How Do You Plan For Retirement? 
Planning for retirement is planning for your lifestyle in your golden years ; you need to establish a personal financial profile that includes a risk tolerance assessment , your effective tax bracket and a life expectancy report so you can create a reasonable timeline . If youre younger than age 45 , you should consider retirement at age 70 because your life expectancy may be 20 to 25 years more if youre a nonsmoker and in good health . You need to determine if your employer sponsors a defined contribution plan like a 401 -LRB- k -RRB- , especially if the employer offers a contribution match . If your employer doesnt offer such a plan , you may want to consider a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA . If youre self-employed and you make six figure income , you may want to investigate SEPs . Some retirement plans are non-qualified using annuities and/or life insurance to fund their retirement . Once you perform your personal financial profile , you can begin the review process to determine how youll fund your retirement . 