Someone called me recently who was about three years out from retiring from Prisma Health. Not retiring next month, not vaguely thinking about it someday. Three years. Close enough that it felt real, far enough that nothing was urgent yet.
That's a good moment to call someone. It's also an easy moment to skip, because nothing's forcing your hand yet.
Here's what I told him, and what I'd tell anyone else in that window.
Most of what feels urgent right now isn't
Three years out, very little has an actual deadline attached to it. What actually matters at this stage is understanding what you have and which decisions have timing consequences, not making those decisions yet.
Understanding what you actually have
Prisma Health offers retirement savings through two connected plans. The 403(b) is where your own contributions go, and it auto-enrolls eligible employees, with the deferral rate automatically increasing by 1% each year up to a cap, unless you opt out.¹ The 401(a) is where any employer match lands, and that match is discretionary, decided year to year, not a fixed guarantee.¹ The two plans have different vesting rules depending on your tenure, since Prisma's retirement plans absorbed several predecessor plans through past mergers.
Three years out is the right time to confirm your current rate, your vesting status, and whether the automatic increase has been quietly moving your deferral rate somewhere you didn't choose.
Social Security timing
Social Security benefits are reduced if claimed before your full retirement age, and increase for each year you delay claiming past it, up to age 70.² That timing decision benefits from lead time, since there are moves available three years out that aren't available three months out.
The healthcare gap before 65
If you're retiring before 65, there's a stretch between leaving employer coverage and becoming Medicare-eligible.³ That gap has to be covered somehow, and pricing it out three years ahead is worth doing, not because you need to decide anything yet, but because the answer sometimes changes the retirement date itself.
What can wait
Most of the specific mechanics, exactly which account to draw from first, what to do with any vested balance, those are decisions for closer in, when the numbers are firmer. The work now is understanding the shape of the thing.
If you're a few years from retiring and want to start sorting out what's actually time-sensitive, I'd like to offer you a Confidential Audit.
Schedule a Confidential Audit
Thirty minutes, no obligation.
¹ Prisma Health Retirement Savings Plan (403(b)) and Prisma Health 401(a) Plan, Summary Plan Descriptions, updated Aug. 26, 2022. Plan terms are subject to amendment; confirm current rates directly with the plan administrator.
² Social Security retirement benefits are reduced for claims before full retirement age and increase via delayed retirement credits up to age 70. Source: Social Security Administration, ssa.gov, retrieved Aug 2026.
³ Medicare eligibility generally begins at age 65. Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services / Social Security Administration, medicare.gov, retrieved Aug 2026.