Retirement Answer Man

When you hear financial lingo do you immediately begin to tune out? Does retirement planning make you nervous? If so, this is the right series for you. You’re listening to a 5-part series on retirement planning specifically designed for non-planners. The goal of this series is to educate you on retirement planning without all of the confusing lingo. We’re going to keep it simple and focus on teaching you the most important aspects of retirement planning. If you haven’t listened to episode 393, go back and check it out so that you can understand how to begin planning for retirement. You only need to focus on the important aspects of retirement planning There are many retirement planning geeks out there that love to focus on the economy, markets, and business cycles. They relish mapping out different Roth conversion scenarios to reduce their RMDs. But if you aren’t a planning geek, talking to those people can make retirement planning seem overwhelming. You’ll be happy to learn that to successfully plan for retirement you don’t need to have a degree in economics, you just need to make sure that you focus on the most important things. That is what we are doing here today. I’m here to help you understand what the most important aspects of retirement planning are. Can your retirement dreams come true? During the previous episode, you created a vision of your ideal retirement. Now it’s time to see if you can make your retirement dreams a reality. The biggest question everyone has in retirement planning is will I run out of money? The answer is, no one knows. The economy, life’s surprises, and people’s perpetual habit of changing their minds make it impossible to be sure. There are too many unknowns to be certain about the future. However, it is okay to have that uncertainty. If you can get a good approximation of a retirement plan then you can make adaptations to your plan as life unfolds. I use agile retirement management to help my clients make adjustments to their retirement plan when life shocks or bad markets disrupt their plan. Where will your retirement income come from? When planning your retirement you’ll want to consider the income you will receive from Social Security, pensions, or even part-time work. The rest of your retirement income will need to be covered by your retirement savings. There are many software tools that can help you plan your retirement. It is important to use a retirement calculator to estimate how much money you will need to live out your retirement dreams. In the Rock Retirement Club, we use the New Retirement Plus Calculator. A retirement calculator can give you a long-term projection of your retirement income needs. Have your first 5 years of retirement income readily available While retirement planning software can help you plan out the long-term, you’ll want to understand where your money is coming from in the near term. You should have the next 5 years of spending readily available in accounts that aren’t exposed to the winds of the economy like money market accounts or CDs. Listen in to learn what the most important aspects of retirement planning are so that you don’t get worried about getting caught up in the small details that don’t matter as much. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:51] Can you safely pay for your dream retirement?[6:55] Where will your retirement income come from?[13:45] Recheck your retirement compass periodicallyLISTENER QUESTIONS [19:31] Does it make sense to make after-tax 401K contributions?[23:14] How to estimate MAGI for an IRMAA appeal?[28:12] Can you start Social Security benefits from one spouse early and then wait for the other spouse’s benefit?[29:35] Should I open a non-retirement account?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [33:45] Understand the resources you have available to use in retirementResources Mentioned In This Episode NewRetirement.comRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

Do your eyes glaze over when your significant other starts talking about money? Or maybe you are single and you know that retirement is coming soon, but you simply can’t get motivated to plan it out? Or perhaps you are the planner of the family and you would like your partner to take an interest in what lies ahead in retirement? If so, then this is the series for you!Those of us who are into retirement planning can quickly overcomplicate things, but to someone that is new to all this or not really into this planning stuff, retirement planning can be overwhelming. In this Retirement Planning for Non-Planners series, I will introduce you to retirement planning in a lingo-free way that won’t put you to sleep. The objective of the Retirement Planning for Non-Planners series My goal for this series is to give you the power to participate in the retirement planning process. If you are planning your retirement on your own I want you to understand what you need to take care of and understand the basics without becoming overwhelmed. You’ll learn the fundamentals and be able to discuss retirement planning in an educated way. Are you ready to get started? Press play now! What do you envision yourself doing after your working life? What do you want for your life after work? Have you thought about this question? This is actually one of the most difficult questions to answer, but it is also the basis for retirement planning.It can be challenging to consider your life after work. There are so many options to consider and you are starting with a clean slate. Many of us treat this question the way we chose a major in college or our first job. But you don’t have to take this so seriously. Your life will not be ruined if you don’t get this question right. Since we use an agile approach to retirement planning, if you want to switch gears you can. Consider your future life after your working years. What can you imagine? The retirement fundamentals Once you know what you want to do in retirement, the next question is can you afford it?After you discover whether you can afford your dream life then you need to learn how to pay for it. You’ll want to find out how you actually create a retirement paycheck. The last question we’ll consider is how to gain the confidence to make it all work. You must have confidence in your plan to rock retirement. Over the course of this series, we’ll be taking a look at these questions so that you can build a retirement plan that works for you. Set your retirement goals To prepare for your retirement you’ll need to forecast your spending. To do so, can create different levels of spending. Your must-haves are things like housing, electricity, water, gas, and food. These barebones expenses are nonnegotiables.In the next category, put the things you would like to do in retirement. Maybe you would like to play golf once a week, travel once a year, or eat out a few times a month.The last level is your unspoken dreams that you like to think about but you may have never written down. This is your opportunity to think big.You’ll want to group these different types of spending so that you can have an idea of how much money each type of retirement would need. Listen in to hear why this type of exercise is so important in your retirement planning. You won’t want to live a life of regret thinking about what you might have been able to do had you thought bigger when planning your retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:55] What are the fundamentals of retirement planning?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:49] What do you want?[8:34] Setting retirement goals[13:45] Don’t let someone else dictate your life[18:51] What will you do every day in retirement?LISTENER QUESTIONS [22:29] When to apply for Social Security[23:32] How to reduce the effect of inflation in your 5-year income floor[27:48] How to get started early in retirement planning and saving[34:30] My own plans for retirementTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [39:48] Think about your must-haves, like-to-haves, and cool-to-havesResources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

You may notice that this is an extra episode this month. I wanted to make sure that we mark a special ending to the August Women, Money, and Retirement series, so at the beginning of the month I reached out to some amazing female financial professionals. I asked them all for a piece of financial wisdom to share with other women. You can hear their fantastic insight by pressing play now. Cristina Guglielmetti’s words of wisdom Cristina Guglielmettti from Future Perfect Planning offers suggestions about making 401K contributions. She recommends that you update your contributions regularly, especially if your salary has increased. Set a goal for yourself. How much would you like to save each year? Are you reaching that goal?If your goal contribution is more than your current contribution then changing it immediately could eat into your take-home pay and disrupt your budget. Instead of trying to achieve your goal contribution all at once, try increasing your contribution rate a little at a time. Then set a reminder for yourself to increase your contribution quarterly until you reach your target percentage. This way you won’t feel the decrease in take-home pay all at once. Small, repeatable changes are easier to keep up with which makes it easier to maintain your financial plan. Listen in to hear what else you can do to increase your retirement savings. Jane Mepham shares financial advice passed down from her mother Jane Mepham from Elgon Financial Planning grew up in a different country in a male-dominated society which meant that she had to learn a lot to get ahead in life. When she was young, her mother shared financial advice that she uses even to this day. She knows that attitude is the key to mastering money and it will determine the strategies and tactics that you will use to plan your retirement. Enjoy these words of wisdom from her mother. Make sure you can support yourself financially. You don’t ever want to have to rely on someone else to support you. Don’t eat your future today, however enticing it is. Regardless of how tight your budget is, prioritize saving for the future. If something affects you on a daily basis it is important. You need to know enough about it to make independent, smart decisions. The way you spend your money should align with your values Stephanie Sammons from Sammons Financial and Stephanie McCullough from Sofia Financial have similar advice. They want you to identify what is most important to you. They both stress that you need to define your values so that you can align your spending to reflect what you value the most. All your money decisions should be in alignment with your values and your life. Many people often separate their financial decisions from the rest of their life, however, money is connected to everything we do. By aligning your financial life with the rest of your life you will give meaning to your money. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WORDS OF FINANCIAL WISDOM FROM THE EXPERTS [1:20] Cristina’s recommendation[3:13] Jane Mepham’s words of advice[6:25] Stephanie Sammon’s proactive step to improve your financial life[9:26] Stephanie McCullough Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - How to Be Here by Rob Bell Retirement Money Gal podcastTake Back Retirement podcastSofia Financial - Stephanie McCulloughSammons Financial - Stephanie SammonsElgon Financial Planning - Jane MephamFuture Perfect Planning - Cristina GuglielmettiRock Retirement Club

We have given the entire month of August to the ladies! Since this is the last Wednesday in August, it is the last episode that we are dedicating to the theme of Women, Money, and Retirement. However, that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop taking questions from women. This is simply the last episode to focus solely on women’s questions. We want to ensure that no matter who you are, you have the confidence to rock retirement. Make sure to come back next month for the series, Retirement Planning for Non-Planners. This series will speak to those who have little interest in retirement. That means we’ll take out all the jargon and focus on the basics of what you need to know. Even if you don’t want to dive into the day-to-day details, it’s important to have an understanding of how to build a retirement plan. If you have any questions related to this theme please ask them at RogerWhitney.com/AskRoger. What does it mean to put the “I” in retirement? We’re closing out this month with an episode titled, How Do I Put the I in Retirement? But what does the I in retirement really mean? Over the course of the retirement planning process, most people focus on their financial situation, but it is more important to understand what you want to do in retirement. When planning your retirement, you are planning the next stage of your life and you have the opportunity to remake yourself to be anything you want. This is a fantastic time to uncover your deepest desires and make your voice heard. Live a life true to yourself The most common regret that people have at the end of their lives is that they wish they had lived a life true to themselves. Many people simply do what is expected of them without ever thinking about what they want for themselves. Retirement is a fantastic time to set aside what others expect of you and explore what you genuinely want to do. Since the human condition tends to work in moderation, sometimes you have to peel away the layers to get to the bottom of what you want. Don’t stuff down your needs, dig deep to discover your true self. Have you lived a life true to yourself or do you have a hard time voicing your desires? How to define what you really want Peeling back the layers can be a challenge, but to live a life true to yourself you’ll have to define what you want out of life. If you don’t voice your desires you’ll never be able to achieve your dreams. Think about what you have always wanted to do that you haven’t had the time or space to think about. If you don’t have a clear vision yet, that’s okay, take the time to consider this question with wide-eyed curiosity. Retirement is a time of experimentation, so if you haven't completely defined what you want you’ll soon have an opportunity to further explore your desires. If you have a partner, explore this question with them in little conversations over time. Those little conversations can lead to big ideas and create the space to open up a world that you might not have dreamed of before. Once you have dreamed up your ideal retirement then you can see how your financial situation fits. You don’t want to go at this from a different perspective. First dream big, then work your retirement plan around your dreams. Why join the Rock Retirement Club? The Rock Retirement Club has everything you need to create your retirement plan. When you join the club, you’ll gain access to education and tools to help you build your own plan. Not only that, the club gives you access to a team of professionals that are dedicated to helping you rock retirement. Last, but certainly not least, you’ll become part of an amazing community. The RRC is filled with a community of like-minded people who all want to rock retirement. When walking through a huge life change it helps to connect with those who are a bit ahead of you on the same journey. Come check out what the Rock Retirement Club is all about. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [5:40] What does the I in retirement mean? [13:15] You have to speak up and voice what you want LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH TANYA [19:20] What should you be doing within 6 months of retirement? [20:55] Making decisions immediately after the loss of a spouse [22:52] How to balance the load of caregiving [28:14] How to divvy up parental support between siblings [33:22] How to bring up retirement planning without the jargon [35:13] How to deal with an unexpected divorce in retirement TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [43:35] How will you put the “I” in retirement? Resources Mentioned In This Episode Thinking Ahead Roadmap BOOK - Moving Forward on Your Own by Kathleen Rehl BOOKS - Suddenly Single Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Women ask many types of questions that men don't, which is why we’re dedicating this entire month to a series on women, money, and retirement. This series gives you the space to dig in, have your voice heard, and your questions answered. You’re listening to the 3rd episode in this series and today we’ll be answering so many of your questions. Tanya Nichols from Align Financial joins me once again to add her womanly input and expertise. There are a lot of women out there with similar concerns. Are you one of them? Find out if your burning questions about retirement have been answered on this episode of Retirement Answer Man. The Rock Retirement Club can help you build confidence in your retirement plan Are you looking for a way to build your confidence in your retirement plan, or maybe you're just looking for ways to create a retirement plan. If so, the Rock Retirement Club is the right place for you. The RRC provides you with everything you need to educate yourself to build your retirement plan, allowing you to rest easy. By joining the RRC you’ll have access to on-demand courses, education, and tools so that you can learn what you need to know to rock retirement. Join now to gain access to this information and our knowledgeable team of experts. In the clubhouse, you can ask questions from our experts and enjoy conversations with hundreds of more people who are riding the same retirement wave. The Rock Retirement Club is a great place to share inspiration and get ideas to create the retirement of your dreams. Should single women with no children consider long-term care insurance? Several women have asked about long-term care insurance. Navigating long-term care is a major concern for women that have no close family or children. They see long-term care insurance as a way to help pay for their care when they may no longer have the capacity to represent themselves. When looking for a long-term care insurance plan, be sure to specifically look for a plan that features a care navigator. Another possibility is to hire a care navigator out of pocket who only works for your interests. This representative can help you navigate the system so that you know that you will be cared for. Long-term care navigators are an emerging field, so it can be hard to find someone that specializes in this industry. One way to find this type of representative is to talk to long-term care providers or even your state health department. Have you ever considered hiring a care navigator for your declining years? What kind of questions do you have about retirement? In this episode, we answer many of your listener questions like what is the difference between a trust and an estate, how to prepare to deal with financial issues during cognitive decline, where to get cash from during the go-go years, the best way to navigate healthcare before Medicare, and many more. Listen in to hear if your pressing questions have been answered. If you have any more questions that weren’t answered in this episode, make sure to join the live meet-up on August 26 at 7 pm CDT. This live webinar will be about an hour long and I’ll be joined, once again, by the lovely Tanya Nichols. We’ll answer your questions live in real-time. These webinars provide a relaxed atmosphere where you can learn the answers to your questions and maybe even hear answers to questions that you haven’t even thought of yet. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH TANYA NICHOLS [5:30] Don’t miss the live meet up on August 26 at 7 pm CDT [6:37] Long term care insurance for those with no close family [11:00] Trust vs. estates [11:50] How to deal with financial issues during cognitive decline [16:11] Where to take cash from in the go-go years [19:02] How to navigate healthcare before Medicare [26:35] How do you calculate the 4% rule? [30:28] Spend less money than you make [32:07] What to look for in a bond TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [37:22] An update on my smart sprint from last week [41:13] Look at your net worth statement history Resources Mentioned In This Episode Align Financial Don’t miss the live meetup on August 26 at 7 pm sign up here Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome back to the 2nd episode of the Women, Money, and Retirement series. All month long we will be discussing issues specific to women in retirement. Since I am not a woman, I have invited Tanya Nichols from Aligned Financial to co-host the show with me throughout this series. Tanya is here to provide a woman’s perspective and to help me answer your questions. If you are a woman you won’t want to miss this series that is created especially for you What does it mean to rock retirement? If you have listened to the show before, you know that I frequently use the phrase rock retirement. I even wrote a book called Rock Retirement and I created the Rock Retirement Club, but what do I mean by rocking retirement? When you are rocking retirement that means you are using your resources to live your best-imagined life. I want you to use the assets you have to design your ideal life in retirement. There are so many decisions to make in retirement. Many people mistakenly think that their financial decisions are separate from their life decisions, but life and money are never separate. Your money should be helping you to create the best life that you can imagine. How do women excel in retirement planning? Men and women have different strengths and weaknesses in just about every area of their lives. This is no different in financial planning. As financial advisors, Tanya and I see the differences between the sexes every day. These differences are generalizations, but we have noticed that women excel in several areas of financial planning. Women are more comfortable with vulnerability; they don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Women look ahead toward the outcome. Women realize the value of collaboration. Women are more thorough and take more time to make decisions. Women don’t mind speaking openly about their worries. Think about yourself. How do you excel in financial planning? Is it in one of these areas or in another way? How to confidently plan for retirement when you don’t have much to start with Debbie is worried about retirement. As a single woman without a huge retirement portfolio, she feels overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to start. She feels that financial advisors are only for the wealthy, but she knows that she must start learning about her finances somewhere. The good news is that Debbie is listening to a financial podcast! That means that she has already started educating herself. Unfortunately, the financial planning industry hasn’t done a good enough job of successfully reaching average income earners. However, this doesn’t mean that financial planning is only for the wealthy. In addition to listening to retirement and financial podcasts, there are other ways that people can educate themselves in these matters. Garrett Planning Network and XY Planning Network are 2 networks of more affordable financial planners that work on a monthly subscription basis. Listen in to hear more resources that can help you gain the confidence to truly rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:10] What does rocking retirement mean? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:34] What do women excel at in retirement planning? Q&A SEGMENT [11:04] Women are less prepared for retirement than men [17:12] How to tackle the feeling you aren’t good enough [19:15] How to generate an income stream in retirement [22:20] Are there common pitfalls for women in transition periods? [27:27] A Social Security planning question [33:14] Who gets to keep a death certificate? [36:28] Make sure spouses communicate regularly about finances TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [38:43] Chat with your spouse about your net worth statement and financial plan Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 310 - The Pie Cake Social Security Calculators Aligned Financial Garrett Planning Network XY Planning Network BOOK - The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

