January is almost over. Have you done your pension overview?

The crash diets have crashed, the brand new budgets aren't budging, and your Peloton is now the most expensive clothes horse in the world. But even if all your New Year's resolutions are toast, there's still one chore at the beginning of the year that you'd be wise to do: your retirement statement.

Now's a perfect time to take stock of where your retirement is headed — whether you're still working or have stopped working and are now receiving Social Security — financial planners say. It gives you a full year's worth of investment returns and personal expenses to assess, as well as a temporarily fresh perspective on how you want to spend the final phase of your life, and the costs that come with it.

A study from the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that approximately 116 million American adults make New Year's resolutions each January, but more than half will abandon them within six months. At the same time, about four million people are expected to turn 65 this year, according to an analysis of census data by the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a nonprofit research arm of the annuity industry. Almost all of them will have to support themselves for decades.

Whether you're still working or already retired, assessing your retirement plan and how it's trending compared to reality is a crucial step, says Michael Crews, author of the book “Saturday Everyday” and CEO of North Texas Wealth Management in Allen. Texas.

“Most people have never been retired, and if you've never been retired the learning curve is steep,” Mr Crews said. “People think the goal is to retire, but that's only half the goal. The goal is to retire and not run out of money.”

Here are some key areas you'll want to look at.

What do you spend?

January is a good time to gather your credit card annual reports, as well as tax documents, any Form 1099 notices for gig workers and freelancers and, if you get a paycheck, your last paycheck of the year. This allows you to see what your after-tax income is and what you're spending, says Bill Dendy, president of Alicorn Investment Management in Dallas.

“This is the perfect month to find out what you're spending monthly and annually so you can figure out where your money is going each month,” Mr Dendy said.

These numbers are key to planning the income you'll need in retirement and, once you've stopped working, determining whether your spending is in line with your budget.

A common piece of advice is that retirees only need about 80 percent of the income they had when they were working. But in the early years of retirement, people will often indulge in travel plans or make major purchases, such as a boat or recreational vehicle, and end up spending as much or more as they did when they were working.

“Inflation is driving up costs, and some people may realize that the amount they budgeted as the perfect retirement amount is too low,” Mr Dendy said.

Check your investments.

In addition to assessing the performance of your investments, it's a good time to examine your asset allocation to ensure your money is diversified so you can avoid taking on too much risk. After a big year for stocks — the S&P 500 ended the year up 24.23 percent — investors will want to make sure their money isn't too concentrated in stocks before a market downturn occurs. They should also consider whether their mix of investments presents an appropriate level of volatility and risk for people in or nearing retirement.

“People wait to make adjustments until there is a major market correction, which is the worst time to make a change,” Mr. Dendy said, as that translates into real losses. “That's OK when you're thirty, but when you're seventy, it's a challenge.”

Investors who started with a sufficiently diversified portfolio will also want to consider whether their investments need to be rebalanced with their original investment plan. Some major brokers offer automatic rebalancing that can be set up online.

How do you handle Social Security and Medicare?

Three to five years before you retire, look at different Social Security collecting strategies, such as claiming spousal benefits, including claims against a former spouse's benefits if you've been married for at least 10 years. The age to receive full benefits is between 66 and 67 people born after 1954. For those who delay collecting benefits, the monthly amount increases by 8 percent per year until age 70. Coordinating benefits with a spouse can become complicated. There are online calculators, including those from the Social Security Administration website, and a few paid online services; a call to the agency or a financial planner can also help.

“You need someone who can run those numbers for you and discuss the pros and cons,” says Daphne Jordan, senior wealth advisor at Pioneer Wealth Management Group in Austin, Texas, and president of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. “People may also not know the logistics of Medicare and that there can be a penalty if you don't sign up on time, whether you're working or not.”

What is your tax situation?

