Now that you have defined your retirement goal, it is time to gather the information you will need to develop your plan. In addition to your budget, you will need all of your current retirement and investment plan statements. These will include information on:

• pensions
• 401(k)/403(b)/457(b)
• thrift savings plans
• personal IRAs
• Employer IRAs (Keogh, Simple IRA, SEP/SARSEP)
• stocks
• bonds
• mutual funds
• annuities
• Social Security Benefits
• other savings or investments

It is imperative that you gather the most recent financial information that you have for all of the retirement investments that are applicable for your situation. The ability to develop a sound, comprehensive retirement plan will depend greatly on the availability and accuracy of this data.

Step Three - Get Educated