Based on current economic and market conditions, I’d have to call 2025 a pretty scary time to be retiring. That doesn’t mean people can’t or shouldn’t do it. But rather, things seem awfully precarious right now.

Many financial experts have been sounding recession alarms since tariff policies were announced at the start of April. And the stock market has certainly taken investors for a wild ride.

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Now it happens to be that I’m not gearing up to retire anytime soon. But if I were retiring in 2025, I’d make sure to do these essential things before tendering my resignation.

1. Make sure I’m not overly invested in stocks

I have a large chunk of my retirement portfolio in stocks. And because I’m not actually retiring this year, or next year, or the year after that, I’m OK with that. But if I were retiring this year, I’d want to be very careful with my asset allocation — and perhaps steer away from stocks to some degree.

It’s not wise to completely unload your stocks in retirement, because you need them to grow your portfolio as you’re withdrawing from it. But based on current market conditions, I’d probably want to limit the stock portion of my retirement portfolio to 60% or 65% max.

Another thing I’d do? In addition to potentially dumping some stocks and replacing them with bonds, I’d accumulate some cash. Given that market turbulence could be with us for a while, I’d probably want a good two years’ worth of living expenses in a good old savings account.

2. Read up on healthcare

I expect the majority of my expenses to go down in retirement. I live in an area with high property taxes now because it gives me access to a good school system. In retirement, that’s not something I expect to need, so I hope to not only have a paid-off home by then, but also, much lower taxes and property maintenance costs.

There are other bills I’d expect to decline, too. But the one expense I fully anticipate rising is healthcare. So if I were retiring this year, I’d do my research. That means reading up on what Medicare costs and doing some general reading to see how much money to allocate to healthcare in my budget.

As a starting point, it might help you to know that Fidelity puts the average cost of healthcare in retirement at $165,000 for a 65-year-old retiring in 2024. But take that number with a grain of salt, as variables like your specific health and where you live will be factors, too.

3. Figure out what to do with my time

A lot of people look forward to retirement, but here’s a secret of mine — part of me is dreading it. I don’t tend to do so well with excess downtime. And I worry I’ll find retirement overwhelmingly boring, even though I have plenty of hobbies.

If I were retiring this year, I’d need a game plan for how to spend my time in the absence of a job. That could be a combination of volunteering and perhaps getting a few more dogs to look after. But I’d need some sort of concrete idea of what my days might look like.

It’s not uncommon for new retirees to struggle with a lack of structure and find themselves unhappy. With some careful planning, that doesn’t have to happen to you.

Although it’s a challenging time to be retiring, with the right approach, you can move forward with your plans confidently. Just make sure to address these key points so you’re well prepared.

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