Planning for retirement is the entire process of getting yourself and your partner ready for your elderly years, in which conventional career work becomes more difficult to manage. Of course, not all occupations firmly require a person to retire at a certain age. And if you're in one of these, then congratulations. You've managed to find something that you can effectively enjoy even into your gold years while getting paid for it.
For most people, however, their career has a specific expiration date, and once this is reached, legal retirement becomes obligatory. When this happens, you should have your financial, health insurance, and daily living needs covered in such a way that you can safely cover their costs and logistics for the rest of your life. The process of retirement planning involves all of this.
No matter your age, saving today is better than starting tomorrow. So while it would have been ideal to have started funding your long-term future from early adulthood, setting up investment savings now is always better than doing nothing because you think it's too late.
If you're already in your 40s or 50s, or even entering your 60's, there could still be enough years left ahead of you for any assets you can invest now to appreciate considerably. These can still serve as a firm supplement to any pension income you have. This applies even if your guaranteed income is currently no more than what Social Security and a limited employment pension offer.
If you happen to own property that isn't being used in any meaningful, income-generation way, it can possibly offer a powerful opportunity. If converted to cash that you invest into a carefully planned portfolio of dividend-paying or interest-earning securities and other assets, it can be exceptionally useful. This option may be possible even if you begin your investment portfolio only in the later years of your life.