Retirement Answer Man

Latest Episodes:

Functional Health to Rock Retirement: How to Be a Better Advocate for Your Health May 25, 2022

Show notes

Navigating the healthcare world in this day and age can make your head spin. It is hard to understand what to believe and what not to believe since there are so many voices telling you their interpretation of the facts.

This is why it is important to build a healthcare framework from which to operate. Your healthcare framework will ensure that you get your questions answered so that you can make the best decisions for your health. Building a healthcare decision-making framework is similar to the framework we build for making financial decisions.

Dr. Bobby Dubois joins me again today for the last episode in the Functional Health to Rock Retirement series to discuss how to approach medical problems both conceptually and with your doctor. You won’t want to miss this important conversation, so press play to listen. Building a relationship with your primary care physician can help you feel confident in your healthcare decisions

Whether you are dealing with a small, medium, or large medical problem it is important to ensure that you receive the right care. The right diagnosis leads to the right procedure, but that all begins with ensuring that you have the right healthcare provider.

Many of us don’t have relational currency with our doctors anymore. Gone are the days of the doctor who has treated us and our family for ages. These family doctors have been replaced by the managed care model.

Even if you haven’t been seeing your primary care doctor for long, you can try and build a relationship with them that puts them in the quarterback position of managing your overall health care. Listen in to hear how.

If this isn’t a possibility you may want to look into finding a concierge doctor. Concierge medicine is an emerging industry that may be beneficial to retirees. For an extra yearly fee, these doctors offer personalized care and direct access since they limit their patient load. Use a systematic way to build a healthcare decision-making framework

We all want to embrace life physically for as long as possible; however, at some point in our lives, we are all going to face medical challenges. How you choose to confront those challenges could be critical to overcoming them. This is why it is important to have a framework in place for dealing with health issues. It is important to approach medical problems in a systematic way so that you can organize your decision-making. Building a strong framework starts with asking the right questions

To ensure that you get the right care you must be more than just a passive patient you need to be an active consumer that asks the right questions.

Rather than creating a list of 100 questions, try to boil them down to 2-4 questions. Understand that doctors operate on a tight schedule, so it can be helpful to let them know that you have questions in advance. You can do this by sending them an email or handing your typed questions to the nurse at the beginning of your appointment. This way you are being proactive yet respectful of their time.

After receiving a diagnosis ask your doctor these questions:

How long will it last?
How severe is it?
How resilient am I?

After discussing treatment options you can ask these questions:

Why do I need this (procedure, surgery, medication…)?
What happens if I don’t do it?
Are there alternatives?
What are the risks associated with this treatment?
What is the (out of pocket) cost?
What are the costs of the alternatives?

Asking your doctor, how often do you see this? can help you to decide whether you should get a second opinion.

Remember when putting together your framework for answering questions that a good theory is not evidence. Make sure that there is evidence that the treatment will work. A great question to ask is what is the evidence that supports this theory?

The journey of rocking retirement starts with your feet–take that baby step in the right direction now to continue toward your goal of rocking retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING WITH DR. BOBBY DUBOIS

[4:06] How to approach medical problems with your doctor
[12:25] Ensure that you get the right treatment
[19:43] Questions to ask to build a framework
[25:50] Randomized trials vs observational studies
[31:12] A case study to understand how to talk to your doctor
[40:02] A summary of functional health to rock retirement

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[43:33] How to characterize home equity in planning
[49:27] On using an advisor for money management vs. keeping assets in a 401K

COACHES CORNER WITH KEVIN LYLES

[56:47] 4 questions to consider to

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[1:10:30] Brainstorm a few of these steps to integrate into your life

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Galleri Cancer test
Oura Ring
WHOOP
Dan Miller 48 Days to the Work You Love
BOOK - Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley
BOOK - The Expectation Effect by David Robson
Andy Panko at Tenon Financial
LTCI Partners
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Functional Health to Rock Retirement: Finding the Right Nutrition Plan May 18, 2022

Show notes

All this month we have been discussing functional health so that you can ensure your body works well enough to rock retirement. Last week we learned how finding the right exercise plan can help you stay strong enough to do all the things that you want to do when you retire.

