5 Critical Pre-Retirement Financial Moves: A Practical Guide for Your Final Working Years
By Jeffrey Meenes, CFP® (Published Date September 16, 2025)
Are you within 10 years of retirement, or have you retired in the last few years? The financial decisions you make now will determine whether you enjoy a comfortable retirement or face financial stress in your golden years.
The years leading up to retirement represent what we call the "Danger Zone" – a period where poor decisions can derail decades of careful planning. Unlike your earlier career when you had time to recover from market downturns, these final years demand strategic precision.
Here are the five essential pre-retirement financial moves that can secure your financial future.
1. Maximize Pre-Retirement Savings with Strategic Contribution Planning
Your peak earning years create the perfect opportunity to supercharge your retirement savings. But it's not just about contributing more – it's about contributing smarter.
If you're 50 or older, you can contribute an additional $7,500 to your 401(k) in 2025, bringing your total to $31,000. IRA catch-up contributions add another $1,000 annually. For high earners, backdoor Roth strategies can significantly boost tax-free retirement savings.
Timing matters more than most realize. Front-loading contributions early in the year maximizes compound growth, while understanding your employer's match policy ensures you capture every available dollar.
Action Step: Calculate your maximum possible contributions across all accounts and establish automatic increases that align with your cash flow patterns.
2. Develop a Comprehensive Social Security Optimization Strategy
Social Security represents 30-40% of most retirees' income, making your claiming strategy worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.
Here's a powerful example: For those born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. But delay claiming until age 70, and your benefits increase by 8% each year – guaranteed and inflation-adjusted. That's essentially a risk-free return that's nearly impossible to match elsewhere.
Married couples have even more opportunities through spousal benefit coordination. Even if divorced, you may qualify for benefits based on your ex-spouse's record if you were married for 10 or more years.
Understanding how continued employment during early retirement affects your benefit calculations is also crucial for those planning a gradual transition to full retirement. The key is modeling different scenarios based on your health, longevity expectations, and cash flow needs.
Action Step: Obtain your Social Security statement from SSA.gov and model different claiming scenarios. Consider consulting with a fee-only financial planner to optimize your household's total lifetime benefits.
3. Build Market Volatility Protection Through Strategic Asset Allocation
The biggest mistake we see in pre-retirement planning? Getting asset allocation wrong – whether being too conservative too early or taking excessive risks too close to retirement. Both extremes can derail your retirement security.
A major market crash right before retirement can devastate your portfolio when you have little time to recover. But being overly conservative can leave you vulnerable to inflation over a 30-year retirement. The solution? Create balanced protection.
Maintain 1-3 years of expenses in cash or short-term bonds while keeping growth investments for long-term needs. This allows you to avoid selling investments during downturns while still growing wealth to combat inflation.
The Three-Bucket Approach
Smart retirees use a simple bucket strategy: short-term money in cash, medium-term in balanced investments, and long-term in growth investments. This protects against both market crashes and inflation over a potentially 30-year retirement.
As you approach or enter retirement, gradually shift to more conservative allocations, but don't abandon growth entirely. The key is finding the right balance for your timeline and risk tolerance.
Action Step: Calculate your early years of retirement expenses and ensure adequate liquidity in low-risk investments before your retirement date.
4. Plan for Healthcare Transitions and Major Retirement Expenses
Without employer health insurance, healthcare becomes your biggest wild card expense. COBRA can cost $1,000-$2,500 monthly. Medicare starts at 65 but has gaps – no dental, vision, or long-term care coverage.
Beyond healthcare, your home ages with you. HVAC systems, roofs, and major appliances need replacement during retirement. Many retirees also support adult children or aging parents while pursuing the travel and hobbies they've deferred for decades.
Action Step: Create dedicated savings funds for major retirement expenses during your final working years to avoid depleting investment accounts for predictable costs.
5. Test Your Retirement Budget with Real-World Validation
Here's the mistake that catches most retirees: creating budgets based on theory, not reality. Test-drive your retirement budget for 3-6 months while still working.
Live exclusively on your projected retirement income. You'll quickly discover the gap between where you think money goes and where it actually goes. Healthcare costs, home maintenance, and increased utility bills from being home more often are frequently underestimated.
Don't forget taxes. Up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable depending on your other income. Professional services like tax prep and financial planning also become more important in retirement.
Action Step: Implement your complete retirement budget for at least six months while still employed. Document actual expenses versus projections and adjust your retirement timeline or savings rate accordingly.
Bringing Your Pre-Retirement Strategy Together
Your final working years represent a unique window to secure your financial future. These five strategies work together to protect you from market volatility, unexpected expenses, and life changes that could derail your retirement dreams.
At Meenes Wealth Partners, we've guided countless pre-retirees through this critical transition. As a flat fee-only fiduciary advisor, our recommendations serve only your best interests – never AUM % fees, commissions, or product sales.
Ready to secure your retirement future? The decisions you make now will echo throughout your retirement. Don't leave your financial security to chance.
Contact Meenes Wealth Partners today to create a personalized roadmap that puts your retirement success first.
This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information, and provided by Meenes Wealth Partners. It may not be used for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.