16 Weeks to Plan the Rest of Your Life

Steve Vernon, of CBS MoneyWatch, wrote a series of excellent articles about retirement planning that may be helpful to you as you plan for a healthy, secure and happy retirement. 

As Vernon says, "Planning for a period of your life that can last 20, 30 or even 40 years is a complex and significant task. When you begin planning for retirement, it's understandable to feel confused and overwhelmed; it might even be hard to know where to start. There's a lot to learn, and you'll need to make many important decisions that have a critical impact on your future. And given the challenges we face regarding our retirement years, it makes sense that you'll need to devote some time and effort to figure out how to survive -- even thrive -- in the years to come."

Vernon's articles describe retirement planning steps you can take each week. Each post contains links to additional articles for further reading, so you can control how much detail you want to read.

Although he planned for a 16-week exploration, you can pace yourself to take the time you need and fit the steps into your schedule. When you're ready for each week's steps, the posts will still be there. And you don't need to follow the weeks in order; you have the flexibility to pick and choose the topics that are most relevant for you.


This post contains links to the entire series. Some of the topics that are most relevant to Canadians are:

·      Trends, strategies and a new vision for retirement

·      Planning for your life expectancy

·      What kind of retirement do you want?

·      Get the right help that you need

·      Invest in your health

·      Take inventory

·      Will you work in retirement?

·      Social Security basics

·      Investing strategies for retirement

·      Manage your living expenses

·      Where will you live?

·      Addressing the long-term care threat

·      Make the numbers work

"As you can see, you'll have to do a lot of homework to properly plan your retirement. Some people find it helpful to form small study groups, so they can share the legwork and kick around ideas. Don't forget to include your spouse or partner in your planning. It always helps to discuss things with people who care about you and are in the same boat.

And don't be surprised if it takes you longer than 16 weeks to complete all the steps. Even if it takes you six months, remember that you're planning the most important part of your life: your rest-of-life! Take the time to put good plans in place for a healthy and secure retirement so you can relax and focus on the things that are really important to you."                                                         Steve Vernon, 2013.