Many things are out of your control that can impact the income your plan can provide: market volatility, extended market downturns, increased taxes, high inflation. Creating a budget helps you build flexibility into your retirement plan and provide peace of mind.

There are some areas where multi-year tax planning can pay off: Roth conversions in early retirement, delaying social security, managing required minimum distributions (RMDs), sale of second home, surviving spouse income planning

Whether it builds gradually or something happens to spark it – there's a moment in adulthood when you realize that you need to care for the people that cared for you. Getting a plan in place to care for your parents means balancing your respect and love for them with their autonomy and independence.

Making the dream of early retirement a reality requires a particular strategy. What to think about when strategizing for early retirement.

If you can't control income, you'll need to control expenses. And that means budgeting and taxes. You can deploy tactics and strategies to optimize these factors no matter what stage you are in on your retirement journey.

Inflation is driving the headlines and wreaking havoc on budgets. But for long-term investors – mostly everyone – short-term inflation isn’t the biggest risk to financial plans. Volatility is. It's being fueled by the Federal Reserve's efforts to balance bringing down inflation with keeping the economy out of recession.