The decade before retirement may be the most important financial decade of your life. Are you ready?
If you’re between 50 and 65, you’re in the financial window that will define your retirement. The decisions you make in the next few years — how you invest, when you retire, how you claim Social Security, what you do with your 401(k) — will shape the next 20 to 30 years of your life.
At Scarborough Capital Management, we specialize in helping people in exactly this phase. We’ve guided working Americans through this transition for over 35 years.
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW?
- Do I have enough saved to retire when I want to?
- What do I do with my 401(k) when I retire?
- When should I claim Social Security — and is it worth waiting?
- If the market drops right after I retire, am I in trouble?
- How do I turn my savings into reliable monthly income?
- What’s going to happen with my taxes in retirement?
- Should I take the pension buyout my company offered?
- Do I have enough for healthcare costs before Medicare kicks in?
How We Help Pre-Retirees
RETIREMENT READINESS ANALYSIS
We assess where you are vs. where you need to be. How much do you have? How much will you need? What’s the gap, and what can be done about it in the time you have left?
401(K) AND RETIREMENT ACCOUNT STRATEGY
Whether you’re still contributing or getting ready to roll over into an IRA, we position your retirement accounts for the transition from saving to spending.
SOCIAL SECURITY TIMING
For most people, the decision of when to claim Social Security is worth more than any single investment decision they’ll ever make. We model every scenario for your specific situation.
PENSION ANALYSIS
Lump sum or monthly check — we’ve completed hundreds of these analyses and know exactly what to look for.
RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING
We build the plan for spending: which accounts to draw from, in which order, to minimize taxes and make your money last.
SEQUENCE-OF-RETURNS PROTECTION
One of the biggest risks in retirement is a major market downturn in the early years. We build your investment strategy with this risk in mind.
WHAT’S YOUR RISK NUMBER?
Most people have a rough sense of how much investment risk they’re comfortable with, and a portfolio that doesn’t quite match it. The gap usually only becomes obvious in a difficult market, which tends to be the worst time to find out.
This short questionnaire produces a risk number between 1 and 99 — a way of putting a figure on your comfort level. It takes about five minutes, and there’s no cost or obligation.
The questionnaire is provided by Nitrogen and opens in a new tab.
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE PRE-RETIREMENT CHECKLIST
Nine steps every person within 10 years of retirement should take.
Frequently Asked Questions For Pre-Retirees
A common starting point is 25x your estimated annual expenses in retirement. But this is a rule of thumb, not a plan. The actual number depends on your lifestyle, your other income sources, your health, and how long you live. We build you the actual numbers based on your actual situation.
Possibly — but it requires careful planning. Retiring at 62 may mean funding 30+ years of retirement income, accepting reduced Social Security if you claim early, and bridging the gap to Medicare at 65. We can model whether the math works for your situation.
You can leave it with your former employer, roll it into an IRA (the most common choice for flexibility and advisory management), roll it into a new employer’s plan, or cash it out (rarely advisable due to taxes and penalties). We help clients navigate this transition every day.
It depends on your interest rate, tax situation, and liquidity needs. In some cases, paying down a mortgage accelerates retirement readiness. In others, maintaining the mortgage and keeping assets invested is a better long-term strategy. There’s no universal answer — we analyze it as part of your comprehensive plan.
This is the most important financial decade of your life.
Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll review where you are and give you an honest assessment of what you need to do before you retire.
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