With the financial industry being dominated by men, it makes sense to dedicate time to focus solely on financial issues related to women. Since I am not a woman and can’t speak personally about these issues, I have invited my good friend, Tanya Nichols from Align Financial, to help me tackle this month-long series on Women, Money, and Retirement. Tanya is one of Investopedia’s Top 100 financial advisors and she and her firm work mainly with women. I’m excited to have Tanya help me explore this area further. We can tackle your questions and you can gain the confidence you need to live the life you want in retirement. With a bit of education, anyone can learn how to manage their finances in retirement. 3 financial power moves women can take now Women often have their own set of issues surrounding money due to traditional gender roles and a misogynistic financial services industry. But once women face these issues head-on they can trample these hurdles and take control of their own financial situation. Learning these 3 power moves can help you take charge of your financial life. Anyone can learn about money. In years past, finances were often left to the husband to control, so the financial industry has typically been dominated by men. The financial services industry likes to make money sound much more complicated than it is, but financial planning is actually a lot like project management. Learning about money is just like learning about anything else and you can learn about money just as well as you can learn about fitness, nutrition, or child-rearing. You can learn to plan your finances regardless of your background. So if you have an interest in your money, then dig in and start learning. Think of yourself first. Do you often put your family’s needs ahead of your own? Women often sacrifice their entire lives for the ones they love. If you can acknowledge that you should consider yourself first when it comes to finances then you can begin to plan a life that is true to yourself. Before making financial decisions think to yourself: is this at the expense of something that is important to me? You have a rightful seat at the financial advisor’s table and an equal seat at the financial table of your marriage. It is no secret that the finance industry is dominated by men and even has a history of misogyny. You should never have to earn your seat at the table to talk about your money. That seat is already yours. Don’t put up with anyone diminishing you or dismissing your concerns. What to do if someone diminishes your questions or concerns Unfortunately, women’s questions and concerns are often dismissed in financial settings. If this happens to you make sure to address the situation immediately and clearly state how and why you feel diminished or dismissed. If the professional you’re working with doesn’t respond in a satisfactory manner then go somewhere else. It is important to find a financial professional that you can trust. They need to be able to listen to you and hear what your priorities are. Have you ever felt slighted by a financial professional? If you can’t find the right person to work with, don't be afraid to DIY your finances. With a bit of education, managing your own finances is totally doable. Own your awesomeness. You can plan your retirement just as well as the next person. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:30] A disclaimer [6:33] 3 power moves for women [14:50] A 3 step process if someone diminishes your role LISTENER QUESTIONS [19:45] How do bond funds work? [23:22] What to do if almost all your cash is in a 401K [29:30] Should she consider putting her dad in a nursing home? [32:47] Decisions that couples make in their 50s and 60s will affect the women later [35:37] How will I be cared for if my husband dies first? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [39:11] Plan your seat at the table Resources Mentioned In This Episode Align Financial My Fitness Pal Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Choosing the right withdrawal strategy is a big part of rocking retirement. Knowing how you will withdraw your money each month will ease the pressure that comes with leaping into retirement and boost your confidence. The right retirement withdrawal strategy for you may not be the same as the one your friend uses, the one you just read about, or even the one your advisor recommends. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we are wrapping up our 4 part series on retirement withdrawal strategies by learning how to build a framework to find the strategy that fits your individual needs. Press play to hear how to piece together the information you have learned in the past 3 episodes to create your own income distribution plan so that you can gain the confidence to really rock retirement. Changing the language you use could change your mindset about retirement Planning retirement can be like planning to have kids. You don’t often think of the sticker shock that comes with it. Learning that a comfortable retirement might cost you $5 million might give you heart palpitations. But just like with having kids, you don’t have to pay that amount all at once. This amount is spread out over the years and you have control over how much you may spend. This is why it is important to get into the right mindset. One way you can change your money mindset about retirement is to reframe the way you word things. Yes, you are choosing a retirement withdrawal strategy, but the word withdraw means to take away. That isn’t the most attractive thought. A better way to think about your financial capital is to realize that it is simply deferred income. You have been deferring this income for decades and the time has finally come to access the income that you have already earned. A simple change in wording can completely change your mindset and help you rock retirement. To choose the right withdrawal strategy, first, consider your financial situation The first step to take to build your retirement withdrawal strategy is to consider your retirement situation. Think about whether your retirement is overfunded, constrained, or underfunded. To do this, compare your retirement liabilities to your resources. Consider all of your sources of income including your social capital, human capital, and financial capital. Next, you’ll want to consider the different withdrawal strategies that you have learned about over the past 3 episodes. If you consider each of those retirement withdrawal strategies as being on a dial from 0-10 you can then place your financial situation on that dial. Chances are you land somewhere in the middle of the dial rather than on either extreme. This means that you may want to take a moderate approach to income distribution. Listen in to hear where each withdrawal strategy lands on the dial and how that could affect your personal income distribution plan. Don’t ignore the qualitative aspects of retirement Not everything in life is about numbers and this is true for retirement as well. This means that you’ll need to consider more than just your finances to create your retirement withdrawal strategy. You’ll want to consider your age, life expectancy, and health. Do you need to fit as much living as you possibly can in the next few years? Or do you need to make your money last on the chance that you live to be 100? In addition, you’ll need to consider your family situation. Are you single or married? Do you have children? These external factors will also play a role in your income distribution plan. One last consideration is your personality profile. You may need more security even if you are overfunded. Every person has their own risk tolerance threshold. Whichever way you choose to distribute your income in retirement, you need to feel comfortable and confident so that you can rock retirement. Press play now so that you can learn what you need to know to develop your retirement withdrawal strategy. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:00] How do you find the strategy that fits for you [7:31] The language you use to describe things really matters [10:00] Think about this in an organized way [17:55] What to take into account to help you evaluate all the aspects [24:01] How does your social capital fit into the equation? ANDY PANKO INTERVIEW [30:21] Why do people have so many questions about this? [34:20] How does Andy approach this question with his own clients? [36:54] How does Andy deal with tax planning in retirement? [44:46] Don’t let the internet scare you into doing something you don’t need COACHES CORNER WITH BW [48:38] Choosing the right strategy can give you the permission to spend [52:08] How BW chose his withdrawal strategy TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [59:35] Map out how you think about your quantitative and qualitative aspects of retirement Resources Mentioned In This Episode Check out the Facebook Live in Andy’s Taxes in Retirement group Rock Retirement Club Roger’s

When it comes to creating your retirement withdrawal strategy there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You have to determine what is right for you. That’s why we have been exploring different withdrawal strategies this month on the Retirement Answer Man show. If you missed the last couple of episodes go back and listen to learn about the safety-first strategy and safe withdrawal rates. On this episode, we are digging into asset-liability matching. Press play to learn more about this hybrid approach to withdrawing your assets in retirement. What is asset-liability matching? Asset liability matching is a term that is used in the pension planning world, but you can use it to describe your own assets and liabilities. Your liabilities are your spending or the debts that you need to cover. Your assets are your financial capital. If you prefer, you can also think of your 401K as deferred income rather than as your investment assets if that helps you come to terms with spending it. Basically, asset-liability matching is when you match up your deferred assets with your consumption to make sure that you have your spending covered in retirement. Where does this strategy fall among the retirement withdrawal strategies? On one end of the spectrum, the safe withdrawal rate strategy skims along the top of your investments. It only dips into them as needed. On the other side of the coin, the safety-first approach prefunds all or the majority of your retirement journey. Asset liability matching falls somewhere in between these two extremes. I may be biased towards this approach since I use this structure coupled with agile retirement management with my own clients. Since I value flexibility in retirement, this withdrawal strategy fits my ideology. Start thinking about which way you lean on this spectrum, so you can begin to build your retirement withdrawal strategy framework in the next episode. What's your baseline? To execute the asset-liability matching strategy, you’ll first need to establish a contingency fund or a standard emergency fund as a buffer. The next step is to plan your spending over the first 5 years of retirement including your tax estimates. Once you isolate how much you’ll need from your financial capital, then you can build an income floor. The rest of your assets can then go into a core, growth-based investment portfolio. With this strategy, you’ll get a mix of protection against sequence of return risks in the near term and a hedge against inflation in the long term. What are the benefits of asset-liability matching? This is a good strategy to use if you value optionality. Since retirement is such a big life change it is nice to have a lot of liquidity early on. Retirement does not simply mean that you stop working. Your entire life changes and it can be difficult to understand how it will change when you are in the planning stage. Having this liquidity in the income floor can give you confidence and flexibility as you navigate this momentous life change. Another benefit of asset-liability matching is that you mitigate the sequence of return risk. Having an income floor in place can give you many options if the world falls apart early on in retirement. You may want to pivot to a safety-first approach or safe withdrawal rate as you age, but asset-liability matching gives you plenty of room to adjust while you are figuring this whole retirement thing out. I am naturally biased towards matching assets to spending since this is the strategy that I use with my clients, but there is no single best withdrawal strategy to use in retirement. You’ll need to consider what is right for you. Make sure to listen to all 3 Retirement Withdrawal Strategies episodes to consider which strategy fits your needs and come back next week so that you can learn how to create a framework to navigate this crucial piece of retirement planning. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:30] What is asset-liability matching? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:39] Where does asset-liability matching fall in line with the other withdrawal strategies? [9:20] What is a baseline? [12:50] How will you find adjustments along the way? [13:43] What are the benefits of this strategy? LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH NICHOLE [19:15] How to calm the worry about retirement [25:21] Do I take the pension or the lump sum? [29:55] What happens if your money management platform gets hacked? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [35:42] Do you know of a void in your first year of retirement? Resources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

One of the biggest questions of retirement is how to withdraw your money. You can’t have a successful retirement without first planning how to withdraw your money. That is why we are discussing different retirement withdrawal strategies this month. Last week we covered the infamous 4% rule and today you’ll learn about the safety-first approach. In our next episode, you’ll hear about a hybrid approach and in the last episode of this series, you’ll discover how to build a framework for your own retirement withdrawal strategy. Are you ready to educate yourself on the various ways that you can withdraw your money in retirement? Press play to get started. What is the safety-first strategy? In the previous episode, you learned about a safe withdrawal strategy using the 4% rule. Whereas the 4% rule is a portfolio-based strategy, the safety-first strategy takes the opposite approach. Safety first ignores safe withdrawal rates and asset allocation. Instead, it focuses on creating income sources via various guaranteed income vehicles. The idea behind the safety-first approach is that retirement is too important to have variables like sequence of return risk that could ruin your retirement. How to implement the safety-first approach Since you only get one shot at retirement, the safety-first method secures a base income by using the assets you have. Prioritization is a key component to safety first. The first thing one must do to utilize the safety-first approach is to calculate your base needs over the span of your lifetime. Once you have this number, then you’ll subtract the income from your social capital so that you can see what’s left. With safety-first, you will secure your base needs by utilizing bond ladders or income annuities. After creating your income floor, then you can focus on building your contingency fund to help with life shocks. Once both of these bases are met then you can focus on any other retirement goals you may have. What are the advantages to safety-first? The first advantage that comes to mind with safety-first is peace of mind. By using the safety-first approach you won’t have to worry about the markets because you know that no matter what happens your base needs will be met. Another advantage is that this approach is easy to manage. There is not much to do after you have the plan in place but collect your monthly paycheck which makes this plan ideal for later in life. One more advantage is that since your needs are met you can focus on being more growth-oriented with the rest of your portfolio. The disadvantages of this approach The main disadvantage that I see with this approach is the lack of flexibility. If you have listened to the show before, you know that my methodology is all about staying agile. People change their minds a lot and life can completely change after retirement, so tying up your assets in an annuity can take away the power to change your mind. Another downfall to safety first is increased inflation risk. Most annuities do not adjust for inflation, so if there are any spikes in inflation you could be at risk. Listen in to discover if the safety-first approach is the right one for you. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [1:30] What is the safety-first strategy? [4:35] What are secure assets? [8:06] When to implement the safety-first strategy [10:20] Advantages and disadvantages to the safety-first strategy LISTENER QUESTIONS [17:55] How should I incorporate an inherited IRA into my retirement plan? [20:10] Taxes and Roth conversions [23:45] Does the 4% rule take into account social capital? [24:54] How do bonds work? [28:38] A pro-rata question TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [30:40] Do a basic calculation to figure how much of your base needs will be covered by guaranteed income sources THE FEEDBACK BOOTH [32:43] Women run the finances too [34:35] My 3rd attempt to discuss financial planning fees Resources Mentioned In This Episode Wade Pfau BOOK - Safety First Retirement Planning by Wade Pfau Michael Kitces Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Have you considered what kind of withdrawal strategy you plan to use in retirement? There are more to choose from than you may realize. Over the next 4 episodes, we will focus on different withdrawal strategies and how to choose one that fits your needs. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we’ll cover the most notorious retirement withdrawal strategy: the 4% rule. In week 2 of this series, we’ll discuss the safety-first strategy. In the 3rd episode of the Retirement Withdrawal Strategies series, we’ll learn how to utilize matching liabilities to spending, and finally, in the last week of July, you will learn how to create a framework to help you decide which retirement withdrawal strategy will work best for you. This episode is packed with information and even includes an interview with Jamie Hopkins, author of Rewirement. Get ready to buckle down and learn what you need to start the decumulation phase of life. There are 3 big rocks in retirement planning It can be easy to get sidetracked when planning for retirement. There are so many different areas that you need to consider. You don’t want to focus on the wrong thing, but how are you supposed to know what the right thing is when there is so much information out there. I believe that you need to focus on the 3 rocks of retirement planning. Feasibility - This means what is possible given your resources. You’ll want to figure out how to squeeze the most life out of the assets that you have to create the best life that you can. Resiliency - You don’t want to get thrown off course by inflation, bad markets, or life. This is where choosing the best withdrawal strategy comes into play. Optionality - This covers the tools you can use to enhance the journey - tax planning asset allocation etc What is the 4% rule? The 4% rule was created by William Bengen in 1994 in a landmark academic article. Mr. Bengen wanted to know if there was a fixed amount of money that you could pull from your assets safely each year and never run out of money. To investigate, Bengen looked at historical data and ran models to search for a percentage rate that one could withdraw safely over a typical lifetime. He learned that 4% is the amount that you could withdraw from a portfolio to stay ahead of inflation yet never run out of money. Over the years the paper has gained momentum until it eventually became a rule of thumb. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the 4% rule? As with any withdrawal strategy or general rule, there will be advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of the 4% rule is that it provides you with a safe withdrawal rate. You can be confident that your portfolio is secure and you won’t run out of money. Another advantage is that this rule is simple. Simplicity is nice because it is easy to follow, however, everyone is different and what works for everyone may not work for you. The 4% rule may be too simplistic and too unbending. The 4% rule also doesn't account for changing market conditions, inflation, and life surprises. Another disadvantage is that you are likely to die with more money than you would like to. This could lead to regret. Please leave a review! If you have been enjoying the show, make sure to leave an honest review on your favorite podcast app. Reviews help to ensure that those who are walking the same path of life can find this podcast easily. If you’d like the resources that go along with this episode and future episodes, make sure to sign up for the 6 Shot Saturday newsletter. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:40] There are 3 big rocks in retirement planning INTERVIEW WITH JAMIE HOPKINS [7:40] Going from accumulation to decumulation can be a challenge [13:30] How to get in the right mind frame to spend in retirement [19:53] Set boundaries at work to create balance [22:45] What can you do to feel better about a decreasing balance sheet PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [29:48] The 4% rule is a safe withdrawal rate [32:31] Advantages of a safe withdrawal rate LISTENER QUESTIONS [38:15] Mountain bike questions [42:22] Assumed portfolio investment returns [51:24] Can you do Roth conversions if you plan to retire early? [54:44] Does home equity help when considering net worth? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [58:37] Watch this domino chain reaction video Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - Rewirement by Jamie Hopkins Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome back to the last episode in this Listener Questions series. From time to time I step away from our usual monthly themes and dedicate an entire month to answering your questions. This week I have requested help from friends to answer your burning retirement questions. Press play to learn more about the rule of 55, Social Security, using HSAs before Medicare, and more. Will I regret not paying off my mortgage? Mark and his wife are planners. Most of their life has gone according to the plans they made; including their timeline for retirement. However, recently their retirement plans changed. Instead of paying off their house in preparation for retirement, they decided to buy a new home by the beach with a mortgage. After careful assessment, they realized that they have enough money to live comfortably on their pensions with this mortgage payment, but Mark wonders if he will eventually regret the decision to keep the mortgage and not pay off the house. Have you grappled with the decision of whether to pay off your mortgage or not in retirement? Listen in to hear Chad Smith from the Financial Symmetry podcast answer this question. He may provide some insight that you hadn’t considered. Should you use a 3-4% increase in Social Security benefits when planning your retirement? You may have noticed that many financial planning tools default to increasing Social Security benefits 3-4% per year in their projections. While a 3-4% increase is the average cost of living adjustment for the program, it does not increase at the same rate each year. As a matter of fact, There have been many years in recent history when Social Security hasn’t risen at all. Taylor Schulte from the Stay Wealthy podcast prefers to be more conservative in his predictions. He uses a 1% average increase in projected Social Security benefits when helping his clients create their retirement plans. He has found that it is better to be conservative when making assumptions so that his clients are prepared for extreme, unpredictable situations. In retirement, you don’t want to be caught off guard. Meaning and purpose in retirement To have a successful retirement, you must have meaning and purpose in your life. You may agree with this statement, but have you ever defined these terms? Meaning is an internal concept that is important to you and gives you pleasure. Meaning allows you to use your unique gifts and talents to feel useful. Since meaning is internal, it doesn’t matter whether society thinks something is meaningful, meaning can only be defined by you. Purpose is an external concept that involves looking outside yourself to make a difference in the world. It doesn’t matter if that difference is earth-shattering or whether it is as simple as bringing joy to your grandkids. The key to a successful retirement is to find activities that provide both meaning and purpose. Decide which activities are meaningful to you. Look around to see how you can make a difference in your world so that you can attain a sense of fulfillment. What will you do to find meaning and purpose in your retirement? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN LISTENER QUESTIONS [1:30] A rule of 55 question [4:10] The ramifications of the decision to not pay off the mortgage [8:38] A Social Security question [11:27] Using health savings accounts vs. health reimbursement accounts before age 65 COACHES CORNER WITH BW [14:04] Defining meaning and purpose in retirement Resources Mentioned In This Episode Andy Panko, Tenon Financial Group Andy Panko’s Taxes in Retirement Facebook group Chad Smith from Financial Symmetry Taylor Schulte Stay Wealthy podcast Tanya Nichols, Align Financial Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome back to the Retirement Answer Man show. This month we have stepped away from our typical monthly themes, and instead, we are tackling your listener questions regarding retirement. Make sure to listen in July as we discuss retirement withdrawal strategies and join Tanya Nichols and me in August to discuss women in retirement. Check out this episode to hear how you can create your retirement lifestyle framework, how to source your retirement paycheck, and whether it is best to keep the cash or pay down the mortgage. Finding a retirement lifestyle framework A big part of beginning your retirement planning is finding a retirement lifestyle framework that you agree with. Many are drawn to the simplicity of the 4% withdrawal rule, but it doesn’t take into account your retirement lifestyle. One member of the RRC explained that he was looking to maximize his lifestyle given his assets. This is what we are all looking to do, but it’s not as easy as you think. Many people think that you can simply come up with a base number that you can spend each year, but this is based on the assumption that your lifestyle will not change over time. How to design your retirement lifestyle framework Without a framework in place, people tend to grab onto any random retirement planning strategy and that will drive all of their retirement decision-making. Instead of asking yourself, how much do I need? A better way to design your retirement framework is to ask yourself how much do I need for this lifestyle? To define this you’ll need to ask yourself more questions. Where do you want to live? Define the location where you will be the happiest. What activities do you want to do in retirement? Asking yourself these questions will help you to create a plan of record. This is a more organized way of considering your life after work. You won’t get it perfect, but it will put you in a much better position to be able to iterate and change your course as needed. How to source your retirement paycheck One listener wants to know how to source her retirement paycheck. Traditional retirement planning dictates that you drain your after-tax assets first, then move to Roth, and lastly, tax-deferred assets. I don’t think this is a very efficient way to source your paycheck. First, determine how much you need from your financial assets over the next 5-10 years. Then, estimate what your required minimum distributions will be. (Check out the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter for a handy RMD calculator. Next, look at your 5-year income estimate. What kind of income will you have each year? You’ll always want to consider multi-year tax planning in retirement. Keep the cash or pay down the mortgage? Another listener wonders whether he should keep the $100,000 in cash that he has or should he pay down his mortgage. It is common to think of these decisions by themselves, however, you should build your retirement framework first. This will help you create a feasible plan for retirement. After creating your retirement framework, then you can create a what-if scenario. Creating the process first will allow you to be able to see the question from a big picture perspective. Listen in to hear why you may not want to zap all of your liquidity. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN RANDOM THOUGHTS [2:30] Find a retirement lifestyle framework that you agree with [8:02] Questions to ask yourself LISTENER QUESTIONS [12:33] Sourcing your retirement paycheck [16:27] Keep the cash or pay down the mortgage? [21:22] Is 3% average return on investment a good conservative average? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [23:45] Go take a purposeful walk to think about what you want out of life over the next 3-5 years Resources Mentioned In This Episode Cal Newport Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

