Here are the four things you need to know to plan your retirement.

1. Time

The first thing you need to think about is time.

When do I want to retire? How much time do I have before I retire? If I'm 25, and I want to retire at 65, I've got 40 years to retirement. If I'm 35 and I want to retire at age 65, I have 30 years of time.

Another thing about time is how long will I be retired for? Now, think about your life expectancy depending on where you are. If your life expectancy is 85 years old and you retire at 65, you've got 20 years of retirement. That's what we mean by time.

So time thinks about how long before I retire and how long will I retire for.

2. Location

The second thing you want to think about when it comes to planning retirement is location. Are you retiring? Where are you retiring? Are you retiring in your own country or in a different country?

This influences your cost of living: things like food, shelter, clothing, and of course, heath care. It also influences taxes, whether you have to pay taxes or not. Of course not forgetting, climate. Some of us prefer a tropical climate. Some of us prefer temperate climates and so on.

3. Health

The third thing you want to think about when you're planning retirement is health.

Will I be healthy enough to retire? Will I have any medical conditions when I hit that age? Do I have any current medical conditions I should be concerned about?

Related to that is my insurance coverage. Do I have enough insurance coverage while I'm retired?

Do I have enough coverage for hospital bills, for ongoing medical treatments and so on.

4. Money

The fourth thing when it comes to retirement planning is all about money.

How much do I need to retire? How much do I want every month in retirement? Related to that, how much do I need to save every month starting today to achieve that goal? How am I investing that money to grow my nest egg?

So those are the four things you need to start planning your retirement. We'll go deeper into these topics in the coming weeks.