Planning for retirement should begin as early as possible in your life. With some careful thought, however, the planning process can be started at any time in your work career. The secret is to actually put together a plan no matter what your age. The sooner you start, the more time to you will have to build your investment portfolio for your retirement income.

The first step in retirement planning is to start putting money aside for income. Once you have your investments set up, monitor them with your broker or financial advisor. Set up tax strategies that will protect your assets and limit your tax liabilities when you retire. Keep in mind, you might be retired for 20, 30 or more years. When you get close to retirement age, you should start to thinking about where you would like to retire and whether or not you plan to travel.

If you're married, plan your retirement with your spouse. Both should agree on the plan and work together for mutual benefit. If both have a career or job, both incomes need to be taken into consideration and planning should be done accordingly.

As you can see, retirement planning is crucial. Once you reach retirement age, you will probably not require as much income for living expenses but you could be paying out huge amounts for insurance premiums or health care. The value of your estate could be quite large and you certainly don't want to have this taxed unnecessarily.

Think about your retirement and start planning now. Follow the tips and suggestions in the next three parts of this primer and you will have the basics for a comprehensive retirement plan.