Getting Organized: Do You Know Where You're Headed?

Most people don't wake up one morning with a perfectly organized retirement plan.

They start a job, enroll in a 401(k), contribute for a few years, maybe change employers, open another account, increase their savings along the way—and before they know it, 10, 20, or even 30 years have gone by.

And many of them have done a really good job saving.

But saving for retirement and having a retirement plan aren't necessarily the same thing.

It's Not Just About How Much You've Saved

One of the first things we like to do with someone is simply get organized.

That might mean gathering old retirement accounts from previous employers, reviewing a current 401(k), looking at IRAs, savings, pensions and eventually Social Security.

But even if you've worked for the same employer your entire career, getting organized still matters.

Maybe you're contributing to your 401(k) every paycheck and have been doing so for years. That's great—but have you ever looked at what you're actually saving, how it's invested, and what that could potentially mean for you down the road?

That's where the bigger question comes in:

Is what you're doing today going to get you where you want to be tomorrow?

Sometimes You Don't Need to Change Everything

Getting organized doesn't mean that every account needs to be moved or every investment needs to be changed.

The first step is understanding what you already have.

What are you saving today? Where is your money invested? What retirement income might you have in the future? When would you ideally like to retire? And, most importantly, how do all of those pieces work together?

Once you can see the entire picture, you can start making more informed decisions about what—if anything—needs to change.

Why Starting Earlier Matters

One of the advantages of looking at this before you're ready to retire is time.

If you're 10, 15 or 20 years away from retirement and discover that you're not quite on track for where you'd like to be, you may have more opportunities to make adjustments.

Maybe it's increasing your retirement contribution. Maybe it's reviewing your investments. Maybe it's organizing old accounts. Or maybe you find out that you're already doing many of the right things.

The important part is knowing.

Waiting until you're a year or two away from retirement gives you fewer options. Understanding where you stand today gives you time to plan for tomorrow.

Start by Putting the Pieces Together

Retirement planning doesn't have to start with a complicated strategy.

Sometimes it starts with a much simpler question:

What do I have, what am I doing today, and where is it taking me?

If you haven't answered those questions recently, it may be a good time to get organized and see where you stand.

And once you know where you stand, the next question becomes:

How much do I actually need to retire?