Welcome to PLANNING, Inc.’s Retirement Roundup! Here you’ll find links to some stories we’ve gathered from around the internet, stories that we think warrant a closer look.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and while roses, boxes of expensive chocolates, and candlelit dinners are all well and good, we’d like to point you in the direction of retirement. Presumably, if you’re half of a couple your goal is to retire with your other half and have golden times together in your golden years. But have you both been doing sufficient groundwork where your finances are concerned to make sure your rosy retirement dreams can become a reality? Even if you think you’re in good shape, you might want to take a look at these links to be sure your love nest will be sufficiently feathered for many happy years to come.

+For couples in their 50s, Money has a list of 7 steps they strongly encourage taking now to prepare for the near future (and before you even get to the list, talking about retirement is a must if you haven’t done so yet!).

+AARP takes a look at how to work with staggered retirements if one partner is in a different decade or retiring earlier than the other. Among their research is a figure stating that less than 20% of couples leave the workforce at the same time.

+Over at Next Avenue (Forbes), the focus is on avoiding screwing up retirement however possible. This starts, of course, with having good communication with your beloved about retirement goals and plans.

+The question of the day at Charles Schwab is: Do you both have a handle on your finances? They offer five steps to help couples stay in tune to joint financial issues, including the big issues of reviewing accounts together and focusing on mutual goals.

+This article from AnnuityWatchUSA takes a broad approach, focusing on communicating with your significant other on all major topics, with the aim of planning “for a happy retirement as a team.”

+Lifehack shares a list of 15 ways couples can save money together (the more free money, the more money can go into your retirement). While the advice is geared towards younger couples, several of the action items on this list can be applied to lovers of any age.

+And finally, for those in their 20s and 30s, it’s time to start planning for your retirement with your partner. Money has some solid advice for you. It’s never too early to get a plan in place, so what better time to start than now?

 

Watch for the next edition of the Retirement Roundup, when we take a look at debt and what you can do to manage it, hack away at it, and eventually get rid of it.