2026 Retirement Planning Guide | Safe Harbor Retirement
2026 Retirement Planning Guide
It’s the new year and this is a great time to look at your retirement goals and planning. Have you had any major life changes, new goals or changes to your budget? With the new year our team at Safe Harbor Retirement is prepared to help our clients be proactive with their retirement planning. This allows our clients to be in better control going forward. It’s about helping YOU be proactive instead of reactive in your retirement!
5 Things To Consider With The New Year and Your Retirement Plan
How did your retirement investments perform last year? Whether you’re planning to retire in the next few years or you’re already retired it’s important to look at your investments. How did they perform? How SAFE are they from market downturns? One thing that is critically important is to know how safe your retirement investments are and what kind of accounts they are being held in. Not knowing this and experiencing a downturn just before your retirement date could cause you to delay your retirement by several years. If you are retired this could put you at risk of outliving your retirement savings.
Has your personal life changed in the past year? If you have had a major life change such as downsizing your house, inheritance, health issues or the loss of a spouse it’s important to consider how this impacts your retirement plan. Each one of the major life events in retirement needs to be updated in your retirement plan and budget in order to best prepare you for your years ahead. Sometimes the changes are planned, other times they are not. Our team at Safe Harbor Retirement is ready to help assist you no matter what those changes are.
Have your goals changed in the past year? What are you truly looking to accomplish? As you get closer to your retirement date or you move further into retirement it’s important to consider your goals and long term plans. Are you looking to travel more? Possibly by a vacation home? Maybe downsizing your current home? Our goals affect our plans, budgets and expectations. The bigger the goal the more planning that is needed to ensure the income and resources are properly aligned to accomplish your new goals moving forward in retirement.
How is your income and retirement budget doing compared to last year? With inflation we continue to hear from clients every week at how “cost creep” is making them worried. We always ask our clients to take 10 minutes and sit down and review their retirement budget. Why is this? Because sometimes you eliminate an expense from before or traveled less than expected and you may actually be in a better position than you thought. At the very least knowing your real monthly cost and income is the foundation for making good financial planning decisions in retirement.
What Income Options Do I Have In The New Year? We are asked this by clients at the beginning of every New Year. Currently income options are very good with Multi Year Guaranteed Annuity Rates between 5% to 7%. Also Fixed Index Annuity rates are 6.75% to 11% for a point to point strategy. Of course with either product your principal is protected from stock market losses making them a very safe investment for those near or in retirement.
So what are your goals for 2026? If you have any changes to your retirement goals or life plans please let our team at Safe Harbor Retirement know! We are ready to help you be proactive with your retirement and put you in the best position possible moving forward.