Today, we learn about the opposite side of the functional health coin: nutrition. You probably know that nutrition should be an important part of your overall health plan, but with so many conflicting diets out there how are you supposed to know what you should eat?

Listen in to hear what functional health expert, Dr. Bobby Dubois recommends to maintain proper nutrition in retirement. It’s easy to fall into a nutrition rabbit hole

If you head to the bookstore or ask a question on Google, you’ll quickly realize that there are tons of rabbit holes that you can fall into when it comes to nutrition. How can there be so many different ’right ways’ to eat?

Before starting the cantaloupe diet or another such extreme measure it is important to understand the science that goes into nutrition. Why evidence-based nutrition is important

Many fad diets are based on strong emotions and faux science rather than evidence-based science.

Science is a process by which scientists answer questions. First, they come up with a hypothesis and then design a study to prove or disprove that hypothesis. Next, they test their study.

Just because a scientist may come up with a beautiful theory doesn’t mean that they have any evidence to back it up. For years scientists figured that people with high cholesterol should restrict their cholesterol intake, but science has recently shown that the cholesterol we eat has little effect on the overall cholesterol in our bodies.

Unfortunately, nutrition is a field that has been based on a lot of bad science. It has had plenty of strong theories but little evidence to back up those theories. Scientists all agree that obesity can lead to heart disease

One area of nutrition that scientists can agree upon is that being overweight or obese can lead to heart disease and, ultimately, death. This is why it is important to maintain a healthy weight.

Maintaining a healthy diet can help you stay at a healthy weight and help your body move more easily. Taking control of your diet can give you agency and help you make a change in your life.

Rather than focus on the small details of what you should eat or not eat, it is more important to plan a basic diet. Since every person’s body works differently, a great way to choose the ‘right’ diet is to test it out for yourself. What works for someone else may not work for you. How to construct the ‘right’ nutrition plan

It is important to have some humility when it comes to understanding nutrition. Scientists don’t know as much as they should and no one has the perfect nutrition plan, so you should be skeptical of anyone that claims to have the perfect nutrition plan.

What we do know is that obesity is a big issue. This is why maintaining a balanced diet of ‘real’ foods is important. Try to shop around the rim of the grocery store to avoid the processed foods that lie in the middle.

Next week, you’ll learn more about how to build a functional health framework so that you can rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT WITH DR. BOBBY DUBOIS

[7:10] There are many rabbit holes you can chase surrounding nutrition
[14:13] What to focus on in nutrition
[16:37] How to know what kind of nutrition is good and what’s bad?
[26:58] How the placebo effect can affect diet
[31:28] Having proper weight is important
[41:20] Takeaways

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[44:10] A Windfall elimination program question
[47:20] A retirement regret observation
[50:26] How to prepare a ‘death manual’ for a spouse

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[57:30] Start preparing a nutritional framework using guiding light principles

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
EverPlans
BOOK - Checklist for My Family by Sally Balch Hurme
Dan Miller
BOOK - How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
Boomer Benefits
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Functional Health to Rock Retirement - Creating the Right Exercise Plan May 11, 2022

Show notes

You may think that having saved a nice nest egg and having a purpose will ensure that you are all set to rock retirement. Unfortunately, you need to think again. Without functional health, you may not be able to enjoy your retirement savings and purpose.

Creating a specified exercise plan can ensure that you develop the functional health necessary to do all the things you want to do so that you can rock retirement. Listen to this episode with Dr. Bobby Dubois to learn how to cultivate an exercise plan that will help you accomplish your goals. Don’t let the economy derail your retirement plan

Watching the news these days can derail your confidence in rocking retirement. A combination of continued inflation, rising interest rates, and falling stock prices are downright scary when you’re in or approaching retirement. Uncertainty is not something that pairs well with carefully thought-out retirement plans.

Some of us think that more data will help us better our plan for the future. However, no one knows what the future holds. Is this all just a blip on the economic radar or is it the start of something bigger?

