Even though it might be something you don’t want to worry or think much about, you need to be planning for retirement now. Have you thought about what you might be doing in 10 years, 20 years, or even 30 years? If you are considering retiring within any of those time frames, you really need to be planning your strategy. 

According to Jenny and Patrick McKinney from About.com, retirement is just an extension of living, meaning you’ll need an income, health insurance, and a place to live, along with some goals. The McKinneys say there are several ways to have income in retirement:
* Company Pension
* 401K
* Social Security
* Independently wealthy
* Rich spouse
* IRAs
* Savings and/or investments
* Employment
Of course, the more of these you have, the more income you will have, and the better off you’ll be. The McKinneys say you should have at least three of the above forms of income to have a successful retirement.

Most of us know that health insurance is a major concern for retired people (and others!). Even though you become eligible for Medicare when you hit 65, the McKinneys warn that it can still be quite costly. They recommend planning on having additional supplemental insurance to take care of whatever isn’t covered by Medicare, which could put a dent in your budget. They say that while some companies provide health care insurance to retirees, this is becoming very rare. You should be able to find affordable health insurance if you are under 65 and have no bad habits or health condition. But the McKinneys warn that the premiums will rise as you grow older. If you plan to retire before reaching 65 and know that you will have to provide your own health insurance, you should try to get as healthy as possible, they say. To make sure you qualify for low premiums, it’s a good idea to lose weight, exercise, and stop any bad habits now.

When past generations retired, they didn’t even consider moving from the home where they raised their family, spent most of their years, etc. They planned on using this place where their children and grandchildren would gather during the summers and on holidays. This has changed, the McKinneys say. Nowadays, people are selling their larger homes and moving into condos or townhouses, or buying property in warmer climates. Have you thought about what your plans will be once you retire? Where will you live? Will you stay where you are or move to a new place? If you plan right, say the McKinneys, you will have a wide variety of choices.

According to the McKinneys, your retirement goals should match your lifestyle or the lifestyle you would like to have. Whether or not you reach your goals depends entirely on you, since you have the power to make your retirement dreams come true. The McKinneys offer the following checklist to get you started:
* Getting your finances in order
* Making sure you have money set aside for retirement
* Staying healthy
* Writing down your plans and sticking to them
How do you do this? According to CNN Money, to live well in retirement, you no longer can rely solely on a company pension plan or Social Security. Instead, you will need to skillfully plan and invest, along with making good use of tax-advantaged savings plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs.
First, estimate how much you will need. CNN Money says you will need about 70 percent of your annual pre-retirement income to live comfortably. Of course, it depends on what you plan on doing after retirement. If you have plans to build your dream house or travel the world, you might need 100 percent of your income or more.  Don’t forget that your health care expenses are likely to go up in retirement, if only because you’ll be paying more for insurance, they say.
Second, CNN Money suggests figuring out how you’ll meet your expenses. The three most common sources of retirement income for most people are: Social Security, pensions and annuities, and savings. An easy way to determine your estimated Social Security benefits is to check out the statements you’ve probably received in the mail. If you haven’t received one, you can order one online at http://www.ssa.gov/mystatement. Next, think about any annual payouts you expect from an annuity or company pension.
If you figure out that you won’t have enough to live on, it’s obvious you need to figure out a back up plan. CNN Money says you will need at least $15 to $20 in investment savings to cover each dollar of that shortfall. If your projected retirement expenses exceed Social Security and pensions by, say, $20,000 a year that means you’ll need a nest egg of $300,000 to $400,000 to bridge the gap, they say.
Try visiting a financial planner to help you figure out how large of a nest egg you’ll need, or check out http://money.cnn.com/pf/retirement/index.html for more information from CNN Money.
For more from Jenny and Patrick McKinney, check out About.com’s Retirement Planning section at http://retireplan.about.com.