If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, you’re probably hoping to find a young man’s fountain and are ready to feel like a child again with a lucky, lucky retirement. But when planning a golden age, it’s best to retire like an adult. That means you have a written plan to earn your money responsibly.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary added “adult” as a verb, as well as the 2023 noun. This means that “adults” act like adults.
Being an adult means being responsible, reliable, self-sufficient and even knowing that it’s a good time to throw these rules out of the window. Examples of “adult” include cleaning after yourself, paying bills on time, and planning your retirement.
Adults have a complete understanding of creating, maintaining and fully understanding plans to fund their lives after leaving their careers. Below are 10 ways to know if you have a reliable plan to retire like an adult.
1. You have dreams and purpose
Without plans for life after retirement, many retirees feel vaguely unfulfilled and restless. You may feel something similar to the anxiety of a teenager – you crave something more, but you don’t know what it is.
While it is important to focus on the financial aspects of retirement, the personal aspects of retirement planning are even more important, and ultimately guide how to use your retirement assets.
Explore these resources to understand what to do when you retire.
Make sure your retirement plans are responsible, reliable, self-sufficient and sometimes the rules are broken!
Use the Boldin Retirement Planner Start adult!
2. You know your number
How much do you actually need to save to retire comfortably? Your “numbers” are not just guesses or simple calculations.
- Expected lifestyle, spending habits, and costs required (and how they change over time – there are nine tips to predict retirement costs)
- Expected revenue streams (and how they change over time)
- Assumptions about asset valuation, inflation, your longevity, and more (and predict the range of known and unknown outcomes)
Your number is different from other people. It’s possible to quit on Social Security alone, and many people struggle to achieve their goals, and even saving more than $1 million can run out of money.
Use your retirement planning software, which is the Boldin Financial Planner, to calculate your numbers accurately.
3. you Understand the potential for successful retirement
It’s good to know your number, but what really matters is to be sure your plan will work. As long as you are alive, are you on track to cover your needs? Is it safe to run out of money in the 80s or 90s?
This is where Boldin’s Chance of Success score appears. This is a simple but powerful metric that shows the possibility that your retirement plan might go far, using sophisticated Monte Carlo analysis.
Think of it like a financial weather forecast. If you have a high score, you are in a good position to retire confidently. If it’s low, whether it’s working a few years longer, adjusting your spending, or rethinking your investment strategy, you’ll get clear and practical insights into how to improve it.
IT is not about fear, it’s about clarity. Knowing your potential for success will help you make informed adult decisions with your eyes wide open. A real retirement plan is because you not only expect the best, but plan it.
4. Think about it from an income perspective rather than asset
Understanding the savings you need is useful, but thinking from an income perspective is not just about assets, but also about a safe and confident retirement.
This means balancing guaranteed incomes such as Social Security, pensions, and pensions means balancing flexible income from investments, dividends, other savings, part-time jobs, or other withdrawals from rental properties.
- Ideally, you are guaranteed income to cover essential costs, providing stability no matter what the market does. It provides the foundation for your basic needs and ensures peace of mind.
- Flexible income allows you to tailor your lifestyle choices, unexpected costs, and opportunities. It gives you the freedom to travel, pursue hobbies, or adapt to changing circumstances.
A strong retirement plan ensures you have the right combination of both, so you can spend with confidence without fearing market shaking or over money.
Instead of getting hooked on magical savings, you can focus on what’s really important. You can make informed decisions to stay independent, enjoy life and keep your retirement safe. Want to know more? Here are 18 different retirement income strategies.
And you plan your drawers carefully
Withdrawal from savings is an important part of most retirement plans.
Unlike your regular salary, your retirement benefits often come from a mix of investments, savings and guaranteed sources. And pulling them out in the wrong order or in the wrong time can lead to unnecessary taxes. Factors like market performance, inflation, healthcare costs, and minimum distribution (RMD) needed all play a role in when and when to take away money.
A thoughtful withdrawal strategy balances spending needs, savings sustainability, and tax bills.
The Boldin Retirement Planner allows you to easily find out how much retirement income you earn each year. You can also implement various scenarios to determine the best retirement withdrawal strategy for your needs and values.
5. You have paid off your high interest debt
One of the biggest threats to retirement today is that while it may not save too much, it is too much.
After real progress against debt during the pandemic, consumer debt is always high. Overall household debt rose to $18.036 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Federal Reserve data. And the current debt sharing has increased for almost all debt types.
