Your 12-Months-Till-Retirement Countdown: 5 Crucial Moves to Make.

If you're about a year away from retirement, you're entering one of the most important financial stretches of your life. For decades, your focus was probably on saving as much as possible. Now, your attention needs to shift toward making sure those savings can support you for what could be 20 or 30 years.

With retirement being 12 months out, now's the time to make certain you've covered all of your bases. Here are five key moves to make before your paycheck ends.

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1. Build a realistic budget

One of the biggest mistakes retirees make is underestimating their expenses. You might think you'll spend a certain amount of money each month or year only to realize your numbers don't include home repairs, eventually needing to get a new car, or having to spend more money to occupy your time.

Create a retirement budget that accounts for not just your current expenses but future ones you might face. Knowing what your monthly or annual spending actually looks like can help you avoid financial stress later.

2. Decide when you'll claim Social Security

You can begin collecting Social Security as soon as you turn 62. But the longer you wait, until you turn 70, the larger your monthly checks will be. If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age for Social Security is 67, and it's when you get your monthly benefit without a reduction.

There's no universal "best" age to claim Social Security. You should consider your income needs, savings level, and health, among other factors, when making your choice. But it's helpful to go into retirement knowing when you plan to take benefits.

3. Review your asset mix

The portfolio that helped you grow your nest egg may not be the one you want to maintain for withdrawing money. It's smart to invest heavily in stocks when you're trying to build retirement savings. But if you expect to soon start tapping your portfolio, you don't want too much concentration in the stock market.

Now's the time to make sure your portfolio contains a reasonable mix of bonds for stability and stocks for growth. Also make certain to keep a few years' worth of living expenses in cash. That way, if the market crashes, you'll be able to leave assets that have lost value alone so they can recover.

4. Make the most of your final year of earnings

If you're 12 months away from retirement, it means you have plenty more paychecks coming your way. Even if you're happy with your IRA or 401(k) balance, it may not hurt to give your savings a last-minute boost. The extra money could help fund a dream trip abroad, new furniture, or other things that make retirement more enjoyable.

At the same time, it's important to find the right home for that money. You may be tempted to put it into a traditional IRA or 401(k) to get a tax break. But if your retirement account balance is already strong, you could be looking at large required minimum distributions -- in which case sticking your last-minute savings in a bank or taxable brokerage account could make more sense.

5. Come up with a withdrawal plan

Ideally, you'll be entering retirement with a nice amount of savings. But it's important to know how much income you can get out of your portfolio each year.

With a fairly equal mix of stocks and bonds, the 4% rule might work for you. But if your portfolio is more conservative, a withdrawal rate in the 3% range may be more appropriate.

It's also important to know which accounts to tap first. If you have savings in an IRA and taxable brokerage account, leaving the IRA alone for longer may make the most sense since your money gets to grow on a tax-deferred basis.

The more you do to prepare for retirement, the more confident you might be ending your career. Use the next 12 months wisely and tackle the steps above so you're able to spend less time worrying about money and more time enjoying the retirement you've worked so hard to achieve.

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