4 Money Moves To Make Now If You Want To Retire in 2026
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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Planning to retire in 2026? There’s still time to strengthen your finances before you step away from work. According to experts, a few smart money moves now can make a big difference in how confident you feel about your retirement.
Follow these four money moves to help set yourself up for retirement in 2026.
Start Planning
“If you’re planning to retire in 2026, this is the time to get your financial house in order. The biggest money move right now is to shift into planning mode,” explained Adam Spiegelman, CFP, wealth advisor at Spiegelman Wealth Management.
This means having a detailed retirement plan and cash flow projections to understand where your income will come from and how much you need to maintain your lifestyle.
“You want clarity on every inflow — Social Security, pensions, investment accounts — and on what your real spending looks like,” Spiegelman said. “Eighteen months goes by fast, so treat this as your dress rehearsal for retirement.”
De-Risk Your Portfolio, but Not Entirely
“Ironically, one of the biggest mistakes wealthy people make approaching and during retirement is becoming overly risk-averse,” Robert R. Johnson, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA, professor of finance at Heider College of Business at Creighton University, wrote in an email.
While it makes sense to de-risk a portfolio as retirement approaches, Johnson emphasized that investors should avoid becoming too conservative with their investments. According to Johnson, a large downturn in the equity markets right before retirement can have devastating consequences on a retiree’s standard of living.
“The late golf instructor Harvey Penick once said, ‘Golf tips are like Aspirin: One may do you good, but if you swallow the whole bottle you’ll be lucky to survive.’ To paraphrase Penick, a little derisking will do you good, but if you completely derisk your portfolio, you’ll be lucky to survive,” Johnson explained. “Retirees should maintain a healthy allocation to stocks both as they approach retirement and as they live out their golden years in retirement.”
Set Aside a Separate Emergency Fund
You aren’t safe from emergencies in retirement. “Retirees should consider having a separate emergency fund set aside, just $500 to $1,000,” Devin Miller, CEO and co-founder of SecureSave, wrote in an email. “This can cover those smaller but stressful surprises.
“Once you have this set up, you do not have to pull money out of your investment to replace tires or handle an unexpected dental bill,” he said.
And if you’re still working part time or have access to workplace benefits, Miller recommended seeing if your employer offers a workplace emergency savings account that you can set up and fund straight from your paycheck.
“Automation makes all the difference. When you don’t see the money, you don’t miss it, and it helps you build the habit without thinking about it,” Miller explained. “This same idea works in retirement too: set up a monthly transfer to a separate savings account and forget about it.”
Create Passive Income Streams
Having passive income streams in retirement never hurts.
“Passive income is something that’s been setting apart a lot of retirees who are living successfully with their funds [from] those who are struggling,” according to Adam Hamilton, CEO of REI Hub. “Passive income is invaluable when it comes to stretching retirement savings out as much as possible and financing the retirement lifestyle you want.”
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