Good retirement planning goals are specific, written down, and tied to the life you want: the income you need, how taxes may affect it, how you would handle health and care costs, and who controls your assets if something changes. Goals you can measure give a plan something to test.
If you and your spouse are nearing retirement, most of your savings are probably in workplace retirement accounts. If "having enough" still feels like a moving target, this guide is for you.
In this article, you'll learn:
- Why a goal like "retire comfortably" is hard to plan around, and what to replace it with
- Five kinds of goals worth writing down: income, taxes, health, ownership, and legacy
- How to turn those goals into a written plan you can review together
Why do vague retirement goals leave couples stuck?
Vague goals leave couples stuck because they cannot be tested. "Enough" has no number, "comfortable" has no budget, and "safe" has no definition, so the target tends to move each year.
Greg DuPont, JD, CFP, founder of Advocate Wealth Solutions, sees this pattern often among households with large workplace retirement balances. The math may already point toward readiness, yet hesitation continues because nobody has defined what the money is supposed to do. We explore a related version of that hesitation in Should You Work One More Year Before Retirement?
A written goal turns a feeling into a question you can answer. The table below shows the difference. The figures are round, illustrative numbers, not a recommendation or a projection for any household.
| Vague goal | Written goal (illustrative) | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Retire comfortably | Cover $8,000 a month of essential spending from Social Security, pensions, and planned withdrawals | Whether the sources are predictable enough, and how they respond to a weak market year |
| Keep taxes low | Know which accounts to draw from first during the years before required distributions | Whether lower taxes now could mean higher taxes later |
| Be ready for health costs | Name how a care event would be paid for and who would make decisions | Whether the approach still works if one spouse needs care and the other lives many years longer |
| Leave something behind | Confirm beneficiaries and account titling match what you intend | Whether documents are current and consistent with each other |
Each written goal still depends on assumptions that may change, so a plan built on them should be revisited as your circumstances and the markets change.
What income goals should you set for the first years of retirement?
Start with the income you expect to need, then identify what your resources can provide. This reverses the usual habit of asking how large the balance should be.
Two numbers are worth writing down:
- Essential spending: housing, food, insurance, taxes, and other costs that continue regardless of the market
- Flexible spending: travel, gifts, and hobbies you could scale up or down
Next, look at which sources can cover the essentials, such as Social Security, a pension, or planned withdrawals, and where a gap remains. A gap is not a problem in itself. It is a number you can plan around. The tradeoff is that the more of your plan depends on withdrawals from invested accounts, the more it is exposed to market declines early in retirement, a risk often called sequence-of-returns risk.
This is the Income & Tax Strategy layer of Advocate Wealth Solutions' PILOT Process™, the firm's five-layer planning framework: Portfolio Positioning, Income & Tax Strategy, Longevity & Life Event Stress Testing, Ownership & Control, and Transfer of Risk. For more on how the firm approaches turning savings into income, see our retirement income planning page. A worked illustration of assigning accounts to specific jobs is in Every Dollar with a Job: A Five-Slice Retirement Income Case Study, a hypothetical example that is not a client result.
What tax goals matter in the years before required distributions?
The most useful tax goal for many couples is simple: understand which years may offer more flexibility over taxable income, and decide how you want to use them.
When work income stops, there may be a period before Social Security and required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin when taxable income is lower. In that window, some households consider drawing from different account types or converting part of a tax-deferred balance to a Roth account. Each choice has a cost: conversions add taxable income in the year they happen, and they may affect Medicare premiums later.
Two dates are worth knowing, both subject to your own situation:
- RMD age: The IRS states that you generally must begin withdrawals from most workplace plans and traditional IRAs at age 73 (IRS, as of October 27, 2026 (opens a separate site in a new tab)). SECURE 2.0 raises that age to 75 for people born in 1960 or later (Congressional Research Service, as of October 27, 2026 (opens a separate site in a new tab)). Confirm your applicable age with a tax professional.
- Medicare at 65: Your initial enrollment period lasts seven months, starting three months before the month you turn 65 (Medicare.gov, as of October 27, 2026 (opens a separate site in a new tab)). Premiums for higher-income households may include an income-related surcharge based on tax information from two years earlier (Social Security Administration, as of October 27, 2026 (opens a separate site in a new tab)).
