what is retirement planning 
creating a retirement plan begins with determining your long term financial goals and tolerance for risk and then starting to take action to reach those goals the process can begin any time during your working years but the earlier the better the process of creating a retirement plan includes identifying your income sources adding up your expenses putting a savings plan into effect and managing your assets by estimating your future cash flows you can judge whether your retirement income goal is realistic needless to say a retirement plan is not a static document you ll need to update it from time to time as well as review it to monitor your progress a retirement plan may be seen as a roadmap to a comfortable life after work it entails accumulating enough money to pay for the lifestyle you want to enjoy in the future your retirement plan may well change over time but the earlier you get started the better 