Liz Weston: How to create your retirement glide path

In investing terms, a “glide path ” describes how a mix of investments changes over time. Typically, the mix gets more conservative — with fewer stocks and more bonds, for example — as the investor approaches a goal such as retirement.

You also can create a glide path into retirement by making gradual changes in your working and personal life in the months or years before you plan to quit work. Retirement can be a jarring transition, especially if you haven’t set up ways to replace the structure, sense of purpose and socializing opportunities that work can bring, says financial coach Saundra Davis, executive director of Sage Financial Solutions, a nonprofit financial education and planning organization in San Francisco.

“People are excited to leave (work), but then once they leave, they feel that pressure of ‘How do I define myself?’” Davis says. “‘Am I important now that I’m no longer in the workforce?’”

WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LIFE TO LOOK LIKE?

Davis suggests people start by thinking about what they want from retirement. That could mean visualizing your ideal day: where you’re living, what you’re doing, who you’re spending time with. Free tools such as YearCompass and Unravel Your Year can help you identify what “sparks joy” for you and what you want more of in your life, Davis says. These tools allow you to reflect on your recent past and plan for the future.

“What are the things that have been calling you? What gives you energy?” Davis asks.

Your ideal retirement may well face roadblocks: a lack of money, ill health or the need to provide care for someone else, for example. But understanding what you really want from this phase of your life can help you figure out ways to get what’s most important, she says.

“Just...