You’ve likely been planning for your retirement for years or even decades, but it’s not clear to everyone exactly how to retire—especially where to begin.
Your retirement process starts as you wind down your career and look to take advantage of any employer retiree health care benefits—make sure to understand everything that’s available to you.
Officially, you’ll start the retirement process with your employer, letting them know when you plan to stop working. Depending on your employer and your tenure, you may need to write an official letter of resignation, document your contacts, processes, and files, and maybe even train a replacement. It’s likely they’ll be happy to work with you to ensure a smooth process for everyone involved.
You’ll need to decide what to do with your workplace savings plan, something a financial planner can help with. If you have a health savings account (HSA), you can keep that through retirement, whether you choose to leave it where it is or transfer your balance to another account provider.
Knowing your pension options is also important. If you have a defined benefit plan, you may need to choose between taking a lump sum distribution or monthly payments.