The only thing that remains consistent over time is our values. We can use our values as a guiding light to help us make decisions–especially when everything else is so unpredictable. Basing your decision-making on your values will help you stay agile and apply the protocols you have laid out that will see you through troubling times. Your values are the key to bolstering your confidence in your plan so that you can relax and rock retirement. Why is exercise important to retirement?

You already know that you have to have financial means and meaning to rock retirement, but you won’t be able to enjoy either of these things if you don’t have the ability to do everything you want to do in retirement.

Your body changes as you age. It starts to deteriorate and that deterioration is noticeable in the blood vessels, bones, and muscles. The depressing reality is that you are fighting a losing battle with your muscle mass. However, you can get ahead of this decline with exercise.

Many people are familiar with the concept of doing crosswords and puzzles to keep their minds agile and you can use exercise much in the same way. By starting the aging process with more muscle strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance you will be ahead of the game once mother nature kicks in. Regular exercise protects your body and makes it more resilient so that you can maintain function as you age. Steps to take to form your exercise plan so that you can rock retirement

Developing the right exercise plan starts with envisioning where you want to be in 10-20 years. Think about what you want to be able to do in the future so that you can understand the body that you will need. Consider the muscle groups, strength, balance, and aerobic stamina you will need. Next, analyze what kind of exercise you are doing now to help you reach this goal. Lastly, consider how you can fill in the gaps and start working on the specific movements that will help you achieve your goals. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT WITH DR. BOBBY DUBOIS

[9:25] Why is exercise important to retirement?
[18:44] Think about where you want to be in 10-20 years
[24:44] Generic exercise helps improve the length of life
[32:05] Balance is an important area to work on
[33:55] How intensely should you focus on this?
[36:13] How to factor in limitations to our exercise plan
[39:20] Anaerobic strength requires a different set of muscles
[42:42] Steps to take to form your exercise plan to rock retirement

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[45:09] You can withdraw your Roth contributions any time without penalty
[47:14] Questions to ask your financial planner as you approach retirement
[58:09] My thoughts on the pros and cons of closed-end mutual funds

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[1:12:45] Evaluate your exercise regimen

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Don’t miss out on the live webinar on May 19! Register at LiveWithRoger.com
Anna Greenberg Yoga
LTCI Partners
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Work with Roger
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Functional Health in Retirement: What Is Functional Health? May 04, 2022

Show notes

Purpose and finances are two important legs of the retirement stool; however, a stool needs 3 legs. Finances and dreams don’t mean anything if you can’t function well enough to enjoy them.

The often-overlooked leg of the retirement stool is functional health–which is why this month we are focusing all 4 episodes on how to improve your functional health in retirement.

Since I am not a health expert, I have invited Dr. Bobby Dubois to join me for this relevant discussion. This week Bobby helps me define exactly what functional health is and why it is important to retirement. In week two we’ll explore exercise and movement followed by week three’s examination of nutrition.

On the last episode of this series, you’ll learn how to create your own functional health plan to help you navigate this essential part of your retirement plan. Press play to learn how important functional health is in retirement. What is functional health?

We have seen a tremendous increase in longevity over the past 50 years. Now, it is not uncommon for people to live 90+ years. While longevity gives people quantity of life, functional health gives quality of life. Without investing in your functional health you will live longer but your life will suck more.

When you are young you can do anything–play a round of pick-up basketball, hike up a mountain, or paint your house. But as you age you quickly learn that you aren’t in shape for everything anymore. Since you lose 1-2% of your muscle mass each year starting in your 30s, by the time you reach your 60s you may not be able to do these same activities with ease.

The happiest retirees are those that have a high quality of life and the ability to do the things they want to do. Functional health doesn’t train you to run marathons or win bike races–unless those are goals that you have for your retirement. Instead, functional health can help ensure that you can pick up your grandkids, lift carry-on luggage over your head and into the compartment, or climb ancient cobblestone steps in Europe. How to set up a framework for functional health

The best part of functional health is that you have control over how healthy you want to be. Setting up a functional health framework is much like the rest of retirement planning. You will begin with the end in mind. Who do you want to be in your last decade of life? What do you want to be doing when you are 90? Do you still want to be able to golf or hike? Or do you just want to be able to make it to the bathroom by yourself? Whatever your goal is, start from there.