The most adult way to deal with debt is to pay it off before you quit your job. However, that is not always possible and it may be desirable to carry some mortgage debt (at low interest rates). Explore:
6. Planning for inflation
The current inflation is still high, and you’re probably smarter with the now infamous “egg cost.”
High inflation can have a catastrophic effect on retirement spending. As Sam Ewing said:
“Inflation is when you pay $15 for a $10 haircut you used to get for $5 when you had hair. ”
Sam Ewing
When you work – your wages generally increase as the costs of goods and services increase. Your income “meets inflation,” so normal inflation is not a major concern to the general public as you retire. After retirement, when you are alive from savings, inflation literally takes you away from your income.
for example: When you retire, you need some way to allow your savings to outweigh your inflation. If inflation is 5% and you are earning a 5% return from your investment, your financial situation will remain flat. You haven’t lost your money, but you’re not moving forward either.
The good news is that Social Security and some pension programs adjust your income for inflation. The bad news is that if you live in retirement by withdrawing from investments and savings, the value of your money decreases dramatically over time. In the future, you will need far more money to support your lifestyle.
Retirement like an adult means taking your financial know-how to this next stage and realizing when the right tools can make all the difference. They understand the fundamentals, such as budgeting, investment, taxes, risk, and the importance of cash flow. However, retirement adds a new layer of complexity, from grasping the best withdrawal strategy to balancing guaranteed and flexible income.
That’s where Boldin comes out. It’s not about handing over control. It’s about having a clear and personalized view of your finances. Boldin allows you to test different scenarios, track your income plans, and adapt to life changes. It just evolves.
8. You are ready for medical expenses
Medicare is not free, and the out-of-pocket costs for retirement are incredible. From premiums and prescriptions to deductions and dentistry, costs increase quickly. This is before considering the potential needs of long-term care. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), supplementary insurance, and long-term care plans are important tools for protecting both your health and finances. In particular, long-term care is one of the biggest financial risks faced by retirees, and is often overlooked until it is too late. No one likes to think about it, but responsible adults do. Because planning ahead means more control, more choices, and less stress for you and your loved ones.
9. There are plans for potential risks
You can’t predict the future. However, adult retirement plans reduce the potentially harmful financial effects of long-term health events, natural disasters, car accidents, stock market crashes, or other unfamiliar future events.
Having the right insurance products and dedicated emergency funds will help you protect you.
Explore everything that may not work.
10. You can evolve your asset allocation
Retirement investment is not just about getting the best possible return. Responsible retirement investment plans align with the way and when money needs to be accessed with growth and security needs.
And just because you retire doesn’t mean your investment strategy is set on stone. In fact, adjusting your asset allocation over time is a wise and adult move that will help you balance your growth, income and risk during retirement. Early on, a more growth-oriented mix may need to catch up with inflation and support the longer horizon. As we age, a gradual shift towards more conservative investments can help protect our income and maintain our capital. What’s important is flexibility. The need, risk tolerance, and market conditions will change, and portfolio changes. t
With age, resistance to investment risk decreases. And you may need to look to safer investments that want to grow your savings (or at least not lose value) but may gain a lower rate of return.
Create an appropriate asset allocation you It’s not an easy feat to see how it needs to change now and during retirement. You need to understand the individual’s risk tolerance, macro economic factors, and the horizon of investment time.
You can do this yourself. However, it is also useful to work with financial advisors who have deep expertise in developing plans that balance growth.
Boldin offers trustee advice from an independent, fee-only certified financial planner™. Consultations can be made by phone or video call.
11. You are ready to actively track and evolve your financial plan
Retirement like an adult does not mean setting up your plans at once and forgetting them. It means you will continue to get engaged and adapt as your life unfolds. There will be market changes, costs changes, goal evolution, and unexpected events. A solid retirement plan is not static. This is a living framework that requires regular check-in and thoughtful coordination. Tracking your income, spending, investments and risk is not emotional, it helps you stay in control and make informed decisions.
Tools like Boldin allow you to easily see where you are standing, test different scenarios, and adjust your strategy with clarity and confidence. Not only are the most successful retirees prepared on the first day, they continue to plan, evolve and move forward with smart moves.
Evaluate plans at least quarterly
Don’t think of a retirement plan again, not something you’ll ever do.
When you’re retired like an adult, you need to maintain, update and adjust your plans. I recommend you look into the details at least once a quarter and update them as you and the economy change.
Boldin Retirement Planner allows you to easily make changes and check in your plans, as it stores your information.
Updated: March 2025
