The Importance of Reviewing Your Retirement Plan–Regularly
Creating a retirement income plan is not a "set it and forget it" event. You don’t simply punch numbers into a calculator, file the paperwork, and walk away. Because the future is uncertain, a functional plan must include adjustments as new information becomes available. To maintain a secure retirement, reviewing the structure is just as critical as building it in the first place.
Start with Your True Style: The RISA® Framework
Before we can review or adjust a plan, we have to ensure the foundation is right. That is why I use the Retirement Income Style Awareness (RISA®) matrix. This isn’t about market forecasts; it’s about psychology. The RISA framework identifies your preferences across two key dimensions:
Optionality vs. Commitment: Do you value flexibility and control, or do you prefer the clarity of locking in a strategy to remove decision fatigue?
Safety vs. Growth: Do you sleep better with contractually guaranteed income, or do you prefer the long-term growth potential of the markets?
Research shows these preferences are generally stable traits. By anchoring your plan to your actual temperament—rather than a textbook theory—we create a strategy you can actually stick with when the headlines get loud.
Why Revisiting is Essential
While your psychological style stays constant, life in New England does not. We have to account for shifting property taxes, state pension nuances, and changing health needs.
The math also changes as your planning horizon shrinks. A withdrawal strategy that makes sense at 65 often needs refinement by 85. Furthermore, spending isn’t a flat line; it often resembles a "spending smile," fluctuating as we age. Regular reviews ensure we are solving for the life you are living now, not the one you were living five years ago.
The Power of Adjustment-Based Planning
The goal of revisiting your plan is to move away from the binary idea of "success" or "failure." Instead, we use adjustment-based planning.
By checking in consistently, we can make small, measured course corrections.
If the market underperforms, we might slightly tighten the belt on discretionary spending.
If your portfolio overperforms, we can safely discuss a "spending raise."
This approach turns retirement risk into something manageable and controllable. It reduces the anxiety of market volatility by replacing drama with a disciplined process.
Find Your Strategy
Your retirement isn’t a math problem; it’s a personal preference. If you’d like to see where you sit on the RISA matrix, I invite you to walk through the four style boxes with me. We’ll look at the trade-offs of each and see which one aligns with your temperament. It takes about fifteen minutes, and it usually provides a lot of clarity on why certain strategies feel right while others don’t.
Would you like to schedule a brief time to go through those?
Click here to schedule your 15-minute Retirement Fit Call.
Let's make sure your retirement journey is as secure and fulfilling as you envision.