Be precise in setting your goals and creating your plan. Just like with a financial retirement plan, you’ll want to personalize your plan based on your goals. Traditional advice, like working out 30 minutes a day 3 days a week or walking 10,000 steps, isn’t the way to achieve your functional health goals. A one size fits all plan won’t work for your health plan just like it won’t work for your retirement plan.

Next week, we’ll explore ways that you can use exercise and body movement to achieve your functional health goals. If you have a question or thought regarding functional health respond to the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter or hit the Ask Roger button at RogerWhitney.com to leave a voicemail question. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING WITH DR. BOBBY DUBOIS

[4:56] Why Dr. Dubois volunteered to discuss functional health on the show
[9:54] You have to put money in your physical bank to enjoy the life you want to live
[13:05] What is important to physical health?
[15:34] What is functional health?
[19:07] How to set up a framework for functional health

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[28:18] When to convert from tax-deferred accounts to Roth
[34:45] An SIPC protection question
[37:45] Use the Social Security detailed calculator to personalize your earnings
[40:07] To pay or not to pay off the mortgage

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[44:37] Think about how well rounded your health regimen is

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Register for the live webinar on May 19 at LiveWithRoger.com
Boomer Benefits
Social Security detailed calculator
Episode 407 - Retirement Planning Guidebook With Wade Pfau
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 I Inflation Proof My Retirement? Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

Does inflation have you worried about retirement? If so, you’re not alone. A couple of listeners are looking for ways to inflation-proof their retirement. Can you inflation-proof your retirement?

I’ll answer these questions and many more on this episode of Retirement Answer Man. But before we get to our current listener questions we’ll take a look back at a question that was asked earlier this month. I asked you all to help me answer it and today you’ll hear the responses. Listeners’ responses to Wendy’s question

On episode 429, Wendy asked for my thoughts on increasing her savings with the goal of retiring early or whether she and her husband should enjoy life now and travel more given her husband’s recent bout with cancer. After giving my thoughts on the matter, I turned the question over to all of you and I received many responses.

One listener remarked that their 1 million dollar savings wouldn’t be enough to fund an early retirement when considering long-term care and health costs.

Another listener, Craig, retired early at 62 and regrets not working longer. He feels bored and wishes that he had worked longer while slowing his savings rate.

Joe took 3 months off of work, then started back to work part-time. He reminds us that we don’t have to choose between work and retirement. By working a flexible or limited schedule you can take advantage of pretirement and enjoy the best of both worlds. Retirement doesn’t have to be binary. Retirement isn’t about getting to a date–it’s about making the most of the time you have.

Kate retired at 56 and is bored. She advises planning how you will create your new life and spend your time in retirement. Choices don’t have to be black and white–find a way to work with the grey areas

While Wendy’s question was posed as a choice between two options, it is important to remember that you can go back and forth between the two. Things don’t have to be black and white. You can increase your savings a bit while increasing travel and living life to its fullest now. Don’t wait until retirement to enjoy life since no one is promised tomorrow. We must all live for today while doing our best to make the most out of tomorrow.

Listen in to hear Kevin Lyle’s ideas on how to blend work into your retirement plans. Can you inflation-proof retirement?

Since inflation has continued to rise more and more people are looking for ways to inflation-proof their retirement. Dave is looking at taking a mortgage on his house so that he can buy rental properties and another listener is curious about using gold as an inflation hedge.

A couple of months ago we did a month-long series on inflation in retirement. You can start the first episode of the series here. In episode 423 we explored several inflation-fighting tactics you can use to enhance your retirement strategy. Some of those were I bonds, TIPS, money market funds, and utilizing debt instead of cash to make large purchases.

