Taking a \u201cset it and forget it\u201d approach to retirement planning works in some areas, such as setting up automatic contributions to retirement savings so you don\u2019t even have to think about it. But in other areas, it\u2019s not the right approach.<\/p>\n
One of those areas has to do with actively \u201cstress testing\u201d your retirement plan to identify weak points and make adjustments as needed, according to Rob Williams, head of financial planning and wealth management research at Charles Schwab<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when your retirement plan appears solid on paper, revisiting and stress-testing it regularly \u2014 especially at the start of the year \u2014 can help prevent small vulnerabilities from growing into significant problems,\u201d Williams told GOBankingRates in an email. \u201cMarkets ebb and flow, personal circumstances change, but a proactive check-in can help ensure your plan endures whatever 2026 and beyond may bring.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at four ways to stress test your retirement plan<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n Also see the simple retirement advice financial experts are giving to clients in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is especially important if you\u2019re nearing retirement age<\/a> or have recently retired. As Williams noted, market downturns during these periods of life can \u201csignificantly increase\u201d your risk of running out of money.<\/p>\n \u201cStress testing helps quantify this risk by modeling thousands of potential market and inflation scenarios to show how different paths could impact your retirement portfolio,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom there, you can determine whether you need to make any adjustments \u2014 such as refining your investment strategy, increasing savings, or delaying retirement even by a year \u2014 to ensure your savings last.\u201d<\/p>\n Be Aware: Here\u2019s What Retirees Wasted the Most Money On in 2025 \u2014 and How To Avoid It in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Check Out: 5 Clever Ways Retirees Are Earning Up To $1K per Month From Home<\/a><\/p>\n As Americans live longer, they need to make sure their retirement savings also last longer. This can be a challenge due to higher healthcare costs<\/a>, which can easily run into six figures a year as you get older.<\/p>\n \u201cLong-term care insurance can help alleviate some of this expense, but it too may come with a hefty price tag,\u201d Williams said. \u201cStress testing helps you see how your plan would fare in the face of higher-than-expected long-term care costs and determine whether you\u2019re adequately protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Large, unplanned expenses \u201ccan quickly derail a retirement plan,\u201d according to Williams. These expenses might include everything from major healthcare costs to home repairs or family needs.<\/p>\n \u201cA strong stress test incorporates surprise expenses to help investors see how resilient their plan is when faced with these spending pressures, and whether adjustments are needed to stay on track,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Retirees often rely on Social Security<\/a> and tax assumptions that can easily shift over time, whether the shifts include claiming benefits earlier than planned or seeing your plans disrupted by public policy changes.<\/p>\n \u201cModeling different Social Security and tax outcomes helps ensure you aren\u2019t overly dependent on assumptions that may not materialize,\u201d Williams said. \u201cStress testing these scenarios reveals how changes might affect everything from withdrawal strategies, to budgeting and duration of your savings.\u201d<\/p>\n More From GOBankingRates<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: I\u2019m a Financial Planner: 4 Ways To Stress Test Your Retirement Plan in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taking a \u201cset it and forget it\u201d approach to retirement planning works in some areas, such as setting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132,7712,12985,146892,189648],"class_list":{"0":"post-464420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-retirement-planning","15":"tag-retirement-savings","16":"tag-rob-williams","17":"tag-stress-testing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}