Why do people invest so much on their careers and work 24/7 as if there’s no tomorrow? For reasons more profound than immediate need and bills, people work hard because they want to be comfortable after their retirement. Now of course things don’t always go the way you planned them, but it can sure save you from a lot of worrying and stress if you plan ahead of time.

At present, your mantra goes, “My work is my life.” And you’ve become so committed to your job that you can’t think of doing anything else. But having a retirement plan requires you to be prudent and set goals for your future when you’ll come to a point where you can’t work anymore.

Ask yourself, how do you see yourself retired? Knowing more or less what activities you’ll want to adopt into your lifestyle when you’re retired will also determine how much money you have to save.

Allocate a substantial amount of savings for health care. Even if you’re in the pink of health, you have to be wise enough to be prepared in case you acquire some disease by the time you get older. There’s only so much Medicare covers, so it’s still best to look after your own future health care.

Discuss your plan with your partner. You can discuss your retirement plan with your partner if you intend to live with this person for the rest of your life. A retirement plan is too important to be taken lightly, and a partner who’s supportive of your retirement plans can make the planning easier by working together for your goals.

Compute. You need money to retire. Do you have enough? Try out this retirement calculator.

Read on our other take on retiring early.