For most people, the final years before retirement aren’t just the end of a long career — they’re potentially the most powerful savings window of their financial life. Your income is at its peak, your kids may be off the payroll, and the compounding you’ve been building for decades is finally gathering serious momentum. The question isn’t whether you can save more. It’s whether you have a plan to take full advantage of the time you have left.
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/is-there-a-way-to-maximize-your-retirement-savings-before-you-retire-9-27-26–75317787
Stop Assuming Your 401(k) Is Enough
Maxing out your 401(k) is a good start — but it’s not the full picture. Matt Dages, CFP® and founder of Bright Wealth Management, hears this assumption constantly from clients who are five or ten years out from retirement. “Maxing out your 401(k) by itself doesn’t tell me whether you’re on track,” he explains. “I want to know exactly how much we’re saving across everything — retirement accounts, HSA, brokerage accounts, cash position.”
The goal isn’t just to maximize contributions — it’s to work backward from the retirement lifestyle you want and figure out what it will actually take to get there. That means understanding your total savings rate across every account, not just the one your HR department auto-enrolled you in years ago.
Know Your Catch-Up Windows — and Use Them
Once you hit 50, the IRS opens a door most savers don’t walk through. In addition to the standard 401(k) contribution limit — currently around $24,000 per year — workers 50 and older can contribute an additional $8,000 in catch-up contributions. And for those between the ages of 60 and 63, there’s a second tier: a “super catch-up” provision that allows an extra $3,000 on top of that, before the window closes at 64.
The catch? These contributions don’t happen automatically. If you’ve had the same flat-dollar contribution set up since you first enrolled, log in and check. You may be leaving meaningful money on the table simply because no one told you the rules had changed.
The HSA Is One of the Most Underused Retirement Accounts
Most people think of a Health Savings Account as a way to pay for a copay or cover a prescription. In reality, it’s one of the only triple tax-advantaged accounts in the tax code — you get a deduction on contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. And unlike a flexible spending account, there’s no use-it-or-lose-it deadline. The money compounds indefinitely.
For anyone in a high-deductible health plan, maxing out an HSA during the pre-retirement sprint is one of the smartest moves available. Healthcare costs in retirement are significant and largely predictable — having a dedicated, tax-sheltered pool of money to cover them is exactly the kind of planning that separates a solid retirement from a stressful one.
Tax Diversification Is Just as Important as Saving More
Most pre-retirees have the bulk of their savings in one bucket: pre-tax, tax-deferred accounts like a traditional 401(k). That’s not inherently wrong — but it’s a problem if it’s the only bucket you have. When every dollar you withdraw in retirement is taxable, you have no flexibility to manage your tax bill from year to year.
A better approach, one that Matt Dages emphasizes with clients approaching retirement, is building multiple income buckets: pre-tax accounts, Roth accounts, HSA funds, and taxable brokerage accounts. Each has different tax treatment in retirement, and having options means you can pull from whichever source creates the lowest tax footprint in any given year. “It allows you flexibility in your spending,” he notes. “Now you have the ability to choose where your income is going to come from and how it’s going to get taxed.”
The Last Sprint Is When the Plan Matters Most
Decades of saving get you to the starting line. A well-built plan gets you across it. The five years before retirement are when all the moving pieces — contributions, account types, tax strategy, income planning — need to be coordinated into a coherent picture. Running into retirement without that plan means discovering gaps at the worst possible time.
If you’re in that window and you’re not sure whether you’re truly on track, it’s worth getting a second opinion. Bright Wealth Management offers complimentary retirement planning reviews and can help you build a written financial plan covering savings, income, taxes, and estate planning. Reach them at 833-777-4296 or visit brightwm.com to schedule a conversation.
About the Author
Matt Dages, CFP®, is the founder and CEO of Bright Wealth Management, a financial planning firm dedicated to helping pre-retirees and retirees build income strategies they can count on. A trusted voice in retirement planning, Matt hosts the Bright Wealth Management Show and specializes in tax-efficient retirement income, catch-up savings strategies, and long-term financial security. Learn more at brightwm.com.