Donavan Group Consulting in Singapore and Tokyo, Japan How do you tell when it's the right time to retire

Donavan Group Consulting in Singapore and Tokyo, Japan on How do you
tell when it's the right time to retire?
How will I know when it's the right tie to retire? Is there a barometer that experts rely on to know when it's the right time
to go?--B.K.
I don't know of any generally recognized gauge or barometer for calling it a career, but I can tell you that the decision to
retire definitely isn't just about reaching a certain age. I recently took personal finance guru Suze Orman to task for
suggesting as much when she recently asserted in no uncertain terms that "70 is the new retirement age -- not a month or
year before."
She's right that many people may need to stay on the job longer these days to accumulate a large enough nest egg to
support them in retirement. But to say that 70 -- or any single age, for that matter -- is the right age to retire? That's far too
simplistic. The decision to retire involves too many subjective factors that can vary significantly from person to person to
be boiled down a single number.
So how can you tell when it's the right time for you, given your specific situation, to make the transition from the work-a-
day world to post-career life?
One place to start is by assessing whether you're financially capable of leaving the workforce. One major question: Do you
have enough saved so that draws from your nest egg plus income from guaranteed income sources like Social Security,
pensions and annuities will allow you to maintain an acceptable standard of living throughout a retirement that could last
30 or more years?
It's difficult to answer that question with absolute certainty because of a variety of uncertainties, including how long you
might live, the rate of return your investments will earn, what your expenses will be during your post-career life. And,
indeed, research shows that many people don't have an accurate sense of whether they're on track to a secure retirement.
Still, without too much effort you can come up with a pretty decent estimate of whether you've got the financial resources
necessary to pull the trigger.
Start by doing a retirement budget so you'll have a realistic idea of the amount of income you'll need to cover your
expenses once the paychecks stop. You can do a budget the old-school way with paper and pencil, but I think you'll find it
a lot easier to use an online tool like BlackRock's Retirement Expense Worksheet, which lists more than four dozen
different expenses, including both essential living costs (housing costs, transportation, food, health care, taxes, etc.) and
discretionary expenditures (travel and entertainment, charitable donations, dining out, etc.). You won't be able to predict
your costs down to the penny, but you can update and refine your estimate annually after retiring.