The years before the leap
Planning for Retirement
The years before you retire are when a little organizing pays off most — get your money, your health coverage, and your paperwork in order, so day one feels like freedom, not a cliff.
Guides to start with
How to Live on a Budget in Retirement: A Practical Guide
A simple, step-by-step way to build a retirement budget on a fixed income — add up your income, track your spending, match the two, and trim costs without feeling deprived.
Read the guide →Affairs in OrderWhat Should Be in an Emergency Binder: The Complete Checklist
Every document to gather — IDs, financial, medical, and estate papers — organized the way FEMA's official kit recommends.
Read the guide →Affairs in OrderWhat to Do When Someone Dies: A Step-by-Step Checklist
A calm, ordered checklist for after a loss — the pronouncement, death certificates, Social Security, and every agency to notify.
Read the guide →Free ToolEarly-Retiree Health Insurance Calculator
Retiring before 65? Estimate your COBRA-vs-Marketplace costs and the 2026 subsidy cliff — right in your browser.
Open the calculator →Planners & books for this stage
The Retirement Planning Checklist
Your step-by-step countdown — from five years out to your first 90 days.
View →Printable · $4.99The Retirement Budget Tracker
What's coming in, what's going out, and what's left over — every month.
View →Printable · $4.99The Medicare & Healthcare Organizer
Every card, claim, appointment, and medication — in one place.
View →Printable · $9.99The Emergency Binder
Who to call, what you have, and where it is — ready before you need it.
View →Printable · $12.99The End of Life Planner
Your people, papers, accounts & wishes — all in one place.
View →Book · $14.99Health Insurance for the Solo Early Retiree
How to bridge the gap to Medicare on your own — coverage, costs, and the new 2026 subsidy rules.
View →Other paths
Living My Best Retirement
You worked for these years — now enjoy them. Ideas, gear, and guides for a full, healthy, connected life.
Explore ideas →Start hereCaring for my Parents
The conversations, the safety, the paperwork — a calm path to helping aging parents without the overwhelm.
Get the playbook →