I’m Gen X: Here’s My Biggest Fear About Retirement — And What To Do About It

Tara B., a 54-year-old Gen Xer working in the non-profit sector in California, can’t get to her retirement quickly enough. Her husband, a former firefighter, retired early and has been urging her to retire soon too, so they can spend more time together.

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Tara’s plan is to retire in just over five years, at age 59 and a half, the earliest she can begin to withdraw from her 403(b) account, the non-profit version of a 401(k). Additionally, her husband has a firefighter’s pension and healthcare benefits that will more than tide them over until they qualify for Medicare.

Tara’s biggest fear, she said, “Is that I’m not going to be able to do all of the things I want to do. I’m not going to have the fun I like to have.” For instance, she told us she goes to a large number of concerts every year and sometimes travels for them.

She and her husband have no debt other than their mortgage and their daughter is fledged to college, but Tara has also picked up some hobbies that can be somewhat expensive, like golf. “So, it’s kind of that conundrum. You usually have the time or the money but hardly ever both,” she said.

Figuring out how to accommodate your lifestyle needs and desires, and where to cut back, is an important piece of the retirement puzzle. Here, Stephen Kates, CFP and principal analyst at Annuity.org , explains some things that Tara and others in her situation can do .

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Do a Cash Flow Analysis

If you don’t know how much you spend or how much income your assets can produce, Kates suggested the number one thing you should do is a cash flow analysis.

“Understanding the money in and the money out is really essential to this because some things will change and some things will not apply in retirement, while some things will apply more,” he said.

In Tara’s case, knowing what is important to her — such as concerts, travel and hobbies — can help her determine a spending amount. From there, he said, she can think about whittling down other costs to free up income for the fun.

Some of her costs are also going to disappear or shrink, making room for the things she wants to do. He said, “If she commutes for work a lot, the commuting costs are about to disappear. You may not need as many work clothes. You don’t have to save as much anymore because now you’re just spending your assets, and so your lifestyle in some ways will contract in certain areas.”

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Put 15% Away

Of course, the best way to ensure you are going to have as much as you need is to put away about 15% of your income into retirement savings for as long as possible.

“If you’re saving 15% of your income every year, that’s money you don’t have to [earn] somewhere else,” Kates explained.

Don’t Be Afraid To Look at Finances

Tara admitted that she and her husband have not consulted a financial advisor, and that has left them a little in the dark about what they actually have and how much it will last. Kates finds that people can be afraid to look closely at their assets and savings because it feels overwhelming.

“When you look, you have to face those good or bad situations, and people can be afraid of that,” he said. In the long run, however, facing what you actually have is important information that removes the gray areas.

Consider Part-Time Work or Return to Work

Additionally, though Tara feels pressure to retire to join her already retired husband at a more leisurely pace, Kates pointed out that she could significantly reduce her work hours in lieu of full-time retirement or even go back to work part-time in six months to a year as needed.

“Sometimes a little bit goes a long way again, because you only need a little bit more to get over the hump and reduce the amount that you’re withdrawing from other sources, and that can sometimes close the gap,” Kates said.

Tara said she’s open to the possibility of returning to work if needed, and that she has even considered doing some consulting or freelance work on the side.

“I would do it in a different form, look for some more remote work. Having an accounting background, I could get work pretty easily. So I would get work that I could literally do at my leisure or at my home,” she said.

Most importantly, Kates suggested people don’t go into retirement in the dark financially. Know what you have and do the math to figure out your budget, realistically factoring in the lifestyle activities you most want to keep. Then adjust your expenses accordingly.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : I’m Gen X: Here’s My Biggest Fear About Retirement — And What To Do About It