It is important to understand that no retirement plan is inflation-proof. What you can do is ensure that you have a sound retirement strategy in place before rushing into any major decisions. Walkthrough your process and see how the choices align with your values and fit into your retirement plan. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[3:40] Looking back at your responses to Wendy’s question from earlier this month

LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH KEVIN LYLES

[11:27] A blended retirement question

LISTENER QUESTIONS WITH NICHOLE

[20:44] Should Dave take on a mortgage to buy rental properties?
[24:30] Is gold a good way to fight inflation?
[27:55] The 5-year rule and opening of 2 separate Roth IRAs
[29:41] Moving a 401K to a Roth IRA before retirement
[31:43] Should Roy liquidate his stock options into cash and buy a 2nd home?
[35:55] A rule of 55 question
[39:03] Sally wants to consolidate accounts and buy crypto how should she do that/

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[44:26] When trying to decide how to balance life today with saving for tomorrow remember that tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Don’t miss the live webinar on May 19!
Episode 423 - What Investments Help Protect Me from Inflation?
LTCI Partners
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Work with Roger
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Are Interest Rate-Hedged ETFs a Good Investment Right Now? Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

Today we are continuing our month-long series of listener questions. On this episode, you’ll hear questions about Roth conversions, interest rate-hedged ETFs, pension payments, and the value of dividends as a source of income in retirement. If you are ready to gain the wisdom that you need to rock retirement, press play now. Time to pull out your May calendars

Next month we will be focusing on functional health in retirement. You’ll learn what you can do now to get your body in the right place so that you can do all the things that you have dreamed of in retirement. You won’t want to miss the interview we have lined up with a functional health expert, so be on the lookout for this series coming up in May.

While you’re planning what to listen to in May, mark your calendar for May 19 at 7 pm CDT for our live webinar. During this interactive session, we’ll be chatting about the market and inflation, I’ll answer some retirement questions, and we’ll discuss the Rock Retirement Club’s open enrollment of the spring 2022 cohort.

In this live webinar, you’ll learn more about our inclusive online community of more than 800 members where you can create your financial plan, take masterclasses, and attend online meetups on financial and non-financial topics. If you are looking for a way to meet new, like-minded people in the same situation as you and supercharge your retirement, don’t miss out on the May webinar to hear more about the Rock Retirement Club. How to calculate a pension on a net worth statement

One listener has a question regarding pensions on their net worth statement. A net worth statement is a financial statement that lists your assets in one column and liabilities in another. By subtracting your liabilities from your assets you can calculate your net worth.

Up until now he has included the lump sum of his wife’s pension in the assets column, but she will soon start collecting her monthly pension, so he no longer knows where to calculate the pension.

Once you start collecting your monthly pension, you no longer have an asset. Instead what you have is social capital–similar to your Social Security benefit. Social capital doesn’t belong on a net worth statement; rather, it can be included on a household balance sheet. We use household balance sheets in the Rock Retirement Club when calculating projected retirement budgets. Are interest rate-hedged ETFs a good idea?

Interest rate-hedged ETFs trade like stocks and hold like bonds. However, rather than being organic financial products, interest rate-hedged ETFs use derivatives to hedge price movements as interest rates rise.

While these ETFs are a great idea, in theory, one problem is that much of your cost in buying these funds goes to the derivatives. Since these ETFs are manufactured and don’t naturally occur, they can be quite costly. Try to avoid these synthetic tools in your investments.

Instead of using interest rate-hedged ETFs, you can look at purchasing TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) or I bonds. Another way to achieve the same goal is to build a bond ladder. Listen in to hear how a bond ladder works to see if that would be a good solution to building the bond portion of your pie cake. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[2:47] My recent win
[4:46] My morning routine

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[7:52] Calculating a net worth statement
[10:45] Are interest rate-hedged ETFs a good idea?
[15:40] Where to put a lump sum payment so that you wouldn’t have to pay the taxes all at once
[17:35] Does the 5-year rule apply in a backdoor conversion?
[20:12] The value of dividends as a source of income in retirement

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[24:20] Write it out – Today is the day…

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
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 RMDs Work for Married Couples? Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

This is a fantastic time to enjoy a pretirement tailwind. If you have ever considered using pretirement as a gateway into full retirement, the job market is desperately searching for experienced talent. Listen in to discover how this cultural shift in the workplace could benefit your retirement plans.

