Get professional advice
Seek help carefully. You want to hire someone who's trained in various retirement issues, not just a salesperson who's going to try to sell you a certain product, be it investments, life insurance or other assets.
But a professional can be extremely valuable in helping you allocate assets and determine if you've got the right mix to meet your specific retirement goals. Fee-only planners charge for their time, while fee-based planners earn commissions for investments they sell you.
While word-of-mouth references are a good way to start tracking down help, it may be advisable to seek a professional agency, which requires members to adhere to certain training and other standards. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, has a list of CPAs who've earned an extra Personal Financial Specialist credential by passing tests on a variety of comprehensive planning topics, including retirement. You can also use Bankrate's tool to find a CFP.
Certified Financial Planners, or CFPs, are required to pass exams for accreditation; you can look for those who specialize in retirement, through the Financial Planning Association.
Make a withdrawal plan
If you're hovering near that magic retirement age, it's time to start planning how you'll withdraw retirement assets. That's because the IRS requires you to start taking required minimum distributions from certain accounts, like 401(k) plans and traditional IRAs, by April 1 of the year after you turn 70½.
Tread lightly. Taking assets from tax-sheltered retirement funds isn't like driving up to the ATM machine; you trigger taxes when you obtain your money. Generally, the more money you take at once, the bigger and more immediate your tax hit. The trick is to minimize taxes as much as possible.
In fact, you could lose as much as 70 percent of your nest egg to income taxes, estate taxes and state taxes by choosing the wrong distribution method, warns Slott.
That said, there are a variety of methods to help you retain as much of your assets as possible. A trained professional can guide you through the thicket of tax pitfalls to craft the best exit strategy from your retirement accounts.
Update retirement plan documents
Spouses and nonspouse heirs -- that is, kids or an unmarried partner -- who inherit a 401(k) plan can roll them into their own IRA without paying income tax. These transfers allow nonspouse heirs to stretch out distributions of assets they inherit over their lifetimes, instead of being forced to take a huge payout. That, in turn, minimizes taxes and preserves inherited retirement funds so they can continue to grow in value.
Keep your beneficiary forms and other estate-planning documents for retirement assets up-to-date. If you don't, those hard-earned assets may wind up going to the wrong heirs. When you're married, the automatic or "default " beneficiary will be your spouse, says Martin Shenkman, an estate-planning attorney and author of "Funding the Cure."
If you want that 401(k) to go to your kids, you've got to ensure beneficiary forms say so.
Be sure you have documents to protect retirement assets if someone ever has to manage your financial affairs. "You don't want someone giving away your assets if you're incapacitated," says Shenkman. "You want to safeguard assets with a power of attorney that protects you, yet authorizes someone to give you help."
Get healthy
You may not realize it, but your physical well-being may be one of the most significant factors affecting your financial status in later years.
"Health and health care-related expenses are going to play an increasingly important role in retirement savings," says Brad Kimler, senior vice president of Fidelity Employer Services Co., a division of Fidelity Investments. "Individuals who make positive lifestyle changes aren't just improving their health; they're also potentially improving their long-term financial condition, too."
Kimler's advice is borne by recent studies from Fidelity. Among other things, it computed that a couple currently in their mid-60s who aren't covered by employer-sponsored insurance for retirees could spend roughly $215,000 on out-of-pocket medical expenses, excluding long-term care and over-the-counter medications, by the time they're 85 years old.
What's more, when your health fails, so does your ability to earn. Consider that more than half of employees -- 55 percent -- left their jobs anywhere from one to five years earlier than they expected, and among them, 22 percent had to quit early because of illness or disability.
Quitting smoking, actually using that gym membership (or hitting the running trails), eating right and keeping your weight in check are some of the savviest financial moves you can make.