Retirement & Beyond- Making It Last
60+
The work of this stage is different from every stage before it. For decades, the goal was building — saving more, investing more, growing what you have. Now the goal shifts to making it last, and to protecting it, because this is also the stage when people are most likely to be targeted by those intent on stealing their hard-built wealth.
The question that mattered for forty years — “how much can I save this month” — gets replaced by a different one: “how much can I safely withdraw each year without running out.” Withdraw too cautiously and you may live more frugally than you need to; withdraw too aggressively and you risk outliving your savings.
This is rarely a “set it once” decision. Markets move, spending needs change year to year, and a withdrawal plan should be revisited regularly rather than fixed in place at the start of retirement.
RULE OF THUMB | A common starting point is withdrawing around 4% of your savings in the first year of retirement, then adjusting in later years based on market performance and your actual spending — if you are working with a licensed advisor, treat this as a starting conversation, not a fixed formula for your situation. |
This is, without question, the most heavily targeted stage of life for financial fraud — not by accident, but because retirees typically have the most savings accumulated. Fraudsters know this, and they design their approach around it: urgency, secrecy, and pressure to act before you can think it through or talk to someone you trust.
The single most protective habit at this stage is simple to describe, even if it takes discipline to follow: never send money or personal information to anyone — however official they sound — without independently verifying who they are first.
RULE OF THUMB | Before you invest with anyone or act on an unsolicited call, email, or message about your money, verify their registration with the Securities Commission of The Bahamas. Legitimate opportunities can withstand you taking the time to check. |
Healthcare spending tends to take up a larger share of a household’s budget with age, and long-term care — whether at home or in a facility — can be one of the single largest expenses a retiree ever faces. Because it’s easy to underestimate, it’s worth planning for deliberately rather than assuming general savings will absorb it.
This doesn’t need to be a source of anxiety, but it does need to be a line item, not an afterthought.
RULE OF THUMB | Budget for healthcare and potential long-term care as their own category, separate from everyday living expenses, so a health event doesn’t quietly derail the rest of your plan. |
A will and beneficiary designations made ten or fifteen years ago may no longer reflect the family, assets, or wishes you have today. An outdated document doesn’t fail loudly — it simply carries out instructions that no longer match what you actually want, and nobody finds out until it’s too late to fix.
This is less about creating a plan for the first time — hopefully that happened earlier — and more about treating it as something to revisit, the same way you’d revisit a budget.
RULE OF THUMB | Review your will, beneficiary designations, and power of attorney annually, and immediately after any major life event — a death, a divorce, a new grandchild. |
The takeaway
This stage rewards vigilance as much as planning. A sustainable withdrawal plan, a healthy scepticism toward anyone creating urgency around your money, a real budget for healthcare, and documents that still reflect your actual wishes. The wealth built over a lifetime deserves the same discipline at this stage that it took to build it in the first place.