On this episode, you’ll also hear the answers to a number of questions from listeners like you. If you are worried about how to shift from saving to spending, wondering how to plan for taxes in retirement, or how RMDs work for married couples then make sure to press play to hear the answers to these questions. Retirement is not binary

Traditionally, retirement is considered to be the opposite of working. You work 40 years or so then one day you stop and retire. However, in today’s world, this does not have to be the case.

There are plenty of ways that people can incorporate a pretirement phase before retiring fully. I like to call part-time work, consulting, or working a flexible schedule before full retirement pretirement. Pretirement can be a great way to ease into retirement while still benefiting from staying engaged in the working world. Companies are more flexible than ever before

The pandemic reframed the way people work. Companies experimented with remote work and flexible schedules and many corporations that tried to reinstate traditional office work ended up seeing pushback from employees.

This shift has created a talent shortage in many fields which has led to a desperate need for qualified, accomplished individuals to fill various positions. Since corporations are struggling in their search for skilled labor, many are rethinking their cultural rigidness and becoming more flexible.

Many companies have realized that employees can be just as productive or even more so by working from home or on a flexible schedule. This corporate cultural shift has led to a huge opportunity for those that are seeking alternatives to traditional retirement. How to explore pretirement

If you have been considering retirement, but aren’t sure if you are ready, consider exploring the boundaries with your current employer. You may be able to negotiate a 3 day a week schedule or a 100% remote position.

If you have already retired and would like to enjoy the stimulation of working without the limitations of a full-time schedule, now is a great time to cash in on your career capital by reaching out to your network to explore your options.

You may discover the right part-time, consulting, or contract position that allows you the time freedom of retirement while enjoying the mental stimulation and income of the working world. How to go from being a saver to becoming a spender?

Since you have been saving for retirement your entire working career, making the transition to spending that savings takes a huge shift in mindset. One reason for this is the money scripts that we have ingrained in our minds since childhood. Money scripts are the stories we tell ourselves about money. Changing your money scripts will not happen overnight.

In retirement, you will have to transition from saving to spending, but this isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. It is a process that you will slowly become comfortable with as you ease into your new life. It will take time, but slowly you will lean into the changes in your life and you will become comfortable with your new life rhythm. Listen in to hear how you can make the shift in mindset from a saver to a spender. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[1:30] Enjoy the pretirement tailwind

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[7:08] How to go from being a saver to becoming a spender
[12:55] Why Bob is lamenting being born in 1960
[15:41] How to access a solo 401K plan
[17:56] Deciding whether to keep a group universal life plan after retiring
[21:10] How to include taxes as future liabilities
[24:33] RMDs for married couples

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[25:27] Reframe the idea that retirement is binary

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
LTCI Partners
BOOK - So Good They Can’t Ignore You by 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

Should I Retire Earlier if I Have Health Issues? And More Listener Questions Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

Making retirement decisions brings plenty of questions and over the next month, I’ll be tackling your retirement questions. While I love answering your questions, I also enjoy hearing your thoughts. In today’s episode, there are a couple of questions that I’d love to hear your feedback on. If you have any thoughts to share with other listeners please respond to the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter. If you’re not signed up, head on over to RogerWhitney.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page to get weekly tips, news, and resources in your inbox every Saturday morning. Deciding to spend large sums of money in retirement can be unnerving

Early on in retirement is when people want to have the most fun, but it can also be the most daunting time to spend money. Even if the numbers say that you’ll be ok financially, you can never be certain if you may need that cash when you’re 90. Making the decision to spend large amounts of money in retirement can be daunting.

