Hit Sixty, Plan Seventy: Your Decade-Out Financial Tune-Up
- Gustaf Rounick, CFP®, ChFC®
- Mar 1
- 5 min read
Seeing the Next Ten Years
Hitting your sixties often feels like arriving at cruising altitude—but the real flight plan still needs updating. A short list of tune-ups today can make your glide path to age 70 (and beyond) far smoother. Think of this as an annual physical for your money, with each section zeroing in on a vital sign.
Treat this decade like the stretch between the Venice pier and Santa Monica’s—close enough to visualize, far enough to demand steady pacing. Map how your cash reserves, investment income, and health-care plans interact each year through 70, stress-testing for a sudden bear market or a six-month detour to help family. The exercise shows whether your current glide path really clears the finish line or needs mid-course trims.
Refresh the Retirement Budget
Lifestyle costs usually peak in the early years of retirement, then flatten. Price in today’s inflation and the standard Medicare Part B premium of $185 a month for 2025 [1]. Build in a cushion for home repairs and travel while you’re most active.
Layer real-world costs on top of your baseline: HOA hikes, coastal property-insurance premiums that keep nudging up in Santa Monica, and those extra lattes after morning walks along the sidewalks of Venice. Updating these figures annually helps you spot lifestyle inflation early and decide what can be trimmed before it dents long-term goals.
Time Your Social Security
Every twelve-month delay between 62 and 70 still boosts the benefit roughly 8 percent. The check you see next January will already be 2.5 percent larger thanks to the 2025 cost-of-living adjustment [2]. Run the numbers at various claiming ages to see which start date keeps lifetime taxes and investment withdrawals in balance.
Run the math on break-even ages, but also consider neighborhood context—California’s high income-tax bracket means delaying benefits may let you pull more from Roths or brokerage accounts now at lower overall tax cost. A side benefit: larger future checks backstop higher living expenses in pricier locales like Santa Monica.
Close the Medicare Gap
Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans open for review each fall. Because premiums can jump sharply after 65, compare total costs (premiums plus out-of-pocket limits) rather than headline prices alone. Confirm that any Advantage network still includes the doctors you actually use.
If you split time between Venice and other regions, confirm that your preferred specialists accept the same Medicare Advantage network statewide, or pivot to a Medigap plan with national reach. Include drug-plan comparisons too; even a single formulary change can outstrip the sunny savings of a beachfront condo.
Re-check Your Investment Risk
With required minimum distributions (RMDs) now starting the year you turn 73 [5], market swings in your early seventies will directly affect taxes. Gradually shift the money you’ll need within five years into cash or short-term bonds while leaving longer-term growth engines further out on the timeline.
Imagine your stock allocation as roller skates on the Venice Boardwalk—fun but risky if pavement cracks appear. Shift money you’ll need soon into high-grade bonds or T-Bills so a downturn doesn’t force selling shares to fund everyday life in Santa Monica’s higher-cost environment.
Lock In Durable Income
A small slice of a portfolio can buy protected income—think laddered Treasury bills, bond ladders, or a carefully vetted annuity. New rules also allow Roth-style employer accounts to skip RMDs entirely [7], letting you push more tax-free dollars into late retirement.
Test how adding a modest SPIA or setting up a Treasury ladder through age 80 would feel: does it free you to keep growth assets invested, or tie up too much liquidity for Venice real-estate taxes that come due each November? Modeling both scenarios clarifies your comfort zone.
Max Out Catch-Up Contributions
In 2025 you can defer $23,500 into a 401(k) and another $7,500 as a “regular” catch-up once you’re 50. Starting the year you reach age 60, a special catch-up climbs to $11,250 for most workplace plans [3][4]. If cash-flow permits, that extra plug can offset the taxes you’ll owe on RMDs later.
Automate extra deferrals the first pay period each year, then pretend that money never existed—much easier than scrambling in December while gift shopping on Third Street Promenade. If you freelance, funnel that income into a solo 401(k) so every Venice client invoice boosts retirement security.
Trim Expensive Debt
Mortgage or not, high-rate balances can erode fixed incomes quickly. Pay down anything above a low-single-digit rate before rates reset higher. If downsizing is on the horizon, test how a sale would affect both taxes and lifestyle.
Rank liabilities by rate and term, then compare each to the 10-year Treasury yield. If your HELOC on a Santa Monica rental floats two points above that benchmark, prioritize paying it down; money “earned” by cutting interest costs is risk-free and taxable only as saved stress.
Update Estate Documents
Wills, powers of attorney, and beneficiary forms written in your fifties may be stale. Confirm that heirs, successor trustees, and health-care agents still reflect current relationships. Adding a “springing” power of attorney can keep bills paid seamlessly if cognitive issues arise.
Add digital assets and California community-property nuances. If you co-own a Venice bungalow, specify whether the survivor can sell or must offer first refusal to heirs. Keeping instructions crystal-clear spares loved ones legal friction when emotions already run high.
Plan for Long-Term Care
Roughly seven in ten Americans over 65 will need some form of assistance. Pricing coverage while you’re still healthy widens your choices; self-funding means earmarking assets now. Hybrid life/long-term-care policies can solve two risks with one premium if structured correctly.
Research local pricing: in-home aides around Santa Monica average over $35 per hour, while memory-care facilities push six figures annually. Deciding now whether to insure, self-fund, or mix both prevents a future panic sale of that beloved Venice investment duplex.
Budget for the Fun Stuff
Trips, new hobbies, and family events rarely show up in automated budgeting apps. Give those dreams a line item—and revisit it every December to keep them realistic and funded.
Translate goals into numbers—a $7,000 photography safari or a $1,200 stand-up-paddleboard that turns every calm Venice morning into exercise. Pre-funding these joys in a separate “play” account keeps them intact even if markets wobble.
A Quick California Note
If you’re a homeowner near Los Angeles, Proposition 19 lets residents 55 and older move anywhere in the state up to three times and carry their old property-tax base with them [6]. Those savings can make relocating—or staying put and remodeling—far more affordable.
Prop 19 portability can slash future property taxes, but closing costs and moving expenses in areas like Santa Monica can erode savings. Run side-by-side projections on selling versus remodeling, and include capital-gain exposure after the $500k exclusion.
Build the 70-Ready Calendar
Set reminders: enroll in Medicare at 64 ½, claim Social Security no later than 70, and begin RMD projections at 72. A written checklist, reviewed each birthday, catches deadlines before they become penalties.
Take the Next Step
Ready to put your 60s financial checkup into action?
• Schedule a no-obligation call to talk through your goals one-on-one.
• Or try our free 5-minute Retirement Readiness Assessment to see exactly where you stand today.
Gustaf Rounick, CFP®, ChFC®
Disclaimer
This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not individualized tax, legal, or investment advice. Westlight Wealth and its representatives do not provide legal advice, and nothing herein should be construed as such. Consult your qualified professional regarding your unique circumstances. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
Works Cited
[5] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-reminds-those-aged-73-and-older-to-make-required-withdrawals-from-iras-and-retirement-plans-by-dec-31-notes-changes-in-the-law-for-2023