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The final five years before you retire are when your financial journey transforms from a marathon into a sprint.
According to a survey by MassMutual, Americans retire at age 62 on average — so if you’re in your late-50s or early-60s, your top priority should be boosting your nest egg as much as possible (1).
Fortunately, for many Americans, earnings tend to reach their peak near the end of their careers. Plus, children may be flying the coop, and mortgages are (hopefully) nearly paid off.
Unfortunately, even with those forces in their favor, many Americans aren’t prepared for retirement. One in five American adults over the age of 50 have no retirement savings at all, according to AARP (2). That means they’re a far cry away from the $1.49 million Americans believe that they’ll need in order to retire (3).
So if you’re one of the many who should widen their safety net over the next five years, here are five steps to take now in order to get ahead.
In 2022, the Joe Biden administration implemented the SECURE Act 2.0 — enabling older workers to super-charge their 401(k) contributions (4).
As of 2025, those over the age of 50 can make “catch-up” contributions of $7,500 per year, and those between the ages of 60 and 63 can make “super catch-up” contributions of $11,250. For someone in their early 60s, when combining that with the standard elective employee contribution, their total contribution could be $34,750 this year. And if they benefit from an employer 401(k) match, they could catch up to their retirement goals even faster.
Most older workers are not taking advantage of these generous catch-up features. Only 16% of eligible employees made catch-up contributions in 2024, according to Vanguard (5).
If you can, it’s important to leverage these special provisions in your 50s and 60s to make your retirement as comfortable as possible. Consider investing in an IRA once you max out your 401(k) contributions, too — as many Americans contribute to both accounts to maximize their savings and investment alternatives.
However, there are other options for both building out your nest egg and building in some resiliency against market downturns.
Read more: Warren Buffett used 8 solid, repeatable money rules to turn $9,800 into a $150B fortune. Start using them today to get rich (and stay rich)
A gold IRA is an alternative way to build up your retirement fund by investing in an inflation-hedging asset.
The theory goes that, since gold can’t be printed like fiat currency, it will hold its value better during a crash. If you’re worried about the performance of American stocks and bonds, gold could help provide a bit of a buffer.
Opening a gold IRA with the help of Goldco allows you to invest in gold and other precious metals in physical forms while also providing the significant tax advantages of an IRA. Gold has also been on a historic bull run, hitting highs of about $4,300 per ounce in mid-October.
If you’re curious whether this is the right investment to diversify your portfolio, you can download your free gold and silver information guide today. Even better, if you like what you see, Goldco will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver with a minimum purchase of $10,000. Just be aware that gold often functions best as one part of an otherwise well-diversified portfolio.
It’s easy to get so caught up thinking about the size of your nest egg that you forget to plan for withdrawals. Most people rely on a simple rule of thumb, such as the standard 4% rule, to plan their retirement.
But as you approach this new phase of life in which you don’t have steady employment income, you have to plan for how and when you withdraw money. For instance, delaying Social Security benefits could increase the monthly amount you receive.
This could also give you enough time to sell some assets from your taxable brokerage accounts for tax gain harvesting, or to convert 401(k) funds into a Roth IRA for tax-free growth (4).
If you have other sources of retirement income, perhaps from a rental property or traditional defined benefit pensions, you will also need to figure out the tax consequences of these streams.
And it might be worth meeting with an expert to make sure you’ve ironed out the right withdrawal strategy for your target quality of life in retirement.
Research from Vanguard shows that working with a financial advisor can add about 3% to net returns over time. That difference can become substantial. For example, if you started with a $50,000 portfolio, professional guidance could mean more than $1.3 million in additional growth over 30 years, depending on market conditions and your investment strategy.
Finding the right advisor is simple with Advisor.com. Their platform connects you with up to three licensed financial professionals in your area who can provide personalized guidance.
A professional advisor can also help you determine how many years you have left to invest before retirement and assess your comfort level with market fluctuations — two key factors in building the right asset mix for your portfolio.
Through Advisor.com, you can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your retirement goals and long-term financial plan.
It’s likely that your retirement plan is based on simple assumptions about market returns and withdrawal rates. For instance, maybe your plan assumes the stock market will deliver a 7% annual return, and your annual withdrawals will be 4%.
However, it’s important to note that these are long-term averages and you need to stress-test your portfolio for prolonged market downturns. If, for example, the stock market drops 10% in your first year of retirement and you withdraw 4%, then you would be left with a portfolio that is at least 14% smaller.
That can have a long-term impact on how much money you can withdraw during the rest of your retirement.
Stress testing your portfolio and creating a backup budget or emergency fund can help you prepare for such market downturns and unexpected volatility.
If you’re already maxing out your retirement accounts, you might be surprised to discover that there’s more you can do to both insulate and boost your portfolio’s value — especially if you have a high net worth.
That’s where Range can help make sure your portfolio is built right for your retirement goals down the line. Their team of tax experts and professional advisors offer white-glove financial services catered to high-income households. They can also assess your portfolio to make sure you’re not over-indexed, potentially reducing risk and increasing resiliency.
Traditional advisors typically charge asset under management (AUM) fees, usually between 0.5% and 2%, of your managed assets — so their fees scale with your wealth.
Range, on the other hand, offers 0% AUM fees for advisory services and a flat-fee structure so that you can preserve more of your wealth. They also offer an all-in-one solution for everything from alternative asset management to taxes — all of which is informed by modern AI solutions, and backed by a team of certified financial professionals.
The best part? You can book a complimentary demo to see if Range will meet your comprehensive financial needs.
Five years from retirement could be the ideal time to balance out your nest egg and spread it across multiple investment accounts.
If you have too much accumulated in taxable brokerage accounts, perhaps you could consider contributing and maxing out your tax-deferred accounts for the next few years. For those with a robust 401(k) plan, this could be the ideal time to consider Roth conversions.
It might also be worth looking at other, more unique tax-advantageous strategies. For instance, commercial real estate offers key tax advantages, including cost segregation, depreciation, and 1031 exchanges.
When you invest in commercial real estate, you can tap into depreciation and cost segregation to reduce your taxable income. You can also leverage a 1031 exchange to roll proceeds from one property into another — without paying taxes right away.
That direct access to the $22.5 trillion commercial real estate sector was long limited to a select group of elite investors.
Now, First National Realty Partners (FNRP) can help accredited investors to diversify their portfolio through grocery-anchored commercial properties, without taking on the responsibilities of being a landlord.
With a minimum investment of $50,000, investors can own a share of properties leased by national brands like Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart, which provide essential goods to their communities. Thanks to triple net leases, accredited investors are able to invest in these properties without worrying about tenant costs cutting into their potential returns.
Simply answer a few questions — including how much you would like to invest — to start browsing their full list of available properties.
Don’t forget that all your financial plans ultimately hinge on your desired lifestyle. That means you need a lifestyle plan just as much as a withdrawal or tax plan. If you want to spend more time traveling, don’t neglect that in your annual budget.
If you’re five years away from retirement, test the retirement lifestyle with a short break and see what you enjoy doing with your leisure time. This is the perfect opportunity to build a lifestyle plan for your golden years.
And if you find out that you need to cut back in order to make that dream lifestyle happen, well then, it might be worth building a clearer budget.
If managing a budget feels overwhelming to you, apps like Rocket Money can simplify the process.
Rocket Money tracks and categorizes your expenses, providing a clear view of your cash, credit and investments in one place. It can even uncover forgotten subscriptions, helping you cut unnecessary costs and save potentially hundreds of dollars annually.
For a small fee, the app can also negotiate lower rates on your monthly bills, making it a valuable tool for keeping your finances on track.
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