It is the greatest fear of growing older. Not only have you run out of money, now you are dependent on your family members and nothing to leave behind. You may not want to work for the rest of your life in order to ensure a steady income. Retirement is to be enjoyed. It’s the time that’s meant for nobody else…but you.

“Now I can do whatever I want."

That’s the phrase that we long to say. But sometimes we don’t realize how the transition to retirement can be a life altering experience. Retirement is more than moving from a structured work day to lifetime unemployment. It requires a new way to manage money.

A study completed in 2002 by gerontologist Ken Dykwald found that the single most important factor of retirement satisfaction was financial preparedness. This means planning ahead by creating a blueprint or roadmap for your retirement finances. Ultimately creating a strategy where your financial resources and plans for using the money would be able to sustain a lifestyle for years to come. To achieve this, we need to begin by understanding the challenges.

Challenge #1 Too Much Too Fast

“Hurray! I’m Free! Now I can do all the things I want to do." Well hold on. This can be a major setback early in retirement if withdrawals on your finances are too high or too frequent. In addition, if the markets are down and investments are taking a hit and you withdrawal money on top of that…now you are experiencing what is called a ‘double negative’. This can potentially accelerate the depletion of your savings. Plan ahead so that you are not forced to take money out of an account that’s going down in value.

Challenge #2 Discipline to Stick with the Plan

Take a serious look at the finances. Most retirees are frustrated with the amount of taxes they have to pay, especially on investments and social security. A goal may be to potentially lower lifetime taxes and minimize taxes on social security. There are two different ways that investments can be taxed: Capital Gains with a cap rate of 15% and Ordinary Income which is taxed on the standard tax bracket. It’s critical to develop a plan that has a specific liquidation order for tax efficient withdrawals. Remember that the more income you have, the more they will tax your social security.

Challenge #3 Other Expenses Beside Fun

The best way to manage your fixed expenses might be to know your fixed income. Keep in mind some expenses that fall through the cracks, costs such as prescriptions, hospital and doctor visits.

Adjusting to a New Life…Style.

One of the best ways to adjust to your new life is to situate the finances (fixed income) to cover all of the fixed expenses. This way you will not be forced to take as much money out on a monthly basis.

Here are the Top 3 possibilities for what can be done to achieve balance in retirement:

1.Readjust or re-engineer your assets to attain a moderately balanced, total return portfolio that focuses on dividends and income.

2.Consider an immediate annuity. This means converting some of your retirement assets into a guaranteed lifetime income stream that you can’t outlive. Essentially you have just created a lifetime paycheck that has a pension-like effect and is unaffected by stock market fluctuations.

3.Track expenses. Know each month what you are spending your fixed income on and decide what adjustments, if any, need to be made in order to keep expenses in line with income.

Just remember retirement is a major milestone in one’s life. Make the most of it by taking the time to plan, monitor your progress and make adjustments when necessary.