You’ve got retirement questions; I’ve got answers. This month I’m tackling your listener questions. I’m also taking time to reflect on random thoughts I have about the retirement scene. Join me for this laid-back month with no set theme to learn the answers to questions from listeners like you. Random thoughts on the retirement scene Retirement planning is not about optimizing returns. It is about securing outcomes so that you can feel confident that you can live the life you truly want. You can accomplish anything if you can just get over yourself. Life happens in the inefficient moments. Building long-lasting relationships requires making deposits along the way. “If you don’t change direction you may end up where you are heading.” -- Lao Tzu There are quality, highly competent, and collaborative financial advisors out there. The industry is changing away from a salesy, male-centric attitude to becoming a true profession. Life changes, so it is important to stay agile. Make sure to adjust your plan accordingly so that you can adapt. Should you get more conservative with your portfolio as you enter retirement? Conventional wisdom dictates that as you approach retirement you should become more conservative with your investments. In investment speak, this means having a bigger portion of your asset allocation in bonds or fixed income than in equities. However, not every person needs to follow traditional wisdom. Rather than consider your retirement portfolio from an asset allocation standpoint, consider the time frame. In retirement planning, your time frame matters. Think about how to match your assets to your retirement liabilities or yearly expenditures. You’ll want to be more conservative with the money you need in the short term but you can let your long-term assets run wild. Listen in to hear how a bucket or pie-cake strategy can help you plan your asset allocation in retirement. How to calculate pension on a net worth statement in retirement Getting a good overall idea of your financial assets is an important part of the retirement planning process. To help you do so, you’ll want to create a net worth statement so that you can better understand where you stand financially. One recent listener asked where his pension should go on his net worth statement. The answer is nowhere. Since your net worth statement is a list of your assets and liabilities, a pension would not belong. A pension is neither an asset nor a liability, instead, it can be described as social capital. The 3 sources of income in retirement are social capital, human capital, and financial capital. A net worth statement only takes into account financial capital. Rather than include your social capital on a net worth statement, you can instead put it on a household balance sheet where it can be classified as the net present value of cash flow. You can download a household balance sheet by clicking on the resources tab at RogerWhitney.com. While you’re there check out the other resources we have available to help you get started on your retirement plan. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN RANDOM THOUGHTS [2:46] Retirement planning is about securing outcomes [6:22] Have you had a bad experience with a financial advisor? [9:07] If you don’t change direction you may end up where you are heading Q&A SEGMENT [10:26] A withdrawal rates and returns question [21:20] Should you get more conservative with investments in retirement? [27:22] How to calculate pension on a net worth statement in retirement TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [32:50] Go do something fun! Resources Mentioned In This Episode Tanya Nichols Andy Panko Taylor Schulte Benjamin Brandt PODCAST - Wild at Heart, Summer Recovery Plan episode Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

This month on the Retirement Answer Man show, we are tackling your listener questions. Although we don't have a monthly theme like we usually do, I am also sharing my random thoughts from the retirement scene. If you miss the monthly theme, you can look forward to July and August. In July we’ll be discussing your withdrawal strategy for retirement and August will be a month dedicated to women in retirement. Since I can’t speak to being a woman, Tanya Nichols will join me then to share her wisdom. Make sure to join us for those month-long topics. If you have been enjoying the show, please head over to your favorite podcast app and leave a review! Random thoughts on retirement Real financial planning takes time and isn’t scalable. Should is a dangerous word. Be careful how you use it. Generating income to live off of is not a good retirement strategy. Rather than thinking about generating income in retirement, think about total return instead. In retirement, taxes are all about timing. Limit your taxes by choosing whether to pay them sooner or later. You can't actually control your emotions, desires, fears. However, you have the choice of whether to nurture them or let them drift by. What about rental properties in retirement? Where do rental properties fit into a retirement plan? Rental properties can be fantastic for generating income, but they can also be a lot of work. Of the many people that have rental properties, some choose to continue renting their properties well into retirement. Whether or not you choose to continue as a landlord in retirement should be based on whether you enjoy the work. If you opt to continue having rentals in retirement, they will have their place in your retirement plan just like any other business. Keep the books in order Just like any business, rentals have revenues and expenses. Make sure to keep a separate set of books on your rentals to understand their cash flow. Keeping the books in order will help you understand the income they generate and how the rental properties fit into your net worth statement. This practice will help you explore how lucrative the properties are and whether you would like to keep them as a way to generate income in retirement. When you understand where you stand with your rental properties you can be more strategic in building your retirement plan. Incorporating rental properties into your retirement plan With the books and net worth statement in order, you can start building your retirement plan. Consider how your retirement plan would look with the rental properties in place and also what it would look like if you sold them. When creating your retirement plan, you’ll want to consider your social capital, human capital, and financial capital. Since the retirement properties are a business that generates income they are considered human capital. This type of planning will give you a framework to consider whether to sell the properties or keep them. You should also consider your experience. Do you enjoy keeping rentals or is it work that you dread? What kind of experience have you had with rental properties? Do you plan on keeping your rental properties in retirement? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN RANDOM THOUGHTS [2:20] Real financial planning isn’t scalable LISTENER QUESTIONS [6:52] What about rental properties in retirement? [12:39] Is it better to buy slower growth dividend stocks now or in retirement? [16:05] What to do with RMDs that are more than you need? [21:05] If you have twice the assets, why pay an advisor twice as much? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [33:30] Estimate what your RMDs will be with our RMD calculator included in the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter Resources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Over the next several episodes I’ll be answering your questions. Rather than having a central topic for the month, I am dedicating each episode to tackling your burning retirement queries. You can head on over to RogerWhitney.com/AskRoger to leave a voicemail or you can send an email. Enjoy hearing my response to questions like where do I start and how do I max out an HSA in the same year that I retire? Press play to discover the answers. 5 tips from the retirement scene Consistency is key. Do you feel like you jump around from one process to another in your retirement planning? Whether you are changing your financial planning or investment management process, if there is no consistency in your decision making it’s like you have no process at all. It’s one thing to tweak your process a bit to adapt and stay agile, but don’t change the process completely. Trying to estimate future market returns is a fool’s game. It’s impossible to tell what future returns will bring. There is no reason to try and guess what they might be. Instead of trying to predict the market, focus your time and energy on the things you can control. Retirement planning shouldn’t revolve around your investments. Instead, your life should be at the center of your retirement planning. Learn to say no. It’s okay to say that doesn’t work for me. Don’t allow many different things to put demands on your time. Don’t depend on the 4% rule. People tend to focus on the 4% rule since it estimates a sustainable withdrawal rate, but if you base your retirement planning on this rule you’ll likely end up with way more money than you had expected. Not only that, but you’ll miss out on life experiences in the process. Where to start? One listener recently started listening to the show and was wondering where she should start first. It’s hard to say since that all depends on what you’re looking for. One way to begin is to listen to the Retirement Plan Live series. These case studies can help get you thinking about what you should do first in your retirement planning. Do you have any suggestions on where she should begin? Send me an email so I can let everyone know where they should begin listening. Learn from my cautionary tale I have shared the tale of the RV that I purchased with my brother-in-law several years ago on past episodes and now I can finally bring that anecdote to a conclusion. I share my experience with you as a cautionary tale of keeping something around simply because I wasn’t in urgent need to sell it. For 7 years I have been paying to store this RV and not once has it been used. Listen to my story to learn how to recognize the changing seasons of life so that you don’t end up spending $6300 to store something you’ll never use again. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN RANDOM THOUGHTS [3:20] Random thoughts on the retirement scene [9:04] Learn to say no LISTENER QUESTIONS [12:34] What do I do first? [16:10] Steve is excited and scared at the same time [17:17] HSA plans in the year of retirement LESSONS LEARNED [22:20] I just got rid of the RV that I bought 7 years ago [28:25] Lessons learned from my cautionary tale TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [32:37] Identify one thing to clean out this week Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 259 - How to Live Without a Paycheck January’s Retirement Plan Live episodes start here BOOK - Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Life is like a river that flows and changes over time. There are gradual twists and turns that we make in life and retirement is one of those. To ensure that your retirement flows in the right direction it is important to plan ahead. In this episode, we explore how to create the direction of the new flow of your life in retirement. You won’t want to miss hearing BW from the Rock Retirement Club as he defines the 6 arenas of life that require our time and energy. Listen in to check it out. What does it mean to rock retirement? I am always talking about rocking retirement here and in the Rock Retirement Club, but I haven’t ever defined what that actually means. On a recent live meet-up with 600 of you, we were able to piece it together and create a working definition of what rocking retirement means. Rocking retirement is a verb--an action word that describes a way of being. Rocking retirement is a state in which you work towards aligning your resources to create your best-imagined life. Money is important to rocking retirement, but decisions about money and life are always intertwined, so It’s important to create a retirement plan that helps you create a rocking retirement! What you need to ask yourself to get into the right groove Your life has created a well-defined groove that you have followed for decades and work has been essential to helping create that groove. Now that your working years are slowing down or coming to an end, it’s time to create a new groove that is different from the old one. Think about the direction you want your new life to take. What will your lifestyle look like? What can you afford? When can you start this new journey? What can you afford to do? Defining the answers to these questions is integral to creating the rhythm of your new life in retirement. The phases of retirement There are several stages to retirement and right now you are probably in the planning stage. This is the time when you are trying to get it all figured out. You are trying to envision your retirement journey. The second step of retirement is the honeymoon phase. This stage is a celebration of your new life. Everything you do in this stage is exciting and you will probably be actively enjoying your life. After the honeymoon phase, many retirees reach stage 3 which is a point of inflection. They start to question their choices. They may atrophy a bit and wonder if life will be like this forever. However, this is when it is time to rock retirement! Listen in to learn how you can really rock this sometimes challenging stage of retirement Design your life energy To get intentional about retirement planning you need to consider the 6 life arenas. The first one is labeled career, but this doesn’t have to be a traditional career. It can be whatever gives your life purpose or meaning. Think about what you are trying to accomplish. The next stages are family, relationships, self, spiritual, and leisure. Think about where you are spending your life energy. Is it in line with your priorities? Sit down and think about the direction of your life. Listen to this chat with the RRC head retirement coach, BW to learn how you can get your retirement moving in the right direction. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [5:03] What is rocking retirement? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:55] The steps to creating your new journey in life COACHES CORNER WITH BW [11:35] The 6 life arenas [18:35] Think about how you are spending your life energy Q&A SEGMENT [21:22] A question on the Rule of 55 [24:25] How dividend aristocrats can be integrated into your retirement plan [30:10] Share your retirement wisdom TODAY’S SMART SPRINT [31:31] Pick one area of your non-financial life to improve Resources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Our theme this month is your non-financial retirement plan and in this episode, we’ll explore how relationships and play fit into that plan. These are two key components to a happy, fulfilled life. You guys know how important this subject is which is why we had more than 500 people join the webinar last week. If you missed out on that webinar you can watch the recording at RogerWhitney.com/resources. Press play to hear how important people and play are to your non-financial retirement plan. Have your relationships suffered over the last year? Covid has tested many of our relationships over the past year. If you are like me, your family relationships have thrived, yet your friendships have suffered from the lack of in-person connection. With grey divorce at all-time highs, the spousal relationship is essential to remain happy, but friendships matter too. Hopefully, the change in lifestyle that we have all experienced this past year has given you time to reflect on the relationships that matter the most to you. Loneliness disproportionately affects the elderly Loneliness is a major contributor to depression and it disproportionately affects the elderly. As people age, they tend to spend more and more time alone. A recent study showed that time spent alone increases as people get older. People in their 20s and 30s generally spend 4 hours a day alone whereas those in their 60s spend 6 hours a day alone. People in their 80s tend to spend 8 hours a day by themselves and may only spend 1 hour with friends. Cultivate relationships with a younger crowd One way to pursue new friendships is by forging relationships with those that are younger. Not only do younger people tend to be more active, but a younger crowd will likely not leave you as the last man standing as you age. If you don’t have younger friends it is easier to do less and less each day. It can become harder to leave the house and stay active without the motivation of others to help you stay engaged. This can lead to atrophy--mentally, physically, and emotionally. Retirement isn’t a time to just sit around waiting for what is to come. You’ll likely have 30+ years ahead of you. The more you get out and play now the better quality of life you’ll have in the years ahead. Retirement isn’t an event, it’s a transition Our relationships evolve over time, and retirement can change the friendships that you have. Some friendships may fall away as the season of your life changes. However, it’s important to recognize the relationships that are worth preserving. Some friendships should be fostered through the changes in life. Retirement isn’t a single event, it’s a transition. This is a time in life when you can cultivate new relationships. Think about who you choose to associate with foster friendships that will challenge you to be your best self. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [2:30] As we age our network of people decreases over time [9:40] It’s harder to get out of the house as you age COACHES CORNER WITH BW [12:35] 6 essential characteristics of a healthy relationship [26:02] Grey divorce is more and more common Q&A SEGMENT [30:15] Should Richard take Social Security [31:56] Navigating Medicare after moving to a different state [34:03] Security surrounding online money management platforms [39:07] A word of wisdom from Cynthia TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [42:40] Let what you learned about relationships and play marinate this week Resources Mentioned In This Episode Ted Lasso Boomer Benefits Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

