Preparing your finances for the future does set you up for retirement, but there are other aspects, like planning for future taxes, Social Security, and perhaps charitable giving, that can apply to anyone.
Before leaving the workforce, potentially for good, you’ll want to take care of items related to money, insurance, and family and social matters. Here we’ll cover the money part.
If you’re younger than 55, your options are to leave your money where it is or roll it over to an IRA or another 401(k). I’ll be rolling my 401(k) balance over to my individual 401(k) to save some money on quarterly fees.
Look at all of your workplace perks, and decide which are worth paying for yourself and which you are comfortable letting go. These may include a gym membership, meal services, child care services, and all kinds of other goodies.
It’s one thing to know you have enough, but you also have to have a plan to access that money. Your plan will be highly individualized, and the source of funds will change as you progress through the different epochs of early retirement.