I got to thinking about decision-making recently when I wrote the biggest check I have ever written. This check will (hopefully) be an investment in my business, but it was still a difficult decision to make that took a lot of thought and counsel from others. How I employ my own decision-making tactics

I actually practiced what I preached and used the same decision-making process that I teach on the show. I started with my vision by projecting where I want to be in the future. I thought about how this decision fits into my long-term goals for myself and my company. Then, I got to thinking about the result that I hoped for as well as the worst-case scenario. I seek the counsel of others

Since I know I have blind spots in my own decision-making when it comes to myself and my business, I enlisted the help of others to bounce my ideas off of. I started with my wife, Shawna, then sought counsel from Nichole, and others that understand my situation. I encouraged them to challenge my assumptions and poke at my blind spots. We walked through alternatives and discussed opportunity costs. Ultimately, it was up to me to make the judgment call. I won’t know for quite some time whether I made the right decision, however, I know that the process that I used to make this decision was sound. With the right process, you can be secure in your decision making

I share this with you, because you may be wondering if you should spend $30,000 to take an epic family trip next year, buy that vacation home, or RV across the country. The memories you create may be well worth the money, but you won’t know if you made the right choice until you reach the end of the road. Nobody can tell you what the correct decision will be for you, but if you work through your decision in an organized way starting with your vision then you’ll know that you made the best decision that you could.

Speaking of big decisions, Wendy is trying to decide whether to increase her savings now that she and her husband will be empty nesters. Or should they continue to save for retirement at the same rate while taking time to travel and enjoy more of life now while they are both still healthy? Listen in to hear the details of her situation and then let her know what you think by responding in our 6-Shot Saturday newsletter. What would you do if you were in her shoes? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[1:32] My process as I work through a big decision

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[11:05] Daniel’s comment on needs, wants, and wishes and my response
[14:22] A consideration on relocating in retirement
[17:10] Travel now or increase savings and retire early?
[20:50] Bond accrual structural strategy
[22:24] A Roth conversion question
[26:06] On retirement regret

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[31:46] Check out our decision-making worksheet in 6-Shot Saturday

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Boomer Benefits
PODCAST - Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Episode 402 - The Tax Toolbox with Andy Panko
Episode 416 - Retirement Plan Live: Why We Moved
Episode 426 - How to Plan Your Agile Retirement: A Feasible Retirement Strategy
BOOK - Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections by John Wooden
BOOK - Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
BOOK - So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
BOOK - Unstoppable Teams by Alden Mills
BOOK - Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
BOOK - The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
BOOK - How to Decide by Annie Duke
BOOK - Grit by Angela Duckworth
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Work with Roger
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

How to Plan Your Agile Retirement: Stage 4 - Optimize & Establish Your Plan of Record Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ike is reminding us that the plan is not as important as the process. It is the practice of planning that is critical to success. You’ll never have everything figured out since the perfect retirement plan doesn’t exist, but by planning and staying agile you will be able to correct your course along the way.

This month we have gone from theory to practice to mastery. On this episode of the Retirement Answer Man show, you’ll learn how to optimize your feasible, resilient plan so that you can rock retirement. Have a feasible, resilient plan in place before trying to optimize

Most retirement planning blogs and articles focus on optimization since optimizing retirement plans is the bling of financial planning.

However, without first having an inspiring goal for your retirement, you wouldn’t have the hope of rocking retirement. It is important to start with a goal at the beginning to ensure that you build a feasible, resilient plan before trying to optimize your retirement plan. Remember that you create a retirement plan to help you focus on achieving the life outcomes that you have envisioned for yourself in retirement not to find the best Roth conversion strategy or qualify for ACA credits. Retirement tax planning is the best way to optimize your retirement plan

There are so many ways that you can optimize your retirement plan that it can end up being an infinite pool of possibilities. So you may be wondering what the best way to enhance your retirement journey is. The biggest way you can optimize your retirement journey is through tax management.

In retirement, you have more control over your taxes than at any other time in your life. This means that instead of planning your taxes from year to year, you now have the capability to plan for lifetime tax savings. Retirement tax management is not about avoiding taxes, instead, it's about timing your taxes

You can plan your withdrawal strategy to optimize for taxes not just for this year but in the future as well. By forecasting your tax rate over the next 5-8 years using a traditional withdrawal approach you can gain an idea of what your RMDs will be once you turn 72.

