Can I Retire in 5 to 10 Years?
At some point, your retirement will move from "someday" to "soon." When that happens, the elements of your retirement plan that have been abstract for years may start to come into play. You may be asking, can I actually do this? Am I genuinely on track, or am I only operating with rough guesses?
Uncertainty around retirement readiness is common, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unprepared. Many households nearing retirement have already done a great deal of the right work. You may have saved consistently and invested over time. You may have a 401(k), an IRA, a taxable brokerage account, or a pension in the picture. What you may lack, however, is a specific answer as to whether those pieces can support the life you want once the paychecks slow or stop.
This guide is designed to help you think through retirement readiness in a more structured way. It is not a guarantee or a formula. Instead, we want to empower you to ask better questions about your financial situation and your future goals before you make one of the more significant financial decisions of your life: when to retire.
Who This Page Is For
This page is for people who are roughly five to ten years from retirement and want a more realistic sense of whether they are on track. It may be especially useful if you are balancing retirement goals with taxes, healthcare planning, housing decisions, market uncertainty, or family financial obligations.
A Retirement Readiness Checklist
1. Estimate what your retirement will actually cost
Start with your spending, not just the size of your portfolio. Many people assume retirement will automatically be cheaper than working life, but in reality, your retirement spending depends on a variety of evolving factors including housing, travel, healthcare, debt, family obligations, and the lifestyle you want to maintain. Your spending estimate is the foundation everything else gets built on, so you’ll want to make as accurate an estimate as possible when thinking about your retirement readiness.
2. List every likely income source
That may include workplace retirement accounts, taxable brokerage assets, pensions, Social Security, part-time income, rental income, or proceeds from a business. The goal is to understand what may realistically support your retirement and what remains uncertain or variable. When you have a better understanding of your areas of uncertainty, you can begin to develop your plan and strategy around them.
3. Review how your accounts are taxed
Traditional tax-deferred accounts, Roth accounts, and taxable brokerage accounts can each affect retirement income differently. The mix of account types you hold may shape how flexible and tax-efficient your income plan is once your withdrawals begin. Planning early can help you consider and account for each element of your financial life so you feel ready and comfortable for the changes that accompany retirement.
4. Pressure-test your timeline
Ask what happens if you retire earlier than planned, later than planned, or in phases. A plan that works only under one narrow set of assumptions lacks the flexibility to adapt to the natural ebbs and flows of your financial life. An adaptable plan can help you feel more ready for retirement by accounting for your financial reality.
5. Factor in healthcare costs before and after Medicare
Healthcare is one of the most commonly underestimated retirement expenses. If you plan to retire before Medicare eligibility at age 65 or if you anticipate higher long-term care or prescription needs later in retirement, planning for medical expenses deserves attention now, not at the point when those costs arrive. Take an honest look at your health and longevity expectations when evaluating your retirement readiness.
6. Look at debt and fixed obligations
Mortgage payments, insurance premiums, family financial support, and any remaining consumer debt all affect how much retirement income you actually need. The fewer surprises in your fixed-cost layer, the more straightforward it becomes to model the rest of the plan. Survey your current fixed expenses and extrapolate through your retirement timing to make sure you’re accounting for your possible expenses.
7. Consider after-tax income, not only account balances
Two households with similar gross savings can experience retirement very differently if one holds mostly tax-deferred assets and the other has more flexibility across account types. Your financial retirement readiness is determined by after-tax income, not just the headline number on a statement. Try to avoid making numbers comparisons to your financial peers and take a holistic look at your personal financial situation.
8. Prepare for market variability
A well-constructed retirement plan generally assumes that markets will not cooperate neatly or on schedule. Your plan should still hold up during a meaningful downturn, a few years of weaker returns, or a period of sustained inflation. If you don’t feel like your plan can weather market volatility, it may be time to adjust.
9. Check whether your portfolio still matches your actual goals
An investment mix that made good sense a decade ago may need revisiting. The closer retirement gets, the more your portfolio needs to support a real distribution plan rather than an abstract long-term growth target. Reevaluate your investment strategy to ensure it aligns with your financial needs as you get closer to retirement.
10. Decide what retirement actually means for you
Some people want a clean stop on a specific date. Some want a phased transition, consulting work, or a period of more flexibility before fully stepping away from work. Retirement readiness can look quite different depending on whether work disappears entirely or simply changes shape as you age. There’s no one right way to approach retirement, and your retirement plan can evolve to fit your life path.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using a round savings target without testing it against real spending needs
Assuming Social Security or pension income will cover more than it realistically may
Ignoring taxes until the withdrawal phase begins, when the options for managing them are more limited
Treating healthcare as a secondary concern rather than a core expense category
Treating the retirement date as the only variable that can move when the rest of the plan is under pressure
When a Financial Advisor May Help
A fiduciary financial advisor may be useful if your retirement is approaching and you want your plan evaluated across income, taxes, account types, and life decisions together. A good advisor will help you make sense of your full financial picture in the context of your upcoming life change and help you combat the uncertainty that can surround a big transition.
Remember that retirement readiness is rarely captured by a single dollar amount. Rather, your personal readiness derives from how confident you are in your financial plan as it stacks up to your expected expenses, lifestyle requirements, and retirement timing.