How do you introduce yourself at parties? Do you use your job title or do you define yourself in other ways? Oftentimes, our work becomes part of our identity and we begin to think that our job is who we are. This can lead to an identity crisis in retirement which is why it is important for you to define your identity and purpose outside of your career. In this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we continue to focus on the non-financial retirement plan while homing in on your identity and purpose. Are you ready for some self-exploration? Hit the play button to learn how to define your identity and purpose outside of your career. Does your business card reveal your identity? Do you remember when you got your first business card? That card with your job title let the world know your role in the company and in society. Your business card along with the degrees and certifications that you may have hanging on your office wall can say a lot about what you do for a living, but do those items really reflect your identity? In the work world, titles are important to understanding people's roles that we often never think beyond the traditional symbols of identity. However, when you retire, you’ll leave that work world behind and need to find other ways to express who you really are. How do you define yourself? When you retire you no longer have your career tied to your identity. Your career is no longer the focal point of who you are. If you define your worth by your job title, that can leave you feeling lost when your position changes or disappears. Have you ever thought about who you really are? Think about how you can separate your identity from your job title. Dig deeper to really discover who you are. How do you define yourself? You don’t want to lose yourself when you lose your business card. What is your purpose? One way to begin to identify yourself outside of your career is to define your purpose. Think about what is your purpose now. How will your purpose change once you leave your career behind? To define your purpose, think about what is important to you. Your purpose doesn’t have to be momentous or world, rather, it should be something that is significant to you. Do you want to be an amazing grandparent, an explorer, a creator? Identifying your purpose is a fantastic way to ensure that you don’t get distracted by all the things that can pull you away from your goals. Express your identity to have lifetime growth Retirement can be whatever you want to make of it. If you want this transitional time to be one of growth then think about your identity and purpose. Who do you want to be in this new stage in life? What role will you now play in the world? As humans, we continue to grow and change over time, but to ensure that you are changing in the direction that you want you’ll need to understand your true identity and define your purpose. Once you do, you will be ready to rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [2:00] Separate your identity from your title [9:32] How do you define your purpose? Q&A WITH NICHOLE [17:25] An after-tax catch-up contribution question [24:22] How to save for a child’s upcoming education [29:34] Tips on TIPS TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [32:44] How do you identify yourself? Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - Effortless by Greg McKeown BOOK - Essentialism by Greg McKeown Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Retirement is about much more than finances. Money is important to mastering retirement, however, it isn’t everything. To have a successful retirement you must start with a strong financial plan and then begin to consider everything else. Over the next 4 episodes, we will discuss your non-financial plan. You must have a strong understanding of what is important to you before you begin retirement because someone or something is sure to fill your time when you retire. Make your retirement count by identifying your purpose to help you determine your new rhythm of life. This 4 part series will help you realize the importance of your non-financial plan in retirement. Start by getting your money right The key to beginning any non-financial plan is by first ensuring that your finances are in order. You can’t begin to focus on the rest of your retirement without having your financial plan in place. The first step to any financial plan is by separating your desires into needs, wants, and wishes. Think about what a fulfilling life would look like to you and then consider how you will pay for it. There are 3 ways to pay for life in retirement: social capital, human capital, and financial capital. After identifying how much money you will have from those first 2 areas you can then understand how much of your savings--your financial capital--you’ll need each month. The key to creating a financial plan in retirement is by staying agile. What do you lose when you leave full-time work? When you leave your full-time job to retire you lose more than just a paycheck. Many people don’t consider this, but a lot of the anxiety over planning for retirement is about the void that is created by stepping away from the professional world. You will need to learn how to create a paycheck in retirement but you’ll also need to learn how to create structure, social connections, and how to establish an intentional rhythm to your life. Have you considered how you will fill the void that your work life will leave behind? What are the elements of life that will help you rock retirement? What do you need to live a good life? I’m not referring to the material things that surround you, I mean the non-tangible elements in life. Relationships, congruency, self-growth, gratitude, and agency are all examples of these intangible elements that are so important to living a fulfilling life. You’ll need to consider these intangibles if you want to create an amazing life in retirement. Listen in to discover why the intangibles are so important to your non-financial plan. Join me for the live webinar! If you found this episode helpful, be sure to check out next week’s webinar. On May 13 at 7 pm CDT I’ll be hosting a live webinar where you will learn what it takes to build your own non-financial retirement plan. Not only will you learn all about how to use the pie cake retirement investment plan, but you’ll also learn the elements to consider on the non-financial side of retirement. Additionally, you’ll get a sneak peek into the RRC. Click here to register now! OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:02] What are the elements of life that will help you rock retirement? [8:45] What do you lose when you leave full-time work? [13:20] Start by getting your money right Q&A SEGMENT [16:58] A question about a 457 plan [18:31] What are the pros and cons of listing your estate as a beneficiary? [21:30] The pro-rata rule TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [23:43] What non-financial elements of your life will change in retirement? Resources Mentioned In This Episode LiveWithRoger.com Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

As you start retirement planning you’ll want to think about using various types of retirement vehicles. This is why we are exploring different asset allocation ingredients in this series. I want you to understand the basics of these investment vehicles so that you can make an educated decision on what to include in your retirement portfolio. Today you’ll learn about closed-end mutual funds, UITs, and structured notes. Listen in and learn why it’s important to keep your investments simple. Don’t need to overcomplicate your investments. What is a closed-end mutual fund? The biggest difference between a closed-end mutual fund and an ETF or open-ended fund is they issue a fixed number of shares. Because of this, closed-end mutual funds act more like individual stocks. They even have an initial public offering just like a stock does. Sometimes they will even roll out a secondary offering. Since there are a limited number of shares, that means there is no more money coming in or out of the fund. Closed-end funds also use leverage as a way to improve returns. What are the advantages of closed-end mutual funds? Open-ended funds and ETFs always trade at net asset value, however, closed-ended funds can trade at a premium or at a discount. They aren’t typically purchased at the net asset value. Closed-ended funds don’t experience cashflow issues since they have a fixed amount they are investing. They don’t have to sell securities just because someone needs the money. People usually buy closed-end funds because of the distribution yields they payout. But it is important to remember that the high yield is usually due to the leverage they use. Discover the disadvantages of closed-end funds by pressing play. What is a unit investment trust (UIT)? A unit investment trust (UIT) is a fixed portfolio. You’ll get a basket of securities in certain percentages that stays consistent over time. At a predetermined date, this trust matures like a bond and you’ll receive the cash value. The benefits of UITs are the costs and the lack of yearly capital gains. Since the trust matures at a certain time you will only need to worry about capital gains taxes at that time. They are also low in cost due to less management. Discover why I haven’t used UITs and why I really don’t like structured funds by listening. Check out the Rock Retirement Club The Rock Retirement Club is our online university that will empower you to rock retirement. The online courses will teach you how to build your retirement plan step by step. You’ll learn how much is enough and when you can retire. In addition to being part of the amazing community of like-minded people walking the same journey, you’ll also gain access to retirement calculators, spreadsheets, and other tools to help you rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:38] What is a closed-end mutual fund? [8:31] What are the advantages and disadvantages of closed-end mutual funds? [12:57] What is a unit investment trust (UIT)? Q&A SEGMENT [19:17] How much is too much for a 5-year plan? [25:03] A healthcare before Medicare question [30:34] Self-funding long term care insurance using your home TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [37:13] Think about what you can accomplish between now and the end of the year Resources Mentioned In This Episode Check out the long term care insurance series by starting here Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger

Retirement planning takes many different forms, but to effectively manage your money in retirement it is important to know the types of investment accounts that are available. This is why I am hosting the Asset Allocation Ingredients series. Over the course of this series, we explore what goes into your investment mix. This episode focuses on separately managed accounts. You’ll learn what they are and their advantages and disadvantages. Make sure to stick around for the listener questions segment to hear answers to questions from listeners like you. What is transformation? Transformation means a dramatic change in form or appearance. However, there are many transformations we can make in life that aren’t physical. Common life transformations occur when we leave school and enter the professional world, go from single to married life, and of course, from working to retired. A transformation can be triggered by a few different things. It could be triggered by a life event, or it could be a gradual change over time, or simply by you looking for a change in your life. Are you working towards any transformations in your life? What is a separately managed account? A separately managed account is a portfolio managed by a third party. Essentially, you are assigning the management of funds to a money manager who is implementing the portfolio that you have hired them for. A separately managed account is different from an ETF or mutual fund in that you open an investment account at a firm and the account manager will build the portfolio based on the strategy you choose. It’s like a mutual fund that is completely unwrapped. You own each individual position in that account rather than in a bundle. What are the advantages and disadvantages of separately managed accounts? Some advantages to SMAs are: You have access to institutional managers that don’t manage mutual funds. You can customize your account by setting restrictions on what is allowed. You maintain better control of the realization of gains and losses. There are a few disadvantages: There are fewer options to choose from. The baseline to open an account is higher. Fees are generally higher than other types of accounts. They add more complexity to your portfolio. Are separately managed accounts a part of your portfolio? What do you like about them? What’s coming up next on Retirement Answer Man Make sure to check out the next episode where we will explore UITs and structured notes. After this deep dive into the financial aspect of retirement, next month our focus will shift to the non-financial side of things. You won’t want to miss out on building your non-financial retirement plan. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:10] What is transformation? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:49] The basics of a separately managed account [10:08] Disadvantages to this kind of structure for investments Q&A SEGMENT [14:24] A thank you from Dennis [18:21] How to choose mutual funds [21:38] The tax deductibility of long-term care [23:52] How did I calculate the discount rate in the Retirement Plan Live webinar [31:11] What do you do with tax liability on a net worth statement? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [34:05] Think about a transformation that you are working toward Resources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

This month we are discussing the ingredients that make up your retirement portfolio--your pie cake. In the previous episode, we took a deeper look at ETFs, and in this episode, we explore mutual funds. You probably have mutual funds somewhere in your portfolio, but you may not know exactly what they are. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we will take a look at what a mutual fund is so that you can determine if you should have one in your retirement toolbox. Is the Rock Retirement Club right for you? To truly rock retirement you need to do 3 things. Build a solid retirement plan that will act as your decision-making framework to help you implement an agile process throughout your retirement. Find a safe place where you can get unstuck whenever you get stuck building your retirement plan. You need a place where you can keep your momentum going and you can get answers to the questions you have. Surround yourself with people who are intentional about living this part of their life. Get inspired by others and inspire others so that you can all rock retirement together. You can find all 3 of these things in the Rock Retirement Club. If this sounds like it could help you plan the next chapter of your life check out RockRetirementClub.com. Have you collected investments and accounts? As you approach retirement, you may notice that you have a lot of financial clutter. You have probably worked a few different jobs and over time, you may have collected retirement investment accounts in various places. You may also have several types of investments in different accounts. When you are approaching retirement this can be a problem. These investments can be a financial mess. The complexity can be confusing and overwhelming. When building a retirement investment portfolio take the time to make it simple. Determine what kind of portfolio you want to build to support your retirement. What are open-ended mutual funds? Mutual funds are similar to ETFs which we discussed in the previous episode. However, in a mutual fund investors pool their money together into an existing portfolio. Mutual funds are priced only once per day based on the net asset value and they are traded only once per day based on that price. What are the advantages and disadvantages of open-ended mutual funds? Just like any other investment, mutual funds are neither good nor bad. They are simply a tool to add to your investment toolkit. One advantage of mutual funds is that there is no tracking error since it is priced on the net asset value. They are easy to invest and there is a huge menu of investment options. Open-ended mutual funds are extremely liquid so you can get in and out of them easily. Listen in to hear what the disadvantages of mutual funds are. You’ll also hear me answer several listener questions with Nichole. Press play now. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:38] Have you collected investments and accounts? [7:25] What are open-ended mutual funds? [9:51] What are the advantages and disadvantages of open-ended mutual funds? [19:07] Open-ended funds are neither good nor bad Q&A WITH NICHOLE [21:52] How to use a set portfolio to build your pie cake? [26:41] Should your withdrawal strategy change if you don’t have kids? [30:37] What to do with a 457B plan? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [34:36] Question what you are doing--what else could you be doing? Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 370 - The recent episode with Fritz Gilbert Episode 372 - Start here if you want to learn more about building your pie cake Episode 363 - The beginning of the Let’s Get Physical health series BOOK - Atomic Habits by James Clear Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

