanding of your expenses is so important,” says Sara Kalsman, senior financial planner at robo-adviser Betterment. “It’s one of the first things you want to consider.”
The key is to ensure that you have enough income, either via Social Security or other guaranteed sources such as rental income, a pension, or an annuity, as well as planned portfolio withdrawals, to cover everyday expenses and nonessential costs such as going out to eat.
Accurately assess “what your lifestyle will look like in retirement,” says Kalsman. Most people’s spending in the early years of retirement tends to be like what they were spending in the latter years of their working life, warns Kalsman.
Start getting a handle on what travel costs will be, whether health care costs will be going up or down (that’s especially important for folks who retire before Medicare eligibility kicks in at age 65), and whether your spending is aligned with your income in retirement.
“People aren’t doing enough to [calculate] how much they really need to live on,” says Thomas. “If you don’t know what you’re going to spend, how do you know if you can retire?”
3. Tally up guaranteed income sources
Grab a calculator and add up all the guaranteed streams of income you will have in retirement to pay for non-negotiable monthly bills such as rent, food and health care, Kalsman advises.
This guaranteed income includes Social Security, pensions, annuities and rental income.
Having enough income to cover the bills gives you peace of mind; it also helps you avoid withdrawing from retirement savings during market downturns, known as sequence of returns risk.
Guaranteed income streams also reduce the risk of running out of money later in life. It also makes it easier to budget and keep a bigger chunk of your 401(k) invested for growth.
“Review your sources of income,” says Kalsman. “What is the breakdown between Social Security and other sources? Knowing that will give you an idea of how much you might need to draw from your portfolio based on what your expenses and income look like.”
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4. Cement a Social Security claiming strategy
Do an analysis to determine a Social Security claiming strategy that optimizes benefits over your and your spouse’s lifetime, Thomas says.
Full retirement age (FRA) is 67 for retirees born in 1960 or later. If you claim early at age 62, your benefit will be 30% lower than at FRA. If you delay benefits, you can earn an additional 8% each year on top of your FRA up until age 70.
Then sit down with a financial professional to see what claiming strategy makes most sense, given your marital status, health, expected longevity and income needs, says Thomas.
5. Dial down debt
The less credit card and other debt you’re carrying, the better, says Tony Ogorek, president and founder of Ogorek Wealth Management.
“People need to understand that debt is a claim on future income because you have to make those debt payments,” says Ogorek. “Our preference is for retirees to be as close to debt-free as possible.”
If you’re carrying a lot of credit card debt, it’s a sign you’re spending beyond your means, says Ogorek.
Deciding whether to pay off your mortgage before you retire is a trickier calculation. It will depend on your mortgage balance and interest rate, cash reserves and other factors.
6. Ramp up your emergency fund
If your emergency fund is dangerously low, start building it back up, says Kalsman. “You want to make sure that if you have an unanticipated medical cost or your roof needs repair, you have enough savings to cover the cost,” Kalsman says.
Kalsman normally advises clients to set aside three to six months of living expenses. But she recommends retirees have at least a year of living expenses in the event of a worst-case scenario, such as a significant stock market decline or global recession.
The goal is to have enough cash so you can avoid pulling from investment accounts during down markets.
7. Fine-tune your asset mix
Review your mix of stocks, bonds, cash and other assets to ensure that your portfolio is properly aligned with your risk tolerance and time horizon, says Stanley.
“The right asset allocation is one that delivers an annual return that will make your financial plan work but also allows you to sleep at night,” says Stanley.
If a review of your portfolio identifies too big a helping of more volatile stocks, dial back equity exposure to get back to an asset mix that’s better suited to your circumstances and will better protect you in the event of a market swoon.
“Now’s a good time to pare down your risk,” says Kalsman. “Maybe it’s time for a little bit more balanced portfolio.”
8. Diagnose health care costs and funding
Getting a clearer picture of what your health care costs will be in retirement, especially if you plan to retire before you’re eligible for Medicare, is critical, says Stanley.
“You have to budget for health insurance,” says Stanley. “People often overlook that.”
Early retirees might need $20,000 or more to pay for health insurance in the years before they’re eligible for Medicare.
“If you plan on retiring in your late 50s or early 60s, you’ve got a long runway until Medicare,” says Thomas. “How you plan for health care costs is going to be different if you retire at 58 compared to 64 when you’re just a year from being eligible for Medicare.”
It’s also important to have a plan to pay for long-term care later in life, if needed.
9. Update your estate plan
If you haven’t updated your will, trust or estate plans since your kids were young, now’s the time to update key estate planning documents, says Ogorek.
“Prior to retiring, it makes sense to take a look at wills, trusts, health care directives, powers of attorney to see if those documents still reflect their thinking,” says Ogorek.
Don’t forget about basics, such as updating your beneficiaries on your investment accounts.
10. Stress test your plan
Make sure your financial plan can withstand stress, adds Kalsman.
“Run some retirement plan projections,” says Kalsman. “Run different scenarios. Stress test your plan. Look for things like: What does it look like if your living expenses are greater than anticipated? Or inflation is greater than expected? Or you live longer than the average American?
“Running those projections to give you that peace of mind that you’re in a good position to retire is something that most individuals should be doing.”
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Adam Shell is a contributing writer at Kiplinger.com. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.
©2025 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
