John Csiszar

Tue, May 27, 2025, 6:16 AM4 min read

If you’re in your 60s and still working, it’s inevitable that at some point someone will ask you when you plan to retire, or perhaps even why you haven’t already. But if you’re still building wealth and genuinely enjoying your work, there’s absolutely no reason why you “have to” retire.

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In fact, continuing to work can provide numerous benefits, such as growing your nest egg, providing personal fulfillment and boosting your future Social Security payout.

Still, that doesn’t mean you should ignore retirement planning altogether. At some point, you may not want — or be able — to work. Here are some smart ways to prepare for retirement, even when you don’t actually want to retire.

You’ll be well ahead of the game if you start drafting your retirement strategy while you’re still employed. Far too many people wait until after they’ve stopped working, when it’s often too late to make meaningful adjustments to ensure a fulfilling retirement.

Start by creating a realistic retirement budget. Use the budget you’re currently living on as a baseline, and adjust for expenses likely to change post-retirement. While every situation is unique, you might expect transportation, wardrobe and commuting costs to decrease, while medical expenses and travel could increase.

Once you project out a rough estimate for how much you’ll be spending in retirement, reverse-engineer the process to determine how much income you’ll need to support your lifestyle. For example, if you think you can live on $60,000 per year and expect a 4% return on your investments, you’d need a nest egg of about $1.5 million to sustain that indefinitely. If you plan to draw down your savings to zero after 30 years, you’ll need just over $1 million.

Keep in mind, though, these are just broad strokes. Variability of returns, inflation, healthcare needs and taxes will all affect your actual numbers. Planning for this variability is part of the process as well.

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One of the best reasons to keep working in your 60s, especially if you’ve already built a sufficient retirement nest egg, is to keep your employer-sponsored health insurance. After age 65, you’ll likely qualify for Medicare, but that doesn’t always mean you’re fully covered. Long-term care, dental, vision and other supplemental needs can add up quickly.