The Most Important Retirement Planning Milestones at 8 Different Ages

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Randall Watsek, a certified financial planner and financial advisor, brings more than 25 years of experience to his practice at Raymond James.

As he explained on a recent webinar, Watsek builds his practice around the principal belief that everything begins with a well-designed financial plan — and that creating a sound plan requires first seeing the big picture and only then addressing all the details that make the plan work.

According to Watsek, the big picture for most retirement savers looks pretty similar, at least on the front end. It begins with the accumulation phase, which lasts the longest and is actually the “easiest” phase, in that the power of compounding is on the individual’s side and the task of growing a retirement portfolio is relatively straightforward from a theoretical perspective.

Next comes the highly complex transition phase, marking the five- or 10-year period ahead of retirement, and eventually the actual retirement phase arrives.

As he helps his clients navigate this journey, Watsek utilizes a series of planning milestones that can help people stay on track and understand their point in the journey. In his experience, people who have a good sense of their position on the road of retirement are more confident and tend to avoid costly mistakes.

See the slideshow for Watsek’s rundown of these key retirement milestones, which begin in the early 20s and last, ideally, well into one’s 80s or 90s.

(Image at top: Shutterstock)