You’ve been working in Marin for years. You are about to retire, and now you look at your retirement income. How do you maximize its use?

The first risk is the cost-of-living increases and lower-than-projected returns on your investments. As retirement draws near, you may realize that you do not have the income that you had predicted years earlier. This is why you need to frequently assess your retirement account in the years leading up to retirement. Income may be different from what you had expected, and you need to plan for this. Reduction of spending on certain luxury items may be one course of action as you attempt to put more money away for retirement.

Once you do make it to retirement, you need to make the best financial decisions based on how long your life expectancy is. If you expect to live quite long yet, then you may need to be more aggressive in your investment strategies to maximize your retirement income. You also may want to consider how liquid your accounts are: can you pull money out when you need it, or do you need to plan a certain amount at a certain time?

Using careful planning, you can use your retirement income to its fullest potential, and ensure a high quality of life in your retirement years.