From there you can work backward to see if it would make more sense to do Roth conversions and pay more in taxes now so that you don’t have to withdraw so much later on in life. Listen in to hear how working backward can ensure that you focus on where you are going rather than where you are now. Timing your Social Security benefit is another way to optimize your retirement plan

Social Security timing is another area that is important to think through in an organized way. Once you understand your withdrawal strategy then you can analyze where your Social Security benefits fall into your pie cake structure. Establish a retirement plan of record

Once again it is important to start with the end in mind. As you revise your retirement plan it is important to create an abstract with a summary of all the decisions you have made so that you can have a log of how everything plays out within the context of your thinking. This method will give you the framework to see how your decisions fit together over time.

Every 6 months you’ll want to revisit your plan and ask yourself what has changed. Are your goals still the same? If not, then you can realign as needed. By revisiting your plan you can focus on the risks and opportunities that lie ahead. Try to set action items that focus on 1 or 2 of these risks and opportunities. This will give you an inspiring goal to work toward, the agency to achieve it, as well as the confidence to rock retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[5:53] What can you do to enhance this journey?
[6:12] Tax management is the biggest thing you can optimize
[14:42] Should you try to get ACA healthcare subsidies?
[16:21] Take a look at Social Security
[20:55] The little conversations

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[23:37] Why should you use your house on your net worth statement?
[25:46] On using the strategic assumption of no inflation
[28:17] A Social Security timing question
[30:08] An observation on inflation
[33:23] Using caveats on Roth conversions
[36:34] How to report decreased income to Medicare

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

[41:04] Map out the process that you want to take to walk through your strategy in a fresh way

Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Form SSA-44
Episode 402 with Andy Panko - The Retirement Tax Toolbox
LTCI Partners
Rock Retirement Club
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
Work with Roger
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

How to Plan Your Agile Retirement: Stage 3 - Make Your Strategy Resilient Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Now that you have come up with a retirement vision and learned to create a retirement plan that reflects your vision it’s time to make your plan agile. On this episode, you’ll learn why you need to have an agile retirement plan and how to make your plan resilient to the unexpected forces that could derail your retirement plans. Make sure to stick around until the end of the episode to hear BW talk about why it’s so important to master the fundamentals of retirement planning. Don’t get overwhelmed by retirement planning

Over fast few months I’ve been working with a project manager to create an SOP (standard operating procedure) for Agile Retirement Management. This is such a huge project and it can be easy to get overwhelmed. But just like planning your own retirement can be complicated and overwhelming when you break the giant project into smaller actionable steps, it becomes more manageable. Walking through baby steps one by one takes away a bit of the overwhelm that can come with such a grand project. Creating a resilient plan will help you prepare for the unexpected

In the last episode, you learned how to turn your retirement vision into a feasible plan. But just like with any plan, it can be easy to knock your retirement plan off course. This is why it is important to create a resilient plan. Incorporating resiliency into your plan will help you to prepare for the unexpected. What could knock you off course on your retirement journey?

There are many things that could derail your retirement. Sequence of return risk is one. The markets don’t provide the same returns each year and these ups and downs can greatly affect your retirement–especially if there are a few bad years at the beginning of retirement. Those bad years could easily knock your retirement plans off course.

Inflation is another issue. As we discussed all last month, inflation over time can put a dent in your purchasing power.

Unplanned life events have a way of sneaking up and catching us off guard. Illness, death, long-term care events, or children in need are further events that could impact your retirement plan.

The most common disruption of retirement plans is you. You may simply change your mind. Since you are always changing your needs, wants, and wishes change over time.

Listen in to hear how you can make your retirement resilient against all of these bumps in your retirement road. How to develop slack in your retirement plan

It is important to have slack built into your system. Similar to the way that a very taut rope may break if you try to adjust it, we need to ensure that there is a bit of slack in the line of your retirement plan so that you can ensure that your desired life outcomes are feasible. When you press play you’ll hear how building a pie-cake can help you create slack in your retirement plan. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[3:08] You don’t need to get overwhelmed by retirement planning
[5:05] You need to create a resilient plan to prepare for the unexpected
[7:10] Why you need slack in your retirement plan
[12:12] The difference between the return on your money and return of your money
[14:32] How to build resilience into your retirement plan
[25:27] How the pie cake can help you build resiliency in your plan

COACHES CORNER WITH BW