It's a good practice to work with a financial planner through all stages of your life so you can accumulate wealth and manage your money properly to get the most out of it. This helps you plan for things like weddings, private school, and college. However, when you approach retirement age, your concern is more with how your money will support you in your golden years. That's when a retirement planning advisor is helpful. Here are ways they can help.

Adjust Your Investments

When you're young, you can be risky with investments that can potentially yield larger returns. If you lose money, you'll still have years to make it back. When your retirement years approach, your adviser may counsel you to switch to safer types of investments even if they yield a more conservative return. You want security in knowing the money will be there when you need it for living expenses in the years to come.

Advise On Taking Social Security

You may be unsure of the best time to draw your social security. The longer you wait, the more money you'll get each month. Your retirement planner can help you balance your finances so you can afford to delay drawing social security if that's the right choice for you. On the other hand, you may want to draw it as soon as you can and rely on your investments to last long enough to pay additional support for the rest of your life.

Plan How To Handle Your Home

If your plan is to have your home paid off by the time you retire, then you should have equity built up that will help fund your retirement. One possibility is to sell your house and move into a smaller condo so expenses are lower. Another option is to keep your house and get a reverse mortgage that pays you a monthly income. Your adviser considers the housing market, the amount of your equity, and your preferences for staying in your home to determine the right financial choice once you've retired and are living on a fixed income.

Determine When To Stop Working

Another important consideration is when you'll stop working full time. The amount of money you make affects your social security benefits if you draw social security as soon as you're eligible. Social security regulations change, so you'll want to understand how they affect you once you're at the retirement age. If you draw social security early while you work full time, then you may have to pay some of it back. By waiting a few years, you may be able to work full time and draw social security, too, if you want.

Plus, if your income is much higher when you approach retirement, you may want to work longer. Social security benefits are an average of your years of work so if you can add some high-income years at the end of your work history before you draw benefits, your monthly payments could be higher. A retirement adviser can do all these calculations and help you make the best decisions taking your age, health, and preferences into account.