Not all of us retire when we plan. Sometimes the decision is made for us. Today we look at the situation of Hank and Becky. Hank was laid off right before his 60th birthday. Can they make it work, or will they be forced to find a job somewhere else?
We spend our working years saving for retirement. There comes a point where we will need to turn those savings into an income stream. How much can you take from your savings and not run out of money? Is the 4% rule still valid? Is there a “magic number” we can all use to figure out if we have saved enough?
You can look at retirement in three phases: the go-go years, the slow-go years, and the no-go years. Nobody knows exactly how long each of those will last, but when we start to think in those terms, it can change how you approach planning for that next chapter of your life.