If you have listened to this show for a while you know that I like to create a retirement withdrawal strategy based on the pie cake. However, we haven’t discussed what goes into the mix. Over the next several episodes, we’ll dive into the details of asset allocation. You’ll learn a bit about ETFs, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, and UITs. On this episode, in addition to answering listener questions with Andy Panko from Retirement Planning Demystified, you’ll learn about ETFs and their pros and cons. Building your pie cake In retirement, your portfolios need to reflect when you plan on spending those funds. I separate these portfolios into what I call the pie cake. The basis of the pie cake, is of course, the plate. Your plate will contain your contingency fund and emergency fund. The first layer of your pie cake contains the money that you will use to fund your life over the next 4-5 years. The next layer will contain funds that have a different asset allocation. It may contain funds that are more of a mix of stocks and bonds. In your last layer, you have your long-term assets which will consist mainly of stocks. What are the ingredients of the pie? Now that you have the cake set up you’ll need to consider what you’re going to put into each pie. Each layer of the pie cake is different and must be made separately. You’ll want to consider what ingredients you want to add. How many ingredients do you want to have in your mix? I like to have as few ingredients as possible. Try adding complexity to your ingredients by diversification rather than simply adding more ingredients. What would you prefer in your pie--simple ingredients or complex ones with names you can’t pronounce? What is an exchange-traded fund? An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an instant portfolio. It is different from traditional mutual funds in that an ETF trades like a stock--you can buy call options or put options. They can be highly managed or not depending on what you buy, so pay careful attention to the fees attached. One unique mechanism ETFs have is that the managers buy stocks that represent the portfolio you are trying to match. They track very closely to the net asset value. Learn more about ETFs by listening to this episode of Retirement Answer Man--make sure to stick around for the listener questions with Andy Panko. What are some advantages and disadvantages to ETFs? ETFs aren’t all good or all bad. They have their pros and cons. One advantage to an ETF is that you have an instant portfolio. Another advantage is the clarity. You know what is inside the fund at all times. They are also transferable between different brokerage houses and are quite tax efficient. On the flip side, if you buy an ETF that is focused on an index you may get less diversification than you think. So make sure to dig under the hood a bit to understand what it is that you are buying. ETFs can also be more expensive if it is more actively managed. Press play to hear the difference between an organic and manufactured ETF. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [1:50] How to build your pie cake [3:23] What ingredients do you need to create your pie? [7:48] What is an exchange-traded fund? [11:28] What are some advantages and disadvantages to ETFs? [15:31] There are organic and manufactured ETFs Q&A SEGMENT WITH ANDY PANKO [19:23] Tax planning in retirement [23:40] Can you use one spouse's HSA to pay for the other spouse’s medical expenses? [26:55] How to balance retiring with college expenses ahead of you [31:30] Roth conversions and the pro-rata rule [38:32] Andy gives me some tax advice [42:28] Can I recommend a First Pen? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [43:45] Take a look at your portfolios and ask yourself if they are too complex Resources Mentioned In This Episode Taxes in Retirement Facebook group Retirement Planning Demystified on YouTube BOOK - Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Do you know what you should be doing in the 5 years leading up to retirement? Are you doing everything you can to get yourself retirement-ready? This is the last episode in a 5 part series that expands upon what you need to do in the final push before retirement. If you’d like to start at the beginning of the series click here. Today we’ll hear from the audience. I have asked those that have already retired to share what they wish they would have known before retirement. Listen in to hear their words of wisdom so that you can make sure to rock your retirement. Your mental model can determine your success How do you envision your retirement? Are you stressed about the logistics? Can you visualize yourself living out your retirement dream? Many of us get caught up in the numbers side of retirement planning. And although it is important to have a good financial plan in place, what can be even more important is your model of what is achievable. If you don’t think your goal is achievable you’ll never be able to realize it. One way to adjust your mental model is to hang out with and learn from people that are already there living the way you want to live. Learning from them can help you evolve your own mental model. Listen in to expand your vision of what is possible in retirement. Words of wisdom from current retirees Over the past month, I have been asking listeners who are recent retirees to chime in with pieces of advice that they wish they had known before they retired. I got some fantastic responses via email and voicemail. Chase wishes he had talked with others about their Medicare plans before choosing his own. Even after all his time researching, he felt like he made a poor choice of plans. During his next enrollment period, he’ll go with a different plan that a friend uses. Kyle wishes he had paid more attention to tax brackets. He was a fantastic saver over the years, but didn’t focus on the different types of accounts he was saving in. This won’t be helpful when it comes to tax planning in retirement. On the flip side, Doug is very pleased that he laid out an income strategy in his retirement plan. Tax planning was a big part of the way he planned. Glen recommends paying off the mortgage in the years leading up to retirement. Not only did it feel great to pay off, but this also allowed him to test drive his retirement budget. Listen in to hear how Glen did that. Create your retirement plan and stay agile Looking at the big picture and creating your retirement model will help you envision the life you want. Engage with your spouse if you are married and discuss what life could be like. Knowing where you want to go helps create the mindset you need to move forward with confidence and to live life without regrets. Organization is power, so have a game plan and be ready to execute it. You can always make adjustments as the retirement game unfolds. If you stay agile then you can adjust your plan as needed. Don’t miss out on all the words of wisdom from our listeners. They have some fantastic advice to get you moving on your retirement journey. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:30] Your mental model of what is achievable is just as important as everything else [4:42] Ask others about their Medicare plans [6:36] Building out a retirement helps to picture what could be [8:31] knowing where you want to go creates the proper mindset to move forward with confidence [10:02] Kyle wishes they had paid more attention to tax brackets [11:53] It’s important to have nonwork friends [16:09] You will lose your life insurance if it is through work [18:44] Wishes he put more 401K into Roth [22:02] Allow yourself to relax Q&A SEGMENT [24:29] A long-term care buyout question [30:35] A MYGA fixed annuity question TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [33:11] Think about your mental model -- is it holding you back? Resources Mentioned In This Episode Long-term care series - Start at episode 311 Breaking the 4 Minute Mile from Harvard Business Review Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Are you within 5 years of retirement? If so, it’s time to start training. Retirement is like a marathon, and you need to be ready to run it. This episode is part 4 of a 5 part series on what to do in the 5 years leading up to retirement. Today you’ll learn how to properly train for the marathon that is retirement so that you can enjoy the run when you get there. Are you signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter? Make sure to get on the email list so that you can receive a comprehensive guide that lays out what you need to focus on in the 5 years leading up to retirement. Next week you’ll hear tips from current retirees who are a few steps ahead of you on this journey, so don’t miss it! Expert advice from those who have walked the walk Many of you have wondered how our Retirement Plan Live case study participants have fared in retirement. A few years ago, our first participant, Carl, came out of the closet to let everyone know that he is actually Fritz Gilbert from The Retirement Manifesto. Fritz joins me today to share his experience in writing his blog and what he learned from planning his retirement. Now that he has a few years of retirement under his belt he can reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what were the integral parts of his retirement planning. Come listen to those who have already walked this walk. Let’s see what we can learn from them. Listen in to hear Fritz’s story. Fritz’s takeaways from his retirement planning So, what did Fritz learn from his retirement planning? He did so much to plan for retirement, but certain things that he did proved more helpful than others. During his one phase of planning for retirement, Fritz created a pre-retirement checklist. He had never made a budget before but knew he had to have an understanding of how much he and his wife spent each month. They successfully tracked their spending by category for 11 months so that they could break those expenditures down into necessities and discretionary spending. After having a better understanding of his spending he was able to lay everything out in a cash flow timeline. Fritz projected his cash flow for the first 5 years of retirement which helped him understand how and where he needed to put his money. What was the biggest adjustment for Fritz in retirement? One thing that people don’t plan for is how they will move from the accumulation phase of investing to the withdrawal phase. This stage of investing requires a completely different approach to managing a portfolio. Your new investment plan must be in place from day 1 of retirement, so it will need to be planned out a few years prior to retiring. Have you considered hiring a financial planner as a consultant to check your retirement plan? The non-financial aspects of retirement are just as important as the financials When people talk about the changes of retirement they are referring to the non-financial aspects of this stage of life, yet most people focus solely on planning the financial part of the puzzle. Your best chance for a great retirement is finding out what gets you excited about life. What will give you purpose when you retire? When you retire you’ll leave your network of friends, the structure, routine, challenges, and rewards of your work life behind. This freedom can be liberating or paralyzing. Think about ways that you can give back and focus on others. Listen in to find out how Fritz’s 10 commandments of retirement helped him stay focused on rocking retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:56] What is a marathon? [4:25] Retirement is like a marathon [12:03] Your marathon should be enjoyable PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [15:10] Fritz Gilbert aka Carl reflects on his retirement planning [18:12] Fritz was never a budgeter [21:15] Were there any spending surprises? [27:50] Get your investing plan in place [32:14] The non-financial aspects of retirement can be a source of anxiety as well [46:07] Define your values Q&A SEGMENT [49:09] Are there any tax consequences to consolidating your retirement accounts? [51:19] How will Social Security work with a disabled child? [54:30] What are you trying to optimize for in your planning? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [58:22] Start to put your plan together Resources Mentioned In This Episode Retirement Manifesto Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Have you ever tried Googling your specific retirement questions? Chances are, those Google searches gave you more confusion than clarity. We all want to rock retirement, but there is a long road from where you are today to the retirement of your dreams. My goal with the 5 episode What to Do in the 5 Years Before Retirement series is to teach you what you need to focus on in those years leading up to retirement. I want you to have the knowledge and power you need to truly rock retirement. If you want to learn what it takes to fulfill your retirement dreams then press play now. Identify your values Many people think that they are most worried about the financial aspect of their retirement but they don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they are worried about other areas of retirement as well. Instead of recognizing these worries, they redirect their worries to the financial areas. One way to begin to get started planning the non-financial side of retirement is by identifying your values. Think about who you want to be. What do you want your life to represent? You can create a new identity for yourself in retirement that reflects your true self. Once you identify your values you can then create your mission statement. Take some time to reflect on what you really want as you work through these exercises. Get off the career treadmill In your career, you have been focused on achievement for decades, but in the last 5 years of retirement, you need to mentally separate yourself from your career. Work has always come first, but it won’t be that way for long. Since you are no longer trying to get that next promotion it’s time to start setting boundaries. Try taking a retirement rehearsal. Think about where you want to live and what you want to do in retirement and take a month off of work to go there and do what you would be doing. Expert advice from those who have walked the walk Listen in to this episode to hear this interview with the Rock Retirement Club’s very own retirement coach, Kevin (Beachwalker) Lyle. He’ll share his experience from his own retirement as well as the wisdom he has learned from others in his time coaching with the RRC. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:39] Acknowledge the stress you feel [8:02] Identify your values [13:22] You need to get off the career treadmill [19:05] Book recommendations Q&A SEGMENT [22:34] Why don’t more planners use a fee-only structure? [33:30] Annuities are now offered in 401K and 403B plans, are there any plans with lower fees? [35:47] Stop looking for a deeper meaning to everything [37:05] Can you use an HSA plan for healthcare premiums? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [40:23] Think about the non-financial changes that will happen in retirement Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - Halftime by Bob Buford BOOK - Boundaries by Henry Cloud BOOK - The New Retirementality by Mitch Anthony Annuity series Rock Retirement Club

Are you trying to gain the confidence you need to rock retirement? If so, you’re in the right place. Welcome to the Retirement Answer Man show, you’ve joined the second episode in a 5-week series geared toward those who are within 5 years of retirement. If you’d like to listen to the first episode of this series head on over to episode 367. The purpose of this series is to get you to start thinking about the things in the financial realm to prepare yourself for this monumental life transition. Most blogs, podcasts, and other retirement resources focus on the retirement sizzle -- this series will serve you the steak. Press play if you are ready to build a strong foundation to rock retirement. How to build your foundation so that you can rock retirement When you are within 5 years of retirement it's time to start thinking about your retirement plan. This is not the time to get fancy, instead, it’s time to start building your foundation. You can do this by creating your initial plan of record. This is the plan that balances all the cool things you want to do in retirement with all the resources you have available to make it happen. Your initial plan of record will help you start to make decisions. You can use fancy charts and tables to help you build your success ratios, but what is missing is what you can do to make it so. You want to know exactly how your plan is going to work. Where are you going to get your paycheck? Your plan of record is the chart that helps you get into the specifics of how to make retirement work. Is your plan feasible? Once you get it all laid out in your plan of record, then you’ll want to map out your first 5 years of retirement to help you make decisions on where to allocate your resources. It is important to stay agile. You may have to change your plan based on external factors like the markets, your dreams, your health, or whatever obstacles pop up. To check the feasibility of your plan you’ll need to dial in your needs, wants, and wishes and your 3 sources of capital. Once you have determined these things then you’ll begin to build your process to determine the feasibility of your plan. Listen in to hear how. Use the right tools You probably know about many of the retirement planning spreadsheets and calculators that are out there. It can be tempting to jump around and use different sources, but once you find one you’ll want to stick with it. Find a scale that you can use to dial in your information that you use consistently over time in an agile way to make decisions. Map out the first 5 yrs of retirement Now it’s time to think about your income sources and projected spending for the first 5 years of your retirement. Look back at your 3 sources of capital: social capital, human capital, and financial capital. Will you use social capital like a pension or Social Security? Will you work part-time or start a small business? If so, what is your projected income from those sources? Will it cover your spending? If not, the deficit that remains will be covered by your financial capital. Listen to this episode to really dig in and discover how you can build your retirement plan for those first 5 years. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:31] If you are already retired please share your wisdom at RogerWhitney.com/askroger [4:37] Create an initial plan of record [9:12] Is your plan feasible? [12:44] Map it out [16:36] Now is the time to check on your Social Security benefit [22:33] Where do you put your excess cash flow? [25:41] What is liquidity? Q&A SEGMENT [29:57] Isn’t there an exception to the 5-year rule of Roth conversions? [30:35] Are real estate syndications good or bad? [36:14] Pay off the house or make a Roth conversion? [41:00] Are there examples of Retirement Plan Lives with people who have fewer resources for retirement? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [41:44] Create a simple spreadsheet that maps out the first 5 years of your retirement Resources Mentioned In This Episode SSA.gov If you are already retired please share your wisdom at RogerWhitney.com/askroger Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Do you want to have the confidence to truly rock retirement? Are you within 5 years of retirement? If so, this is the series for you. Over the next 5 episodes, we’ll explore what you should be focused on in the years leading up to retirement. Today we’ll explore the opportunities and risks that come within this time frame. Next week, we’ll start setting the stage to prepare you for retirement. After that, we’ll explore the financial and non-financial aspects of preparing for retirement. In the 4th episode of this series, you’ll learn how to put it all into a plan. And lastly, you’ll hear an episode full of wisdom from people who are a bit ahead of you in this retirement journey. Are you ready to get started? Press play now! Preparing for retirement is much like prepping for an adventure In the 5 years leading up to retirement, you need to get ready. It’s as though you are preparing for an adventure. I liken it to a backpacking trip I took a few years back. First, my partner and I had to decide where we wanted to go. Then we had to arrange the logistics. Next, we had to assess whether we had the right equipment for our journey. Then we had to consider both our physical and mental readiness. After that, we had to acquire the things we needed. Once we finally got to our destination we had to assess the trail ahead. We even had to add extra supplies based on those trail conditions. We had to remain agile throughout the course of our journey. The opportunities and barriers to preparing for retirement At this point in your career, you are probably making more money than you ever have before. You have a reputation and a vast professional network. You may even be at the tail end of the various financial engagements that come with raising a family. Now is a good time to evaluate your life. There are some barriers that you may need to overcome as you prepare for retirement. I often refer to the 50s as your not-so-thrifty 50s. It’s easy to save more and spend less now that you are earning more. It’s also easy to create a financial cage for yourself. Be careful of financial obligations like 2nd mortgages, RV or boat payments, or even that adult child that you continue to subsidize. These obligations could force you to work longer than you would like. Listen in to hear about more barriers you might face as you prepare for life in retirement. What can you do now to set yourself up for retirement? There are several steps you can take to begin to set yourself up for retirement. Start to assess your risks and opportunities by dialing in your income, expenses, and savings. Think about your expenses. What does it really cost to live your life? Separate your discretionary and non-discretionary spending to realize what it takes to live a good baseline life. Create your net worth statement listing your assets and liabilities. Assess your boundaries at work. You have worked hard to build your career, but have you built up boundaries between work and home life? Assess your social life. Who would you call to have coffee with tomorrow? Do you need to broaden your social network? Assess your purpose. If you had 2 weeks to not think or talk about work what would you do each day? It’s a great time to join the Rock Retirement Club! Are you signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter? You’ll want to make sure that you are so that you can get our free net worth and expense worksheets. Have you been on the fence about joining the Rock Retirement Club? Now is a great time to join because on March 16 we are starting a 3-week sprint to assess your needs, wants, and wishes. You can try it out for 30 days with a money-back guarantee. Go ahead and join now to see whether it is right for you. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:30] A Rock Retirement Club update [4:04] The five years leading up to retirement is much like prepping for an adventure [7:27] You have opportunities that you don’t want to miss in the 5 years [11:37] What can you do now to set yourself up for retirement? Q&A SEGMENT [21:51] Using a Roth IRA to fund long term care [27:11] Roth IRAs and the 5-year rule [30:04] Roth IRAs and Game Stop TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [31:57] Start to dial in your expenses and update your net worth statement Resources Mentioned In This Episode Share your wisdom with future retirees! RogerWhitney.com/askroger Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Over the past 3 episodes, we have been talking about different ways that you can improve your health in retirement. Today you’ll take action. Choose the habits you want to build and learn how to actually build these habits and set yourself up for success. Learning about health and nutrition is one thing, but taking action is something else entirely. Press play so you don’t miss out on these tips to learn how to create and stick with healthy habits. Do you need to redefine your fitness identity? When we are young it can be easy to take on a fitness identity. I’m a mountain biker. He’s a basketball player. She’s a swimmer. But as we age we can face a fitness identity crisis. Our fitness becomes more about mobility and nutrition. To help yourself create your new fitness identity think about what you want to accomplish. What do you want to improve about yourself? What new version of yourself would you like to see? Think about your motivation. Why do you want to have a healthy body? This is how you can define yourself. Listen in to hear my new motivation for good health. Choose the habits you want to build The power of good (or poor) health comes from habits. Positive and negative habits compound over time so to begin a healthy lifestyle you have to start by building healthy habits. You could start by building a huge meal plan or exercise routine, but that could also set you up for failure. Rather than creating a strict workout routine try tinkering with your movements to explore healthy activities that you really enjoy. How to build a habit and make it stick You may already understand the importance of building healthy habits but some of us don’t know how to make them stick. Many of us try to create a routine but then struggle to maintain the habits we have created. Luckily, starting and keeping up healthy habits doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think. Try using these tips to help you create and maintain your healthy habits. To create healthy habits: Set yourself up for success. Make the habit simple to do. Create friction. Take a bad habit and make it hard to do. Start with a small habit. Plan on starting with 5 or 10 minutes a day. To maintain and build up your new habits: Over time increase your routine in small ways. As you build up your routine, split it up into separate times each day. When you falter restart quickly and don’t beat yourself up about it. You have the opportunity to change your health Retirement gives you the freedom to change your lifestyle. You have the opportunity to structure your day in a more purposeful manner. Think about who you want to be in retirement and get started building the habits you need to become that person. Listen in to the Coaches Corner segment with BW to hear how movement and mindset can shape your retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:30] Most of us have to redefine our fitness identity as we age [7:25] How to build a habit [15:32] Two stories to demonstrate different life views COACHES CORNER WITH BW [19:45] Movement and mindset can help keep you young [26:52] Use technology to improve your health TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [34:36] Start to make a change to improve your health Resources Mentioned In This Episode Streaks app Noom app Peloton app Oura Ring James Clear Habit Guide BOOK - Atomic Habits by James Clear Stride app Leave me a comment! Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

