Skip to content
Benefits Beyond Work

Life change

Preparing for Retirement

Preparing for retirement is different from retiring. The transition hasn't happened yet, so there is still time to align a retirement date with Medicare timing, a spouse's coverage, and the protection that ends when work does.

Tell Us What's ChangingExplore All Life Changes

What's changing

Here's what typically shifts.

Nothing has ended yet. That is the advantage. Preparing for retirement is the window in which a retirement date can still be aligned with Medicare enrollment, a spouse's coverage, and the workplace protection that will end — rather than reacting to those things after the fact.

What to consider

Questions worth asking.

  • How your intended retirement date lines up with Medicare eligibility for you and your spouse.
  • Whether the household would have a healthcare gap between the last day of work and Medicare.
  • Which workplace benefits end at retirement, and which can be continued or converted.
  • How much of your retirement income you want to be predictable rather than variable.
  • Whether existing life insurance still matches what the household would need.
  • Whether beneficiary designations across policies and financial accounts are current.

Benefits you may already have

Start with what already exists.

  • Employer retirement benefits and any protection features already elected.
  • Retiree medical coverage, if the employer offers it.
  • Workplace life and disability coverage, and whether it is portable.
  • A spouse's employer plan and its retiree provisions.

A life change doesn’t always mean you need new insurance.

Household considerations

Who else could this change affect?

A change for one person can move healthcare, protection, retirement, and legacy needs for someone else at home.

  • A younger spouse's coverage is usually the item most often overlooked at this stage.
  • Dependents still on the plan need a destination identified before the date is set.
  • Household income needs, not just individual income, determine what should be protected.
  • Legacy preparedness is easier to organize before a transition than during one.

Relevant solutions

Given what's changing, here's where we can help.

Explore Medicare Education

Financial Relationship Manager

You don’t have to work out everything a change affects on your own. A Financial Relationship Manager helps you understand what is changing and what may need attention — so you don't have to figure that out on your own first.

Related insights

Go deeper on this.

Get help with what's next.

Tell us what's changing and we'll help you understand what may need attention — for you and for your household.

Tell Us What's ChangingExplore Individuals & Families