For most of your working life, money follows a fairly predictable pattern.

You work. A paycheck arrives. Bills get paid. Some money gets saved. Then you repeat the process.

Retirement changes that.

One day, the paycheck you have relied on for decades may stop. Yet the mortgage or property taxes, groceries, utilities, insurance, travel, hobbies and everyday expenses don't stop with it.

That is why one of the biggest questions we hear from people approaching retirement isn't necessarily, "Do I have enough money?"

It's often: "Where is my paycheck going to come from?"

That's an important distinction.

A successful retirement plan isn't simply about accumulating the largest possible account balance. Eventually, those savings have to become income.

Your Retirement Paycheck May Come From Several Places

Unlike your working years, retirement income often doesn't come from a single source.

It may include Social Security, pensions, IRA withdrawals, 401(k) distributions, investment accounts, annuity income, interest, dividends, rental income or other assets.

The challenge is deciding which source to use, when to use it and how much to take.

Those decisions can affect far more than your checking account. They can affect your taxes, Medicare premiums, investment portfolio and how long your retirement savings may last.

That's why we believe retirement income planning should begin before retirement - not after the final paycheck arrives.

Start With Your Lifestyle

Retirement planning sometimes becomes an exercise in spreadsheets and percentages. But retirement isn't a spreadsheet. It's your life.

Before deciding how much income you'll need, think about what you actually want retirement to look like.

Will you travel more? Do you plan to stay in your current home? Will you help children or grandchildren? Are there hobbies you've postponed because you didn't have enough time?

Some expenses may decline in retirement, while others - particularly travel, healthcare or leisure - could increase.

The objective isn't simply to spend as little as possible. It's to understand what your desired lifestyle costs and develop a financial strategy capable of supporting it.

At Otium Financial Planners, that idea is reflected in something we say frequently: Live a Full Life.

Your financial plan should support your life rather than allowing your finances to dictate it.

Retirement Income Isn't Just About This Year

There's another challenge. Retirement could last 20, 25 or even 30 years or longer.

A dollar today will probably not purchase the same amount of goods and services decades from now.

That means your retirement income strategy needs to address today's expenses while maintaining enough growth potential to help fund tomorrow's expenses.

And that's where retirement income planning becomes a balancing act.

You need enough readily available money to pay today's bills without necessarily abandoning the long-term growth that may be needed for the years ahead.

Build the Paycheck Before You Need It

Ideally, you shouldn't retire on Friday and begin figuring out your retirement income strategy on Monday.

Several years before retirement can be an excellent time to begin answering questions such as: How much monthly income will we need? Which expenses are essential and which are discretionary? When should we claim Social Security? Which accounts should we withdraw from first? How much should remain invested? How could taxes affect our withdrawals? What happens if the market declines early in retirement?

Those questions are interconnected.

And over the next several weeks, we're going to explore some of the most important pieces.

Next Friday, we'll look at one of the largest retirement income decisions many Americans make: When should you claim Social Security?