If you are interested in living a healthy life you have to consider the food that you put into your body. The food you consume fuels your body and shapes your life. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, you’ll learn 5 tips for ensuring excellent nutrition. You’ll also discover a few resources that can help you improve your thinking around nutrition. Grab your headphones and dive into this episode so that you can rock retirement by living a healthy life. What is diet? Americans have an interesting relationship with the word diet. The word often invokes thoughts of failure and restrictions and no one likes to feel restricted. However, there are two definitions of the word diet. A diet is a special course of food to which one restricts oneself either to lose weight or for medical reasons and it also means the kind of food a person or animal eats. As we’re discussing diet today we should consider the second definition rather than the first. This definition encompasses our whole lifestyle rather than considering the short term. To rock retirement, we want the cumulative benefits of a healthy diet rather than a short-term fix. When you consider the word diet I encourage you to think of it as a way to reset your eating habits to a healthier version. What is your relationship with food We all have a relationship with food and often that relationship was built when we were young. But you may not want to continue eating the same way you did when you were in your teens and twenties. When we were young we could eat anything without seeing much of a change in our bodies. This is because our metabolism was high. But as we age our body chemistry changes and we don’t burn through calories like we did in the past. Think about your relationship with food. Do you still eat like you did in your twenties? Modern food is made for convenience, not health Everything about modern, industrialized food is created for mass production, shelf life, and consistency of flavor. As a result, modern food is high in fat, sodium, and sugar which makes it unhealthy. Added to the lack of nutrition, our portion sizes have gotten bigger in recent years. It is no wonder that our bodies haven’t adjusted to the modern diet. How to build a healthy diet To create a healthy diet you want to make sure to eat food - not food products. This means eating fresh foods that don’t have a shelf life. Add colors to your plate by eating fruits, leafy greens, and whole grains. Eating well means that you’ll have to plan your meals and give up on convenience food. Are you ready to change the way you eat? Listen to this episode of Retirement Answer Man to learn 5 tips you can use to improve your nutrition. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is diet? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:27] We all have a relationship with food [10:02] Modern food is produced to be unhealthy [16:16] Understand how to read labels Q&A WITH TANYA NICHOLS [22:21] How to save later in life [27:55] Feedback on the Parent Project series TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [32:44] Start reading the labels in your pantry Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - The Mind Diet by Maggie Moon PODCAST - The Doctor’s Farmacy by Dr. Mark Hyman Noom App The Parent Project series Align Financial Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

To rock retirement, you have to have the right tools, and the most important tool you have is your body. To keep up your strength and mobility your body needs to be fine-tuned. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we continue discussing your physical health. You’ll learn what you can do to maintain your strength and mobility so that you can rock retirement. What is mobility? Mobility means having healthy muscles, bones, and joints so that you can freely move about. In retirement, it is important to have the mobility to do all the typical things you have to do and also so you can enjoy your favorite hobbies. Staying healthy and fit isn’t the same now as it was in your 20s. Back then you exercised to keep up your good looks, but now, exercise is critical to maintaining mobility so that you can rock retirement and do all of the things you want to do. Health and fitness can be your job in retirement Many people struggle without the routine of work to keep their life in balance in retirement. In the book, Younger Next Year, the author, Chris Crowley, makes the argument that you should make health and fitness your job in retirement. This is an interesting idea that I want you to consider since exercise can provide you with not only structure but goals and rewards as well. When you devote time to your health you can see measurable results. Added to that, exercise can provide you with a social outlet and an ability to connect and work with other people. It can even draw you closer to your partner as you both work to attain your goals. This important job can become the center of your life now that you won’t have the busyness of work life. It may even help give you a new identity to help you transition from your work-related identity. What do you think about making health and fitness the center of your life in retirement? How to build a body to support you to do all the things you want to do You may have heard that you can lose up to 50% of your muscle mass by the time you are 50. However, the aged muscle can be repaired if you are willing to work to maintain it. It is important to build a plan with your doctor and you may want to include a personal trainer and nutritionist to help you build that plan. You’ll also want to work on increasing your flexibility. Your muscles get shorter as you get older causing your flexibility to decline. This can reduce your range of motion and lead to back pain, joint issues, and bad balance. Listen in to hear what apps you can use to help you maintain your exercise plan in retirement. Be sure to check out this week’s 6-Shot Saturday email newsletter! Make sure that you are signed up for 6-Shot Saturday this week. Not only can you complete our annual listener survey, but we’ll have a link to a study guide for you to follow while you read the book, Younger Next Year. This study guide will give you a good idea of the kind of work we do in the Rock Retirement Club. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is mobility? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:45] You should make health and fitness your job in retirement [7:25] Use exercise for functional health Q&A WITH TANYA NICHOLS [20:36] Tanya exercises to stay sane [21:44] Can you roll over only part of a retirement account? [25:16] The pros and cons of multi-year guaranteed annuities [32:21] Do I take the pension or the lump sum? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [38:10] Go buy the book Younger Next Year Resources Mentioned In This Episode Align Financial BOOK - The Power of Zero by David McKnight Episode 310 - The Pie Cake Daily Burn app Apple Fitness Plus FitBit Coach Peloton app Strava app BOOK - Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Good health is not something you can buy, but it can be an important savings account for your future. Over the course of the next 4 episodes, we will focus on how to stay healthy and fit in retirement. We’ll discuss exercise, mobility, and nutrition. In the final episode of the Let’s Get Physical series, you’ll learn how to create an action plan to build and maintain healthy habits throughout retirement. Press play to get started on creating a healthy life. What is the difference between hurt and harm? The difference between hurt and harm is somewhat obvious but it may not be readily apparent when it comes to making decisions. You may put off going to the dentist to get your tooth fixed because you know it is going to hurt. We generally try to avoid hurt, but hurt can be beneficial. Hurt itself, isn’t a bad thing. Eating junk food and choosing not to exercise doesn’t hurt, but it does harm you. It is important to recognize the difference between hurt and harm to help you stay healthy. Modern medicine provides longevity, not quality of life Modern medicine is amazing, however, there is a dark underbelly to our healthcare system. Longevity is the goal of modern medicine, not quality of life. If you are unhealthy, medications can keep you alive much longer than you would have ever been alive in years past. You may even be able to live as long as a healthy person. But those additional years that drugs and doctors’ care provide you will not be high quality and productive, instead, life will be painful and stagnant. The costs of being unhealthy Choosing an unhealthy lifestyle ends up being costly. The more unhealthy you are, the more you will pay for healthcare. And although this number can be quantified in dollars, there are other costs as well. These social costs aren’t easily quantifiable, but they will certainly be felt. Rather than being an active participant in life, an unhealthy person becomes a spectator. Their mindset changes and they tend to break from the person they once were. They shift from a growth dynamic to a decaying dynamic. Are you willing to take the risks that come with an unhealthy life? You can’t change the choices you made in the past, but you can change your unhealthy habits now. Good habits compound over time Small habits make us who we are. Just like saving money, our habits (good or bad) compound over time. You can’t buy good health, but you can invest in it. Building healthy eating and exercise habits doesn’t have to be about your weight or how you look. The purpose of creating healthy habits in retirement is to build energy and increase functionality. Listen in to learn how to create healthy habits so that you can rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is the difference between hurt and harm? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:48] The goal of modern medicine is longevity, not quality of life [8:18] Healthy habits compound over time Q&A SEGMENT [12:20] The keys to ETFs and mutual funds [15:11] A health savings account question [19:11] My thoughts on the 4% rule [22:37] Can Gary’s 401K annuity be moved within the 401K? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [25:18] Pay attention to your eating and exercise habits Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 310 - The Pie Cake BOOK - Atomic Habits by James Clear BOOK - Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley BOOK - Boundaries by John Townsend Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

This is it -- the last episode of Retirement Plan Live 2021! We have walked Trish through her unexpected retirement to see if she has what it takes to build the retirement of her dreams. Over the past 4 episodes, we have gotten to know Trish and her situation. We have taken an in-depth look at her goals, resources, and net worth to help her assess whether she is ready to retire. If you would like to start this series from the beginning, head back over to episode 359, if you’ve already listened then press play now. Don’t miss the live webinar! Please join us tomorrow, January 28 at 7 pm CST, for the live webinar where I’ll help Trish discover if this dream of hers is attainable. We’ll identify the risks and opportunities she has to create a feasible plan to rock retirement. During this live webinar, you can ask questions and have them answered. You can even use Trish’s example as a case study to help you build your own retirement plan. What is identity? Identity encompasses everything about you. It is a mishmash of your memories, experiences, values, and relationships. All together this big pot creates who you are. Consequently, identity is not fixed -- it changes over time. There are pivot points in your life, like those transitions from high school to college, college to career, marriage, and family. We can use these points in life as opportunities to start with a fresh slate and remake our identities. Retirement is another opportunity to start over and remake your identity. If you haven’t spent enough time creating your identity outside of work it can feel scary to think about who this new you is going to be. Have you thought about who you want to be in retirement? Trish lost her sense of control after getting laid off Trish had worked at her job for 29 years. We don’t see that very often anymore. She truly thought that she would work there until she chose to retire at age 55. So when she was laid off unexpectedly this past October, it was like a kick in the gut. She is still reeling from the effects. Every day she keeps the same routine, she gets up, goes for a run, gets dressed, and heads to her home office to search for work from 8-5. Will coming up with a retirement plan help ease her worries? What does this make possible? When we are in the midst of a problem it can be easy to lose perspective. This is why it is important to slow down and make purposeful decisions. One question to ask yourself when dealing with the unexpected is: what does this make possible? Can Trish begin to see the possibilities? Can she start looking ahead? What about you? Do you know how you can create a meaningful life after retiring? Listen in to hear from retirement coach, BW, he has helpful advice for Trish that may resonate with you as well. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:11] What is identity? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:25] Trish wasn’t happy to get laid off [14:35] Would not needing a job help her relax? [20:53] What is she doing to help herself get through this? COACHES CORNER WITH BW [25.11] Slow down and be purposeful [31:03] Trish can find the balance TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [35:05] Let yourself be happy Resources Mentioned In This Episode Register for the live webinar on 1-28 at 7 pm CST Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Last week in Retirement Plan Live, Trish dreamed up big dreams for her retirement. In this episode, we are going to outline her resources to see if she has the ability to fund those dreams. Organizing your resources is an important step in retirement planning. Listen in to learn how important it is to plan what you want to use your resources for, and let’s see if Trish has what it takes to build her retirement dreams. What is a resource? A resource is a natural source of wealth or revenue. It is also a natural feature that enhances the quality of life. It’s what you do with your resources that matters. If you are listening to this show you are probably over 50 which means that you have spent decades building your resources. You’ve built up all 3 categories of resources -- human capital, social capital, and financial capital. Human capital includes your skillset and reputation. Social capital includes pensions and Social Security. Financial capital doesn’t only include your money, it also includes houses and boats in addition to your retirement accounts. What will you use your resources for? When you look at your resources in retirement you have to ask yourself to what end are all these resources for? What is this money for? In retirement, your resources are meant to be used to express your values through your goals that you live out in the season of retirement. Dying with too much money is poor stewardship. It means that your resources were never harvested to live out your values. Think about what you want to do with your abundance. Be intentional and create the life that you want. Explore the options you have now so that you don’t leave your resources like a neglected crop left to be absorbed back into the earth. What kind of capital does Trish have? In our last episode, Trish dreamed big -- European vacations, a second and maybe 3rd home, a convertible, the works. Now that we’ve got her thinking big, we have to see what she can afford. It’s time to take stock of her resources. Just like you and I, Trish has social capital, human capital, and financial capital. She will collect Social Security when the time comes and would like to use her human capital in some capacity until she is 59. Listen in to hear how I walk her through her balance sheet and organize her resources. Check out the Rock Retirement Club to help you organize your own resources Have you been enjoying Retirement Plan Live? Would you like to have guidance as you organize your resources? In the Rock Retirement Club, we have a Retirement Masterclass that does just that. We walk you through all of this planning with worksheets and trainings and there is even an entire module that helps you organize all of your capital. Check it out at RockRetirementClub.com. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is a resource? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [11:02] What kind of social capital does Trish have? [15:32] Trish plans on using her human capital [25:35] We organize Trish’s financial capital Q&A WITH NICHOLE [36:10] How did we do on our words for 2020? [37:32] Lisa asks how the 4% rule changes if you retire at 55 [40:35] Should Jackie stop saving in her Roth IRA since her husband got laid off? [44:53] Can Jim’s mother transfer an IRA to him? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [48:43] What is your word for 2021? Resources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport Social Security Detailed Calculator Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome to week 2 of Retirement Plan Live 2021! Last week, in episode 359, you got to meet Trish who was unexpectedly laid off last year. She had been hoping to retire within 5 years, but with this layoff, she is exploring the idea that maybe she can retire now. Over the next few episodes, we will walk her through the steps I take with clients to create and test a retirement plan. “You are never too old to set another goal or dream another dream,” -- C.S. Lewis. What is a goal? Before we begin, let’s examine what a goal is. Simply put, a goal is something you want to achieve in the future. We often have larger goals and smaller, more immediate goals. They should be a stair step to your bigger vision. All of my goals stem from my values and vision. Before coming up with your goals, it is important to have a clear understanding of your values -- articulate them and define them. The idea is that your goals help you to live out your values. Have you defined your values, vision, and goals? Needs and wants Let’s talk about needs, wants, and wishes. I like to create 3 categories of spending when creating a retirement plan. This way we can determine a person’s level of fundedness. The first category is the needs category. This is what a person needs to live their baseline life. However, it doesn’t mean simply eating rice and beans every day. Trish estimates that she needs $10,000 per month to live comfortably. The next area is the wants category. One of Trish’s wants is a convertible when they move south. What kind of wants would you put under this heading? Can Trish dream big? The last section we examine is wishes. This is where you dream big without holding back. Some people struggle with this, but others take on this challenge whole-heartedly. Are you able to dream big? What are your most extravagant wishes? Listen in to hear what Trish includes in her wishes, and maybe you’ll find some inspiration for your own planning. Create your own retirement plan If you would like to follow along and do these same exercises on your own, be sure that you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday email newsletter to receive worksheets each week to examine your own retirement readiness as we work through this Retirement Plan Live with Trish. Are you curious to discover whether Trish has what it takes to retire? Sign up for the live webinar with Trish on January 28 at LiveWithRoger.com. This is when we put Trish’s retirement plan to the test to see if she can retire now or if she needs to continue working for the next few years. Don’t miss out! OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:30] What is a goal? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [9:10] Trish lays out her needs and wants [20:47] I help Trish dream big Q&A WITH NICHOLE [29:14] An asset allocation question [31:40] Robert asks if he should cash out his mother-in-law’s annuities [35:18] A pie cake question TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [38:25] Think through your spending for the year Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 310 - The Pie Cake Sign up for the live webinar with Trish on January 28 at LiveWithRoger.com Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome to the Retirement Answer Man show, this month we’ll be doing a Retirement Plan Live! The Retirement Plan Live series allows you to take an in-depth look at a person’s goals, resources, and net worth to determine whether they are ready to retire. At the end of the month, on Thursday, January 28th, we will wrap it all up with a live webinar that you can join to see how it all works out. Register for that event at LiveWithRoger.com. Make sure you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter which will have a summary of my conversation with Trish each week and it will also include worksheets to help you organize your resources to create your own retirement plan. Begin with the end in mind On your last day on earth, the person you become will meet the person you could have become. Will those two people know each other or will they be strangers? When you retire you finally get to organize your life to express the person that you are and want to become. You have worked for decades saving and investing as you built your career. Now you can use those resources to become who you really want to be. You get to magnify your best self. Who is Trish? Trish is 51 years old and her spouse is 60. Her plan was to retire at age 55, however, that plan was foiled since she was recently let go from her job. Trish worked for the same company for 30 years and despite receiving almost 1 year of severance pay, she feels lost. Losing her job has been devastating and she feels like she has lost her identity. How would you feel if you suddenly lost your job? Is your identity tied to your career? What would Trish like to accomplish? Everyone has a dream of retirement, and Trish is no different. She and her partner hope to get a house in a warmer climate and be snowbirds for a bit before finally settling down in that location. She pictures herself going to the beach every day and drinking fancy drinks with umbrellas in them. But Trish doesn’t only think of herself. She and her spouse are very family-oriented and love to take trips with their siblings and nieces and nephews. The real question is how big can she dream? We’ll tackle that question in the next episode. Do you wish you could do your own Retirement Plan Live? The Retirement Master Class in the Rock Retirement Club mirrors what we do here in the Retirement Plan Live series. This master class walks you step by step and helps you build your own retirement plan based on who you want to become. You’ll learn how to identify your goals, organize your resources, and discover what is feasible. We teach you how to dream with the end in mind by focusing on who you want to become. Check out the Rock Retirement Club to learn more. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:14] Beginning with the end in mind RETIREMENT PLAN LIVE SEGMENT [3:44] The Retirement Master Class helps you build your retirement plan [7:28] Who is Trish? [13:08] Losing her job has been like losing her identity [18:10] What would she like to have accomplished at 80? CATCHING UP WITH SAM [22:57] Sam retired early with no regrets [26:58] She has made time for the things she enjoys [30:37] Have her spending estimates been accurate? [35:09] What is she excited about? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [36:57] Have the courage to live a life true to yourself Resources Mentioned In This Episode LiveWithRoger.com Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Today we finish up The Parent Project. This has been an important theme to tackle and fortunately, we had 5 weeks to spend learning how we can help our parents age gracefully. If you haven’t listened to the other episodes in this series you can start here. To wrap up The Parent Project, Christine Benz from Morning Star joins me to discuss how you can help manage your parents’ finances. Not only is Christine a financial expert, but she has had firsthand experience taking the reins of her parents’ finances. Stick around until the end to hear how our very first Retirement Plan Live test subject is faring all these years later. What does gracefully mean? At the beginning of this series, we talked about the stages of aging: independence, interdependence, dependence, crisis management, and end of life. We will all go through these steps as we age, but some will pass more quickly than others. Unfortunately, none of us can predict which of these periods may be drawn out over time. As children guiding our parents, we can strive to help them age gracefully. Gracefully means in a respectful and dignified way. A gift we can give to our parents or elders is to give them the opportunity to pass through the stages of aging gracefully. Communication is key There’s that word again: communication. Communication has been a common theme throughout The Parent Project series. The value of communication cannot be overstated when it comes to helping your parents as they age. Christine Benz finds it challenging to find one-size-fits-all advice for everyone when it comes to caring for their parents since every family is so different. The only common thread is communication. Christine feels that it is important to open a dialogue with your parents and siblings as your parents move through the stages of aging. Have you opened a dialogue with your parents about their finances? If you haven’t started yet, listen in to hear a fantastic tip that Christine shares with us. Who will be in charge? When there are multiple siblings involved sometimes you may wonder who will take the reins when mom and dad need help. Oftentimes there is an obvious choice, but the best option may be to divide and conquer. This way you can divvy up the duties. One sibling could be in charge of doctors’ appointments, another in charge of day to day finances, and yet another could handle the investments. Keep the lines of communication open to respect your parents’ wishes and to keep all interested parties up to date. How has The Parent Project helped you? What have you learned in this series that you want to take action on? Have you begun talking to their parents about their wishes? Do you think you have learned something that you can apply to your own retirement? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:30] What does gracefully mean? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:58] Christine Benz shares her views on managing the parents’ finances [10:23] Have you considered having 2 financial managers? CATCHING UP WITH FRITZ GILBERT AKA CARL [23:02] Fritz Gilbert, aka Carl was the first Retirement Plan Live test subject [25:08] Is Fritz rocking retirement? [31:02] You leave your identity behind when you retire TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [40:29] Let’s just get through tomorrow! Resources Mentioned In This Episode The Retirement Manifesto blog Christine Benz Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

