When determining whether or not a senior has the financial resources necessary to enter retirement, a reverse mortgage can be a helpful tool for anyone who thinks they may need to find a way to create additional cash flow. This is according to a new column at Forbes.

In a series of steps operating as a “checklist” for what a senior approaching retirement can do to take stock of all their resources, determining how many resources a pre-retiree has available will be critical in making the decision regarding how long to work, the article says.

“Don’t make the mistake of ‘guestimating’ your expenses,” the column reads. “That might be fine when you’re decades away, but you don’t want to discover that you’ve underestimated your income needs several months into retirement.”

Tracking your expenses thoroughly will be a critical step in determining retirement readiness, but of similar importance will be determining how much income a senior will have after his or her last paycheck from work comes and goes. Social Security benefits will be a critical component of that depending on when a senior decides to start taking them, but it’s also crucially important to take stock of any investment income or pension accounts.

Tax obligations are also very important to consider, the column reads.

“Your taxes will vary based on your mix of income sources and what state you retire in,” it says.

Estimating tax liability based on individual variables along with the state of residence is crucial, but if a pre-retiree finds that they may be coming up short after taking full stock of everything, this is where a reverse mortgage could come in useful, the column says.

“If your retirement expenses and taxes are more than your income in retirement, you may want to consider reducing your retirement expenses, purchasing an immediate income annuity, taking out a reverse mortgage, or working a bit longer,” the column says. “Otherwise, you probably have the financial resources to retire.”

Read the column at Forbes.