Creating an 11th-Hour Retirement Plan : Investing: There are steps that even those in their 50s can take to make their lives easier once they quit working.

Procrastinating is normal. We put off cleaning out files, defrosting the refrigerator, seeing the dentist, finishing our tax returns.

But if you’ve put off retirement planning until your late 50s and have yet to evaluate your goals and resources, that necessity is looming--ready or not.

“Most people begin to think seriously about their retirement plans in their late 40s,” says Kathryn Ioannides, director of Advanced Studies for the College for Financial Planning. “We suggest starting earlier. But if you haven’t, taking steps to ready your resources and focus on your needs is even more crucial.”

The college is an independent, nonprofit institution that offers financial planning and tax education to providers of financial services.

For those who need a better-late-than-never retirement plan, here are the essentials the college suggests.

First, some groundwork:

* Get a handle on controlling your debt. This enables you to boost your savings and reckon any long-term debt, like a mortgage, into your expected retirement income and expenses.

* Take maximum advantage of any savings plans your employer sponsors, especially tax-deferred vehicles such as 401(k)s or tax-sheltered annuities.

* Individual Retirement Accounts remain useful tools to defer savings and investment income until retirement. If you qualify for a pretax IRA, the advantage is even greater.

* Study the investment portfolio you do have, including your employer’s retirement program for you. Where is your money invested? Who manages it? How does it perform?

Second, with this knowledge, you can begin to draft a plan:

* Analyze your expected expenses. Be realistic. Figure for inflation. Common wisdom says retirement cuts your expenses. But if you have difficulty living on your paychecks now, retirement isn’t likely to reduce your costs that much.

Consider any employer-sponsored plan, tax-deferred and other investments, and expected Social Security income. This kind of personal economic forecasting can be hard, and not only the arithmetic. It requires you to project your lifestyle after the concerns of career building and family raising.

* Will retirement bring a change of housing or geography? If you are planning a significant change, such as moving to another city or a retirement community, it’s important to put a price tag on those plans.

* Line up your probable expenses with expected income. By seeing what you’ll need and what you’ll likely get, you can take steps to bring your retirement dollars in line with your retirement dreams--or bring your lifestyle in line with your dollars.

Assessing the demands of retirement may require making new plans, such as keeping your job another year or two and devoting as much of your earnings as possible to your retirement fund.

The sorts of costs that may affect your retirement plans include college expenses for your offspring. Health insurance benefits need to figure in the retirement equation. You’ll need coverage until age 65 when Medicare benefits start. And plan for extra insurance for expenses that federal health benefits don’t cover, usually known as Medigap.

Hobbies and other interests need time to develop, just as your investment portfolio does. Take care now to invest in activities and skills that will help make the most of your impending leisure time.

* Consider the option of part-time work after you retire. For many people, a light work schedule offers a wealth of benefits besides extra income.

* Knowing your needs and resources, develop a strategy for using your investments during retirement. You may want to continue conserving assets for the future or wish to tap those assets as part of regular income.

“It may seem daunting, but it’s never too late to start planning,” Ioannides says. “Latecomers to retirement planning face a time of intense work to get their plans in shape and, usually, a time of saving significant amounts of money.

“But once you know what you need to do, chances are you can do it.”