Build Your Retirement Roadmap: 6 Milestones to Create the Future You Want
Most of us have been taught to ask, "How much do I need to save for retirement?" It's an important question—but it's not the only one. Retirement planning is about more than reaching a savings goal.
A complete retirement roadmap considers your finances, lifestyle, income needs, future goals, and the life you actually want to live.
Saving Isn't the Same as Planning
Most of us have been taught to ask: "How much do I need to save for retirement?"
It's an important question—but it's not the only one.
Planning for retirement is larger than just focusing on the financial aspect.
What do you want retirement to look like?
When would you like the option to retire?
What will your lifestyle cost?
What financial obstacles stand between where you are today and where you want to be?
Whether retirement is five years away or twenty-five, answering those questions today can create more choices tomorrow.
Create the Future You Want
That's why I created The Retirement Roadmap™—a six-milestone framework designed to help you move from simply saving for retirement to intentionally preparing for the life you want to live.
I believe having a roadmap can help you build on the steps to prepare holistically for retirement.
Milestone 1: Envision Your Retirement Lifestyle
Before calculating the numbers, define what you're funding.
Ask yourself these questions:
Where might I want to live?
What would an ordinary Tuesday look like?
Do I want to travel?
Do I plan to volunteer?
Will I expand my family connections & support?
Will I expand on my hobbies?
Do I want to explore part-time work or a passion project?
I was reading recently from Sixty+Me about a study by an investment firm that found many retirees struggle with free time, famously saying they do not know what to do with "Tuesday morning" or how to structure their weekdays after leaving work.
So it got me thinking about how important it is to spend some time dreaming and envisioning what your life could look like once you settle into your new routine.
Your retirement vision gives your financial plan a destination.
If you're struggling to picture your future lifestyle, start with my article Don't Just Plan Your Retirement—Imagine It, where I walk through creating a retirement vision based on purpose, relationships, wellness, learning and adventure.
Milestone 2: Know Your Starting Point
Understanding how many years you are from your desired retirement date is important.
What’s also critical is understanding the facts for your financial picture.
Take some time to pull together your facts, the good, the bad or the ugly.
Knowledge is power, so don’t avoid this figure. Instead inform yourself and where you are on your current retirement savings:
Do you have debt?
What is your current income, has it continued to grow and increase?
What are your monthly expenses?
Have you calculated your Net worth?
Do you know your current savings rate?
Have you explored your expected retirement resources?
You don't need everything figured out yet—you simply need an honest starting point.
Milestone 3: Estimate What Your Retirement Lifestyle May Cost
This milestone is where your vision meets the numbers.
Rather than asking, "Do I have $1 million?", ask yourself: "How much will the retirement I envision actually cost?"
It might take a while to run through some scenarios but I want you to explore them all.
Consider housing, healthcare (don’t forget before Medicare if applicable), travel, hobbies, transportation, everyday expenses and discretionary spending.
This is a critical step because it helps you consider alternatives and explore changes ahead of your retirement date if the numbers are not aligning as you would hope.
Estimating retirement expenses doesn't mean predicting every dollar perfectly. The goal is to create a realistic retirement budget based on the lifestyle you envision, then compare those expected expenses with your projected retirement income.
This milestone helps shift your retirement planning away from an arbitrary savings number that you heard about on social media or the news.
Milestone 4: Identify Your Retirement Income and Financial Resources
This section is all about identifying your potential "retirement paycheck".
Pull together your checks, financial data, log in to your retirement accounts and understand the existing balances and potential income streams you may have when you depart your full-time job.
Understanding your retirement income sources is an important part of determining whether your savings can support your desired lifestyle.
✔️ Social Security
✔️ 401(k)/403(b)
✔️ IRA/Roth IRA
✔️ Pension
✔️ Brokerage investments
✔️ Health Savings Account (HSA)
✔️ Part-time income
✔️ Business or passion-project income
Remember, retirement is not necessarily funded by one giant account.
It can often be funded by several coordinated income sources.
Milestone 5: Identify Your Retirement Planning Gaps
Now that you have the facts and data, is there a gap between what you have accumulated and what you may need?
This section is not meant to scare you, instead position you to improve your opportunities.
Are you carrying debt into retirement?
Do you need to increase your savings?
Should you reconsider your retirement date?
Do you need to prepare for healthcare expenses?
Are there risks you haven't considered?
If this section made you sad, it is important to recognize you are not a failure.
Finding a gap today gives you time to do something about it. So go out there and make some changes!
Milestone 6: Create Your Retirement Action Plan
Now that you have awareness of your retirement plans, let’s shift into movement.
An action plan helps you create the bridge between your gaps and your desired outcome. Based on what you learned in the previous milestone, maybe you need to:
Increase your retirement contributions.
Pay down your debt.
Build more cash reserves.
Review your investments.
Research the Social Security portal.
Estimate your healthcare costs.
Create your retirement vision.
Explore a passion project.
Start by choosing one or two actions that could make the greatest difference in your retirement readiness, then give yourself a realistic deadline for completing them.
Instead it is knowing your next intentional step towards success.
The Retirement Roadmap six-milestone retirement planning framework from Lord Financial Coaching
Why You Should Start Retirement Planning Years Before You Retire
Even if your retirement is 25 years away, you may have more flexibility in your plan, but not less reason to get started.
Small decisions today can influence your future in so many ways:
Lock-in your savings habits
Alignment for your career choices
Minimizing debt
Economical housing
Monitoring your investment growth
Define your retirement age
Clarity on your lifestyle options
If your retirement is five years away, you should still focus on fine-tuning your plan and preparing for the transition.
Do not give up hope if you feel it is too late.
Instead focus on your facts and get laser focused on your plan.
The roadmap changes depending on where you are–but you will benefit from knowing exactly where you are headed.
Reflection and Next Steps
This week I challenge you to spend 30 uninterrupted minutes imagining your ideal retirement. Here are some thought starters to help:
1️⃣ What does my ideal retirement look like?
2️⃣ When would I like work to become optional?
3️⃣ What might that lifestyle cost?
4️⃣ What resources am I building today?
5️⃣ What's one thing I could do this year to create more options for my future?
Building your retirement roadmap isn't about predicting your future perfectly. It's about creating clarity around your retirement goals, understanding your financial resources, identifying potential gaps, and taking intentional steps toward the retirement lifestyle you want. Whether retirement is five years away or twenty-five, starting today can give you more choices tomorrow.
If you're unsure where you are in your own retirement lifestyle planning, I'd love to help. During aFREE 45-minute retirement clarity call, we'll identify where you are today and build a roadmap toward the future you want.
If you are overwhelmed about your finances, before building your retirement roadmap start with my 7-Step Financial Roadmap.
If you have enjoyed this article, follow me on social media @lordfinancialcoaching.