There may come a time in your parents’ life (and in your own) when they begin to lose their agency. They may no longer have the ability to act upon their own path. Do you know what steps to take if that happens? In this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we’ll investigate when, what, and how to take over when the time comes. Today, I have 2 guests joining me who will share their firsthand experience with the process of caring for a parent. Join me for the 4th installment of the Parent Project series. If you haven’t listened to the first 3 be sure to check those out when you’re done with this one. What does guardianship mean? Guardianship is a legal process used to protect individuals who are unable to care for their own well being due to incapacity or disability. The way it works is that the court appoints a legal guardian to care for a person who needs special protection. First, an attorney must petition the court, and then they must provide evidence as to why the person needs to have a guardian appointed. Then the court decides if the person is sufficiently incapacitated and also if the person requesting guardianship meets the guidelines. Listen in to learn whether having a power of attorney could eliminate the need for guardianship. Is there a better option? Gaining guardianship over your parents or aging family members should be a last resort. Hopefully, your parents have planned ahead and made your situation a bit easier by setting up a legal plan including a power of attorney. Listen in to hear whether joint accounts, power of attorney, or a traunch would be the best course of action when the time comes. Naomi Karp shares her experience Naomi Karp is an attorney and longevity expert that has worked on longevity for over 30 years. Her work has focused on law, aging, and policy and has included research, advocacy, and legislative work. She specialized in elder abuse and cognitive impairment and she is now getting firsthand experience in the caregiving process by caring for her mother. Don’t miss out on learning from her expertise. What would you like to learn about elder care? Family members make a significant portion of elder caregivers. There is so much to learn when jumping into a caretaker role, but it mostly requires on the job learning. Listening to stories from people like Naomi and Sarah can be extremely helpful and lessen the learning curve. Have you had to learn how to care for an aging family member? What is one thing you wish you had known before you started? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What does guardianship mean? PRACTICAL PLANNING WITH NAOMI KARP [4:46] Naomi Karp has both the expertise and the personal knowledge of caregiving [9:52] How do you take over your parents’ finances without being abusive? [14:59] How to choose a power of attorney [20:43] What kind of duty are you taking on if you become a guardian [32:20] Check out the When I’m 64 podcast PRACTICAL PLANNING WITH SARAH [43:20] Sarah started noticing problems with both parents when her dad was hospitalized [46:52] How to know when to take over [50:42] Make sure your siblings and the doctors are on the same page [54:40] Use their tax returns to help you identify their different accounts [1:00:24] Hypotheticals can take you far [1:02:44] Gaining power of attorney is so important [1:09:05] What she wishes she had known [1:13:44] Music is powerful for someone with dementia TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [1:15:04] Check out ElderLawAnswers.com Resources Mentioned In This Episode Naomi Karp When I’m 64 podcast EverSafe Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Welcome to the third installment of the Parent Project series. As your parents age, they may need you to pick up the reins and help out a little -- or a lot. Helping your parents get older with grace and dignity can be fulfilling, but at the same time challenging. The more prepared you are for this challenge the easier it will be. After you listen to this episode make sure that you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter so that you can receive all of the FREE resources to help you prepare for this next phase of life. What is preparation? The word preparation means getting ready for an event or undertaking. You prepare for trips, parties, and all kinds of things. When you prepare financially you make financial life more stable, organized, and consistent. You don’t even know if our parents will need help so why should you prepare for it now? You may not think that you need to prepare to manage your parents’ finances but the more prepared you are the more ready you will be if an unforeseen event happens. How can you talk to your parents about their finances? Talking to your parents about finances and estate planning can be uncomfortable. No one wants to sit down and have that big conversation. So instead of having a big uncomfortable conversation try having smaller conversations over time. When you strike up smaller conversations it’s easier to keep the dialogue open. Try opening the door to a smaller conversation the next time you see your parents. The 3 types of aging parents Everyone’s parents are different. Some parents don’t want to deal with any of their finances, this type of parent may need you to be a project manager. Others may want a little bit of assistance, if so, then you could take on the role of a coach. And other elderly parents may want you to take a hands-off approach. They may appreciate you feeding them small pieces of information along the way. What kind of parents do you have? Tips for talking to your parents about their finances Keep the financial conversation separate from family time Don’t have too many cooks in the kitchen Take an inventory of their accounts Create a net worth statement Set up online access for all of their accounts Use a password manager Get organized and create a diagram Have digital records Get introduced to key people Listen in to hear the details about how to create this dialogue so that you can get prepared to help your parents. Whether they need it or not, being prepared for the financial conversation will give you some peace of mind as your parents get older. Make sure to stick around to hear a first-hand story from retirement coach, Mark Ross and catch up with Lori from Retirement Plan Live. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is preparation? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:17] Have little conversations [8:05] What kind of parents do you have? [16:30] Create an organizational diagram AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK ROSS [22:02] Mark has been on a long journey with his parent project [24:50] He turned an overwhelming project into an enjoyable journey [25:57] How did he manage the conversations with his parents? [29:37] How did he deal with his siblings? [35:47] It all works out in the end [38:42] What is he doing differently now that he has learned about aging? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [40:50] Check out Everplan AN INTERVIEW WITH LAURIE FROM RETIREMENT PLAN LIVE [43:04] Bruce has since retired and Lori is still working part-time Resources Mentioned In This Episode Check out Lori’s Retirement Plan Live - start with episode 194 Everplans.com LastPass 1Password Estate Planning in Retirement episodes 332, 333, 334, 335, 336 BOOK - Built to Sell by John Warrillow Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Have you had the talk with your parents or loved ones? You know the one. Maybe it pertains to their driving or their finances, or it could be about their health or living situation. Whatever the conversation is about; it is uncomfortable for everyone involved. What if there was an easier way that you could address these subjects with your parents? On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, you’ll learn how you can talk to your parents or loved ones about the matters that are so important to discuss as they age. What is a caregiver? Generally, when we think of a caregiver we think of a medical professional. (Someone other than ourselves.) However, a caregiver can include anyone who regularly looks after someone that needs help. Caregiving can mean nursing, but it also means cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, etc. Most of the time the caregiver ends up being a family member. As a matter of fact, 29% of the population provides care for chronically ill family members and often those people spend 20 hours per week providing care. Creating an open dialogue is critical We often wait until a big event happens to address important subjects with our parents, but that isn’t the most effective way to address uncomfortable subjects. Instead of waiting until the last minute to bring up a nursing home or another issue, try creating little conversations before a stressful situation arises. Starting a dialogue early with your parents or family member creates an open space to address difficult subjects before they come up. Learn how to open up this conversation by listening to this episode of Retirement Answer Man. What should these conversations be about? Now that you understand the need to have several smaller conversations with your parents rather than a big bombshell, it is important to think about the issues. What do you need to address? There are a number of issues that may arise: driving, finances, housing, health, safety, and cognitive abilities are all factors that may need to be addressed. Remember the earlier that you bring these matters up the better they will go. Tips for bringing these conversations to light It can be challenging to bring up issues that you have never had to address with your parents or family members. Everyone is on their own journey in life and aging can impact one’s ego and sense of privacy. It is important to be empathetic and understanding of their journey. Here are some tips you can remember to help you make the most of the conversation: Choose the right messenger. Use hypotheticals. Test the waters with little things. Bring solutions and resources Don’t give advice, guide them to the answers Listen - choose the right time and place Be empathetic, not condescending After you listen in make sure that you are signed up for the 6-shot Saturday email newsletter to receive all the resources that go along with each episode. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:10] What is a caregiver? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:43] Create an open dialogue [7:00] What should these conversations be about? [11:21] Tips for bringing these conversations to light A RETIREMENT PLAN LIVE UPDATE [21:16] An update with Emma [29:20] How to say yes to things after a loss TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [30:45] Check out David Solie’s book - How to Say It to Seniors Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 289 - Retirement Plan Live with Emma and Luca BOOK - How to Say It to Seniors by David Solie Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Over the next 5 episodes, we’ll be tackling an important series that I call The Parent Project. No parent wants to be a burden to their children, but as longevity increases with advances in healthcare, your parents may need you to help them out as they age. Are you helping to care for a parent or an aging family member? My goals for this series are to help you help a parent prepare for this stage of life, to help you prepare for this stage in your own life, and to share bits of wisdom along the way. You won’t want to miss this pertinent series, so press the play button now! What is aging? The word aging can be a noun or an adjective. Aging is both the process of getting older and a way to describe the signs of growing old. We all know that aging is a natural process that we go through, but that doesn’t mean that it’s fun. We are aging for a longer period of time due to health and medical advancements. We all go through 5 stages of aging -- although some may happen more quickly than others. The 5 stages of aging are independence, interdependence, dependence, crisis management, and end of life. 6 ways that aging parents can impact your life Diving into the parent project can have a big impact on your life. We want to honor our parents in this vulnerable part of their lives, but we also want to live our own life. Many of you are retired or on the cusp of retirement and caring for aging parents can greatly affect your retirement plans. These are 6 ways that aging parents could impact your life. Retirement date - You may delay your retirement due to your parents’ condition. Living arrangements - You may decide not to move or limit where you can live. Time - The bureaucracy of caregiving, court documents, and everything else can eat into your time. Psychologically - The psychological effects of caring for loved ones can lead to many feelings like guilt and disappointment. Finances - You may need to subsidize your parents’ care. Relationships - How are your relationships with your spouse and siblings affected? What can David’s story teach you? We have a saying over at the Rock Retirement Club, ‘walk with the wise to become wise.’ The RRC is a place to learn from each other to increase our understanding and gain knowledge of a topic. Since I’m not an expert on this topic, I have invited David to come on the show to share his story. David has recently dealt with the incapacitation and passing of his mother while also arranging for the care of his father. He learned a lot about the parent project along the way. Listen in to learn from his story so that you can start considering the different things to keep in mind as you and your parents age. As we work through the different topics over the next 5 episodes consider creating a file of resources for yourself. Sign up for 6-Shot Saturday to get FREE resources to help you prepare for your parents’ and your own aging process. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT’S THAT MEAN? [3:07] What is aging? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:39] 6 ways that aging parents can impact your life [13:01] What can you do to ease the transition for your parents and for yourself? AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID [14:37] How did David’s parent project start? [22:08] How to broach the conversation of moving to a facility [28:11] David knew that he needed an elder law attorney [32:36] How has this event impacted his relationships? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [37:10] Check out caring.com Resources Mentioned In This Episode Caring.com Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

This is a time of year when many people give thanks for what they have. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, I explore the definition of thankfulness and gratitude with our Rock Retirement Club retirement coach, BW. He even brings us 5 tips that can help us to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis. Tanya Nichols joins me again to help answer listener questions. You’ll learn what you can do if you are worried about a market crash, what to do if you think you are too old for long-term care insurance, and we’ll discuss Roth conversions from a 403B. Press play now to join me to hear the answers to listener questions and more. What are you thankful for? The definitions of thankfulness and gratitude are very similar. Thankfulness is the consciousness of benefit received from others. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives both tangible and intangible. One way to combat worry is to create a habit of thankfulness. I have done this personally and it has changed my life. Practicing gratitude contributes to greater happiness and it allows us to focus on what we have rather than what we lack. Listen in to hear what I am grateful for this year. 5 tips to help cultivate gratitude on a regular basis Cultivating a gratitude practice can seem like a good idea but it often falls by the wayside after a few days or weeks. The beauty of practicing gratitude is that it shifts your mindset. You can use these 5 tips to help you become more thankful by creating your own practice of gratitude each day. Write and send a thank you note to someone who has had an impact on your life each month. Get in the habit of saying thank you to at least one person each day. Keep a gratitude journal. You get bonus points if you try and come up with different things to be thankful for each day. Pray. If you are religious, praying can help you cultivate gratitude. Meditate. Instead of focusing on your inner self, try focusing on gratitude in the moment. Does sequence of return risk keep you up at night? The world around us seems so unstable right now. Many people worry that we could be at the start of the next big crash. What if we are at the beginning of several years of zero returns? Sequence of return risk is one of the biggest worries of those on the cusp of retirement. Although people worry about sequence of return risk, if you look back at history and study bear markets, youĺl see that even within those years there were good years and bad years. It’s also good to remember that your portfolio won’t directly reflect the S&P 500, we simply use it as a planning tool. How to balance market risk against inflation risk Why do we take market risk when we are worried about sequence of returns? Inflation! Inflation risk is just as big, but it creeps up slowly over time. You have to balance the risk of inflation with market risk. You can take market risk. You just have to know how much you are comfortable with. The first thing you need to do is understand the minimum effective dose of investment risk you need in order to create the life you want. Next, you’ll want to time segment your money by building your cash flow model early in retirement. Plan for statistically probable outcomes and then test for outliers. Listen in to hear the details of how you can protect yourself from both inflation risk and market risk. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:30] What is thankful? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:02] Is Chris too old for long-term care insurance? [8:11] A 403B and Roth conversion question [12:12] A new learning experience as a couple [14:06] What are the chances that the market crashes? COACHES CORNER WITH BW [22:09] Practice gratitude to improve your happiness [26:17] 5 tips to help cultivate gratitude on a regular basis TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [30:16] Give yourself and everyone around you some grace this Thanksgiving Resources Mentioned In This Episode Align Financial Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

