One of my favorite stories is about a client who called me to find out if she could replace her kitchen cabinets. Clearly, she was not asking me for advice on building the kitchen cabinets, because I am the furthest thing from a handyman. What she was asking in this seemingly simple question was really a series of questions: Do I have the money to buy new kitchen cabinets? If I do, where does the money come from? If I take the money, will it impact my current income? And most importantly, if I spend the money today on the kitchen cabinets, will I have the money I need tomorrow?

In my practice, I have called this the “kitchen cabinet” question, and it comes in many forms: Can I take the trip? Can I buy another car? Can I earmark money to fund college expenses for my grandchild? Can I buy a second home? These are just some of the questions that address the concern, “If I spend my money today, will it be there tomorrow?” Without the benefit of a clearly defined Retirement Roadmap, it isn’t always easy to understand the answer to that question.

The true benefit of having done the proper planning is that when something new comes up you can go back to the plan and determine what would happen if you changed some of the assumptions based on the new objectives. That will allow you to see if your Retirement Roadmap still works. The beauty is that you can see the result before you make the decision—to buy the car, to do the kitchen cabinets, to go on that trip.

ithout a properly defined Roadmap, you may never truly know whether or not the decisions you are about to make will impact your ability to continue to pursue your retirement dreams. Furthermore, you could be constantly second-guessing your decisions, which would mean you would never truly gain a sense of peace of mind.

About Mark Singer

Mark Singer is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and the author of The Changing Landscape of Retirement—What You Don't Know Could Hurt You. He has been The Retirement Guide to thousands of investors for close to 25 years and is the creator of the Retirement Roadmap, which contributes to a solution to investors' greatest concerns–properly coordinating their financial affairs. These systems have become a primary resource for the people who have worked with Mark over the years. You can download the first chapter of Mark's new book for free by Liking it on Facebook.