How you structure withdrawals from your retirement accounts, when you collect retirement payments and Social Security benefits, and whether you earn income from work or other sources can have a major impact on your retirement. The bottom line is that the less you pay in taxes, the longer you can make your savings last.

Many potential retirees do not realize that about half of all Social Security recipients are taxed on their benefits and that earnings above a certain threshold can result in monthly Medicare surcharges that, at the highest income level, can yield a premium up to $594 per month. If you turn 73 this year, you'll also face taxes on your required minimum distributions (the dreaded RMDs) from deferred retirement accounts, including individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s.

Some retirees could benefit from absorbing the tax burden from transferring tax-deferred money in a traditional IRA or 401(k) to a Roth IRA, making all future withdrawals tax-free. Retirees under age 73 may want to delay Social Security and pension payments early in retirement to deplete IRAs and other accounts before the RMDs take effect. Yet another strategy is to send RMD payments directly to charity if you don't need the income. can reduce your tax bill. In all cases, you must decide whether to withhold income taxes from Social Security, retirement payments, and account withdrawals, or whether to make quarterly estimated tax payments.

Bottom line: If you think taxes are complicated when you work, just wait until you retire.

“It's important to have someone calculate your tax projections before you start taking money out of your accounts,” Ms Jordan said. “There will be tax considerations.”

What are your insurance needs?

During your working years, it's a wise financial move to take out a good amount of term life insurance – enough to pay off your mortgage and other debts and carry your loved ones for at least a year. If you and your partner have retired, this coverage may become unnecessary.

“Once you retire, the house can be paid off, and there isn't the same loss of income when you die,” Mr Dendy said. “But now it may make sense to convert a life insurance policy to a long-term care policy, even though that won't make sense for one person. Long-term care may make sense for a couple, but it is a real shopping event to get the best long-term coverage for your situation.”

Many single retirees can get by without long-term care because they don't risk spending all their assets and leaving a spouse virtually destitute. Because long-term care costs top $100,000 per year for people without Medicaid coverage, another option is to consider life insurance or annuities that provide that coverage as a rider. Some combat veterans may qualify for long-term care coverage under the Help and presence benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs, although the process for claiming these benefits can be complicated.

Do you have a digital wealth plan?

If you're nearing retirement or nearing retirement, it's a good time to take a comprehensive inventory of what you own, where those assets are located, and how your family members or friends can find that information. In addition to investment and bank accounts, pensions, insurance policies, trusts, annuities, deeds, titles and other documents, you should also compile a list of account usernames, websites and passwords.

Taking photos or videos of the contents of your home, including jewelry and other valuables, is a good way to catalog your belongings. You will also need a durable power of attorney (to manage finances) and a health care power of attorney (to make medical decisions), a health care privacy document, any end-of-life directives, an updated will, and any appropriate trusts. .

“It's a good time to look at your estate plan and check the beneficiaries of your retirement and financial accounts and insurance policies,” Ms. Jordan said. For example, if a former spouse is still listed as a beneficiary on an old bank or 401(k) workplace account, that money will go directly to that person, even if you have remarried. “If you are a parent, this is a good time to think about whether your children are aware of your estate plans and where all those documents are.”

Is your plan really a plan?

“People say, 'I'm going to work forever,' but what happens if you're diagnosed with something,” says Mr. Crews of North Texas Wealth Management. “That's not having a plan.”

While many people can save and invest for retirement during their working lives, the myriad considerations for investing, taxes, healthcare, benefits, insurance and more in retirement can be beyond the capabilities of even a successful do-it-yourselfer. While not everyone needs a financial advisor to manage this, even an occasional conversation with a financial planner or retirement planner can be helpful.

Planners warn that people can become so focused on the intimidating and complicated financial aspects of retirement that they never think about what their retirement goals, priorities and lifestyle should be.

“The biggest thing people miss is goal setting and lifestyle for retirement,” Mr Crews added. “When you're retired, you still have to figure out what's really important to you. And people just don't have those conversations.”