Because of that two-year lookback, income you recognize at 63 may affect premiums at 65. We cover the planning window in more detail in The Retirement Tax Planning Window Before RMDs, and the firm's tax planning page describes how this work fits into a broader plan. This article is general education, not tax advice for your situation.
What health and long-term care goals should you write down?
Write down how you would pay for a health event and who would make decisions if one of you could not. You do not need to settle every detail, but you should know which questions are open.
Three questions can start the conversation:
- Coverage before Medicare: If one of you retires before 65, how will you cover health insurance until Medicare begins, and what will it cost?
- Care costs: Would you plan to pay for long-term care from savings, with insurance, or with a combination? Each approach has tradeoffs in cost, liquidity, and flexibility.
- Survivor planning: If one spouse needed care for years, or passed away, would the other still have the income and access they need?
These questions belong to the Longevity & Life Event Stress Testing layer of the PILOT Process™. Stress testing means checking a plan against events such as a market decline, a health event, or the loss of a spouse.
What ownership and legacy goals should couples include?
Ownership and legacy goals are about whether your documents and account titles match what you intend. They are easy to overlook because they do not change your monthly income, yet mismatches can create delays and extra cost for the people you leave behind.
A useful checklist for this part of your plan:
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance are current
- Account titling is consistent with your wills or trusts
- Powers of attorney and healthcare directives name the people you would choose today
- Both spouses know where documents are kept and whom to call
This is the Ownership & Control and Transfer of Risk portion of the planning process. Because Greg is both an attorney and a Certified Financial Planner, the same team reviewing your income plan can also look at whether your estate documents support it. Laws and personal circumstances vary, so review these items with a qualified professional.
How do you turn retirement goals into a written plan?
Turn goals into a plan by putting each one in writing with a number, a date, and an owner, then reviewing the whole picture together on a regular schedule.
A simple process:
- Write one sentence for each goal area: income, taxes, health, ownership, and legacy.
- Attach a number or a date wherever you can, such as monthly essential spending or a target retirement month.
- Mark each goal as "known" or "open" so you can see where questions remain.
- Discuss the list with your spouse. Retirement timing and priorities affect both of you, so both voices belong in the plan.
- Revisit the plan at least once a year and after major life events.
A written plan does not remove uncertainty. Markets, tax law, health, and family circumstances can all change, and a plan may need adjustments. What it can do is show you which decisions are clear and which still need attention.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good retirement goal?
A good retirement goal is specific enough to measure and tied to a purpose, such as covering a defined level of essential monthly spending or funding a planned trip. A goal like "have enough" is harder to plan around because it has no number to test.
How can I retire at 60?
Retiring at 60 usually means bridging about five years before Medicare begins at 65, and possibly before Social Security starts. It raises questions about health coverage costs, how long your savings must last, and how withdrawals will be taxed. A written plan can help you test those questions, though it cannot guarantee an outcome.
How much should I have saved before I retire?
There is no single number that works for every household. A more useful starting point is the income you expect to need, minus what sources like Social Security or a pension may provide. The remaining gap shows how much your savings may need to supply.
Should my spouse and I set retirement goals together?
Usually yes. Retirement timing, spending, health, and survivor planning affect both spouses, and one person's assumptions can differ from the other's. Setting goals together can surface those differences while there is still time to plan around them.
What is a retirement goals checklist?
A basic checklist covers five areas: the income you need, the tax decisions ahead, your health and long-term care approach, your beneficiary and ownership documents, and what you want to leave behind. Writing one line for each area is a practical way to begin.
Continue the conversation
If you are nearing retirement and want your goals on one page, you are welcome to book a Clarity Map Session with Advocate Wealth Solutions. It is a 30-minute conversation at no cost and with no obligation, focused on where your income, taxes, and estate documents stand today. You can also call (614) 408-0004.
This article is educational information only, not personal legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a guarantee of any outcome. Examples are hypothetical and for illustration only. Tax figures and ages were checked against the sources linked above as of October 27, 2026 and may change. Advocate Wealth Solutions is a registered investment adviser. Talk to a qualified professional about your specific situation.
Published October 27, 2026. Tax law, contribution limits and thresholds change, so read any figure here as of its stated date. None of it is advice about your own situation. Advocate Wealth Solutions is a fee-based planning firm in Dublin, Ohio, and a Clarity Map Session is where questions about your own accounts get answered.