There are so many things to take care of in retirement. It can all feel overwhelming. Many people worry about their jobs, the state of the world, retirement, and their uncertain future. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, you’ll learn what you can do to ease your worries about the unknown as well as discover the answers to questions from listeners like you. Join Tanya Nicols and me as we answer questions about an early retirement package, what to do when you have a significant portion of your net worth in one stock, and how to use second to die life insurance. What is worry? Worry is a noun that means a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems. It can also be a verb meaning to give way to anxiety or unease. Are you a worrier? Although worry is a healthy thing, oftentimes people allow their minds to dwell on difficulties or (perceived) troubles. There is a fine line between healthy worry and overwhelming worry. The fine line between healthy and unhealthy worry can be hard to walk Just like how exercise creates stress in your muscles and grows them, worry can do the same to your mind. Worry can spur you into action causing you to improve your situation. However, worry taken to excess can be paralyzing. It can cause you to lose perspective so that you can no longer see clearly. You can’t let worry overwhelm you so much that it steals your life away. Listen in to hear what you can do to help ease your worries about the state of the world, life, and retirement. How do you perceive the wealth you have created? It is often said that money is the root of all evil, but this isn’t true. The love of money is the root of evil. Do you feel guilty about the wealth you have created? Guilt is a common theme for many successful people. Many create an emotional attachment to their money. Rather than judging yourself for creating your wealth, use that wealth as a tool. How you use it is important. What will you do with your wealth to create an amazing life? What to do when you have a significant portion of your assets in one stock One listener has ⅓ of her net worth tied up in one particular tech stock. She is looking for some guidance on how to handle this. A great question to ask is: what would happen to your net worth if that stock simply vanished? This question can get you thinking about how much you need to have a good life. Once you have thought deeply about your life then you can be methodical about this asset. Set a number to help guide you and don’t let taxes sway your decision. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:40] What is worry? Q&A WITH TANYA NICHOLS [10:56] How do you feel about your wealth? [16:52] What to do when you have a significant portion of your assets in one stock? [22:57] How to balance Social Security, taxes, and an early retirement package [25:46] Second to die life insurance TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [30:47] Control your input Resources Mentioned In This Episode Align Financial BOOK - The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday BOOK - The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley BOOK - The Power of Agency by Anthony Rao Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Do you use an HSA? If not, you may want to start one after listening to this episode. Find out how you can use an HSA to help lessen healthcare costs in retirement and stick around to hear the answers to listener questions on this episode of Retirement Answer Man.Are you trying to figure out how to deal with an unexpected retirement? Would you like to come on the show? We are looking for a volunteer for the next Retirement Plan Live coming up in January. If you would like some help in navigating your unexpected retirement head on over to RogerWhitney.com/rpl to put your name in the hat and potentially become our next case study for Retirement Plan Live. What is focus? Focus is the act of concentrated activity on something. You choose where to place your focus in your life. What do you choose to focus on? Do you choose to focus on fear, problems, and all that could go wrong? Or do you choose to focus on the present and future excitement? When you focus on a problem does it seem huge and overwhelming? Or do you break that problem up into chunks so that you can determine what to do next? I like to say focus on the WHAM. Figure out what the problem is, how to do it, get accountability, take action, and achieve momentum. In your retirement planning, think about how you can shift your focus to best serve yourself. Can you still contribute to a Roth IRA with only a 1099R? One listener has a question about Roth IRA contributions. He is no longer working and receives a pension, but would still like to contribute to a Roth IRA since he is under the income limitations. Unfortunately, this isn’t allowed since the income must be ‘earned income’ according to the IRS. But the good news is, his wife can still contribute to his Roth IRA since he is considered a nonworking spouse. Learn the specifics of his question and the answer by listening to this episode of Retirement Answer Man. HSAs are like ‘SuperRoths’ Lynn wrote in to encourage us to discuss HSAs a bit more. This is a great idea since HSAs can be like ‘SuperRoths’. I knew I was missing out on having an HSA so when I was shopping for healthcare plans last year I specifically looked for a healthcare plan that was HSA compliant. With an HSA an individual can contribute $3500 per year and a family can contribute $7100. A great way to use an HSA for retirement healthcare costs There are a few things that make an HSA is so fantastic. The money you put into an HSA is tax-deductible and the money you take out is tax-free. HSAs are also extremely flexible. You can pay your healthcare expenses out of pocket now and save the receipts for reimbursement any time you want to. Listen in to find out how you can use the HSA as a medical expense slush fund and grow it in the long term. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:42] What is focus?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [11:26] Can you still contribute to a Roth IRA with only a 1099R?[13:38] HSA’s in preretirement[18:46] How valuable is 2 months of your life?[22:26] Fire calc and inflation risksTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [29:37] Realize your focusResources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - The Rational Optimist by Matt RidleyFireCalc.comNew Retirement CalculatorRogerWhitney.com/rplRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

November is finally here and Nichole is back! That means it’s time for listener questions. This month is my planning month where I take the time to map out the next year so that I’m not just drifting along. I try to be intentional about where the show is going and where my practice and life are going too. Listen in to hear what’s in store for 2021 on the Retirement Answer Man and find out the answers to several listener questions. How to balance enjoying life now with planning for later A listener, who describes herself as being in the constrained category of retirement readiness, asks how she can balance enjoying her life now with saving for retirement. This is a question that everyone struggles with, even those that are overfunded. We all tend to think of saving for retirement like climbing a mountain. This climb is filled with sacrifice and denial of comfort and pleasure. I argue that we must change our mindset when it comes to retirement. We must stop thinking of retirement as a destination and start enjoying this never-ending journey now. It helps to map out your spending and separate it into 3 categories. Listen in to hear what those categories are and how you can map out your cash flow to make you feel more at ease about retirement. How to decide whether to take the full pension or the pension with survivor benefits One listener is faced with yet another retirement decision. Soon he must decide whether to take a full pension or a lesser amount with survivor benefits. How should one decide what to do? Just like with the previous question, it’s important to build a model first. Map out your cashflow and test it out by using different scenarios. This will give you a good idea of how much you really need to live the life you want. When should my spouse collect Social Security if her benefit is based on mine? Mark and his wife have calculated that she will collect a larger benefit it is based on her husband’s earnings rather than her own. Spousal benefits are 50% of the higher-earning partner. However, the secondary partner can’t claim their benefits until the primary spouse claims theirs. So if the primary beneficiary decides to wait until age 70 to collect their benefit, then the secondary must wait to collect as well. Listen in to discover what the secondary spouse can do in the meantime to start the cash flowing in. Julie is looking for a safe investment for her 5 years of cash reserves Julie wants to have 5 years of cash reserves but would like that large chunk of money to be earning a bit as well. It is hard to find a way to do this right now with interest rates so low. High yielding money market accounts may only yield .5%. CD’s aren’t much better and range between .65% - 1%. Individual bonds also have terrible returns. I do have one suggestion if you don’t mind a bit of complexity and paperwork. Listen in to find out what it is. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [3:06] What is intention?LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH NICHOLE [11:20] How to balance enjoying life now with planning for later[16:46] Deciding whether to take the full pension or the pension with survivor benefits[19:40] When should my spouse collect Social Security if her benefit is based on mine?[23:26] Julie is looking for a safe investment for her 5 years of cash reserves[28:39] How to get a second set of eyes on his portfolio?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [30:47] Look at your investment assets and see if they are giving distribution estimations so you can do some tax planningResources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

What do you do if you lose your job but you’re still not ready to retire? Whether it’s personally, professionally, or financially, if you’re not ready to retire then you’ll have to take action to find new employment. How do you fill that gap between this job loss and retirement? On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we’ll brainstorm some ways that you can take action to find your next job. What happens to you when you lose your job? Losing your job sucks. It never feels good to get pushed in a direction that you aren’t ready to take. It can zap your confidence even if the job loss had nothing to do with your performance. There are several things that happen when you lose your job. You lose your connections. You lose the rhythm of your life. You lose the intellectual challenge. And of course, you lose your income. Losing your job can make it feel like all your dreams have been zapped away. What next? While it’s okay to have feelings of anger, sadness, and remorse, you don’t want to wallow in them. One outlet you can take is to journal. When I’m faced with a difficult situation, I like to get all my feelings out on paper. I essentially yell into the page. This form of release can even help me figure out what my next step will be. If you find yourself floundering and you don’t know what to do next, be sure to listen to episode 346 to discover some first steps to take when you lose your job. It’s important to start to get that forward momentum going so you don’t just sit there shellshocked. Ways to fill the income gap quickly What if you are really strapped for cash and you need income right away? If you don’t have the cash reserves to wait out a lengthy job search there are several ways that you can start earning income quickly. File for unemploymentRegister at temp agencies like Manpower. Declutter your house and sell things on OfferUp or eBay. Deliver groceries or food with UberEats or drive for Uber. Consider a job at Starbucks if you need health benefits.Tutor online or teach English remotelyNone of these are perfect solutions, but they can help you be proactive and gain forward momentum. How do you move forward in your job search? The first step to take in your job search is to update your resume. It may have been a while since you have done so. Here are some tips for resume writing from an experienced HR professional:Look for keywords in the jobs that you want. Listen in to hear why your resume often won’t make it past the screening stage without these keywords.Have a base resume then tweak it to the specific job. Gone are the days when you only have one resume.Review resume examples for the job you want. Make your resume simple and easy to read. Focus on measurable accomplishments. Put the most important information first and only use the last 10 years of your work history in your resume.Use these action verbs to help your resume stand out. Listen in to hear what you should do after you update your resume to help you take action and find your next job. Stick around until the end to hear the Coaches Corner segment with BW to learn about your changing relationships in retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:52] What happens to you when you lose your job unexpectedly?[10:02] Ways to fill the gap quickly [13:08] How do you move forward in your job search?COACHES CORNER WITH BW [20:20] Changing relationships with your spouse[23:40] What can you do to help your relationship?[28:12] Define your roles[31:04] Communication is keyTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [38:47] Pick a couple of ways to take actionResources Mentioned In This Episode 139 Action VerbsEpisode 346 - 5 Things to do When You’re Suddenly RetiredRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

A result of the infamous year 2020 is that companies are looking left and right for ways to cut costs. One way many companies are trimming the fat is by offering early retirement packages to their most experienced team members. There are many questions you should ask yourself if you have received the offer of an early retirement package. Listen in to discover what you need to be thinking about in this situation. Even if you have been planning to retire you may not be ready just yet You may have been considering and planning your retirement for a while now. But even if you are well prepared for that future date, receiving an early retirement offer can still feel like you are being thrown a curveball. You may not feel like you are ready to pack it in just yet. Even after all of your planning, there is an internal struggle. What should you do if you are offered an early retirement package? If you receive an early retirement offer you may have a limited amount of time to make your decision. The first thing you should do is seek counsel. Gather your team together. This should include your spouse and anyone whose opinion you value in these matters. Next, you’ll want to consider how the package can serve you. Will it simply move forward all the things you were planning? Questions to consider before taking the package There are many questions you should consider before coming to a decision. How will this package affect your benefits like pension, life insurance, and your vestedness within the company? How will it affect your healthcare options? Filling the gap between workplace provided health insurance and Medicare is the biggest challenge of early retirement. Listen in to hear all the questions to ask yourself if you are offered an early retirement package. What if you’re still not ready to retire? What should you ask yourself if you say no? Do you want to continue and stay in your role at the company? If you do, what will that look like? Will your job become harder? If you don’t accept the package will that affect workplace politics? Before you come to any decision you need to make sure that you have a feasible plan in place. If you aren’t sure how to create that plan, consider joining the Rock Retirement Club. We have a masterclass where we teach you how to build a plan that is designed just for you. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:07] What should you ask yourself if you receive an early retirement package offer?Q&A SEGMENT [16:08] A question from a listener that received an early buyout package[21:24] A suggestion for a series theme[22:35] How to migrate to a more balanced portfolio[24:20] A bond index questionTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [29:46] Work on your retirement planning projectResources Mentioned In This Episode The Pie Cake episodeThe bond series - Start hereRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

Retirement brings an onslaught of life-changing choices, so one thing you can do to help you rock retirement is to become a better decision-maker. If you are wondering how you can do that, then you’ll want to listen to this interview with Annie Duke. Annie Duke is the author of Thinking in Bets and she just released a new book called How to Decide. She knows that people can improve the quality of their decisions and she’s here to teach us how. Press play to learn how you can make better decisions so that you can rock your retirement. There are 2 things that create a great life There are only 2 things that determine the way your life turns out: luck and the quality of your decisions. You don’t have any control over the luck part, but you do have control over the quality of your decisions. It is important to acknowledge that luck has a role to play in the quality of your life. Once you have come to terms with that then you can focus on improving the quality of your decisions. Decisions are made with incomplete information Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world where you have all the information needed to choose wisely. There are so many unknown factors that affect your choices, so how can you possibly choose correctly? Uncertainty, luck, and imperfect information all impact our decisions. But rather than being paralyzed by these factors, you can use probability to help you. Think about how you can get more information. Most of the time we are making our decisions behind a veil of ignorance. This is why it is so important to ask questions. When you ask you are doing something, you are improving your data set. Gain some information but don’t become overwhelmed with information overload. Set some parameters to help guide you in your decision making. Have you defined your values and goals? Before making any major life choices you’ll want to have a clear understanding of your values and your goals. Having well-defined values and goals can help you choose. Think about how positive or negative results of your decisions will move you toward your goals. Don’t just go with your gut So many people use their guts to make decisions, but the gut is not the right tool to use. You can’t measure it. You want to make sure that you use a process, strategy, and tactics to help you decide. It’s also important to examine your decision making by going back and reflecting on your decisions. Learn why this is so important in this interview with Annie Duke. If listening to this episode wasn’t enough and you want to learn more about making better decisions, then make sure you’re signed up for the 6 Shot Saturday newsletter to receive a free chapter of Annie’s new book, How to Decide. You’ll also get an invite for the webinar taking place on October 29 at 7 pm CDT. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:32] There are 2 things that create a great life[6:02] Are high stakes decisions more important than smaller decisions?[12:50] How we judge decisions[21:37] Don’t just go with your gut[27:40] What hindsight can teach us[33:48] A thought experiment[44:23] Use decision tools to help youTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [48:03] Sign up for 6-Shot Saturday to get a FREE chapter of How to DecideResources Mentioned In This Episode BOOK - How to Decide by Annie DukeBOOK - Thinking in Bets by Annie DukeRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Coronavirus pandemic has brought about so many disruptions to our daily lives. In addition to all the health precautions we must take, many of us have had to deal with job loss as well. Whether it was a furlough, layoff, or early retirement, the results are the same. You used to be working and now you’re not. During this entire month, we will discuss what you can do when you are retired unexpectedly. On this episode, you’ll learn 5 things you can do when you are suddenly retired. What is triage? Triage means assigning priority to projects based on where resources can be best used in order to increase the likelihood of success. We often hear the term triage in medical circumstances, but we can use it with financial situations as well. The first thing to do to triage a situation is to assess where you are. Once you do that you can determine what to do first. When life throws you a curveball triage your state of affairs before reacting. 5 things you need to do if you are pulled into retirement When you receive notice that you’ve been laid off or even if you are offered an early retirement package it can feel like the bottom has dropped out from under you. Before you can figure out your next move you need to give yourself some breathing room to contemplate the change. You can follow these 5 steps to give yourself the structure you need to move forward. Get organized. You need to take stock of your financial life. Understand your spending. How much money do you need each month? Take some time to map out the monthly debts you owe yourself over the next 12 months. This step will help you get back on your feet. Check your liquidity. Next you’ll want to map out your income sources for the year. This will help you figure out the deficit between your expenditures and revenue. This is also a good time to reorganize your financial assets and refresh your net worth statement.Reassess what is important to you. Are your priorities in order? Now is a good time to revisit what those priorities are and to make sure that your life is a reflection of those priorities.Gather your team. Now is the time to seek counsel. Talk to your spouse, your advisor, your CPA, and good friends whose opinion you value. It can be hard to gain perspective from where you sit, so having another opinion can help you see things from a different point of view. Determine what to do first. This is the step that most people get stuck on. There are so many decisions to make that it can be overwhelming. Choose one thing to do first, then move on to the next. Don’t try to do everything all at once. Don’t miss the upcoming webinar! Following these steps can help you take control of your circumstances and ultimately make better decisions. If you have been unexpectedly retired recently you won’t want to miss the webinar on October 29 at 9 pm. Make sure you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter to get your invitation. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [4:06] What is triage?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:10] 5 things you need to do first if you are pushed into unexpected retirement[21:42] Figure out the next version of you[25:20] Join our live webinar on October 29 at 7 pm centralQ&A SEGMENT [26:35] The pros and cons of choosing a certain month to retire[31:02] What to do about an early retirement package?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [36:09] Try being consciously incompetentResources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center