If you’re one of the millions of baby boomers turning 59½ this year, 2007 will be a financial milestone of sorts. This is the year you’ll be old enough to start spending, without penalty, the money you’ve faithfully stashed away in your IRAs and other retirement savings accounts through the years.

Make a list of all the past employers for which you worked for more than a year. Call the human resource departments and ask whether you are entitled to any retirement benefits. If you are, make sure that the employer has your current address and marital status — unless you really want your ex-spouse to have a claim. If the plan calls for naming a beneficiary, update that information.

Social Security is under the microscope, and there could be changes. But no matter what happens, it’s probably safe to say that the longer you work and the more you earn, the more you will get. Right now, Social Security calculates the amount you’ll receive based on earnings over the 35 years in which you earned the most. If you have worked fewer than 35 years, then it will factor in zeros for those years. Working more to wipe out the years in which you made little or nothing can raise your payment significantly.

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