Keen On Retirement

While many of the major changes that come with retirement are personal, married couples have to navigate this life transition together. Even if it's only one spouse dealing with the end of a career, both people are going to experience a significant adjustment period that can put severe strains on finances, health, emotional well-being, and the marriage itself. That's why, at Keen Wealth, we ask married couples to be equal participants in the comprehensive planning process. And as retirement draws near, we encourage spouses to discuss five important topics that they could be overlooking, or worse, avoiding. These aren't always easy conversations to have. But if you put off talking about what retirement is going to be like, you might find yourself facing some unspoken challenges that you could have been preparing to diffuse months, if not years, ahead of time.

You can't go back and tell your college-aged self to load up on Berkshire Hathaway stock. But I do know from experience that wishing you were a little wiser when you were younger doesn't go away as you age. I regularly have conversations with folks in their 70s and 80s who look back not on their 20s or 30s, but on their more recent preretirement years with some couldas, wouldas, and shouldas. Taking heed of this valuable advice in your 50s or 60s might not be the same as receiving guidance from your future self … but it's close!

The joy that we all feel checking off our holiday shopping lists, wrapping gifts, and exchanging presents with loved ones is often accompanied by another feeling: anxiety. Not just from the stress of getting everything done before the parties start, but from worries around money that can pile up this time of year. Some folks just can't look at a pile of presents without seeing price tags -- especially if money is a little tight this year or they're still adjusting to living off a fixed income in retirement. Worse, that anxiety might make you feel like you're doing the holidays "wrong," letting things that don't really matter keep you from enjoying the things that do. But, as we discussed on a recent podcast, finding the right balance between generosity, personal fulfillment, and long-term financial security is an ongoing part of just about every financial plan. Holiday gift-giving just makes us experience that tug-of-war in a more heightened, time-bound way. And if you can use these three strategies to control your holiday giving this year, you can establish a strong foundation for sustained giving going forward.

A new study by financial services company Empower asked 2,203 Americans, 18 and older, how they defined “financial success.” The results reveal some fascinating differences between how generations view their money. But the numbers also show that folks at every stage of their financial journeys share some common goals, worry about some common roadblocks, and have arrived at a common conclusion about the most impactful financial tool at their disposal.

How can a couple that has spent decades building a life head into retirement with such different ideas about how that life will or won't change? Because, even after all those years together, you're still two very different people! Your individual experiences of work, raising kids, managing a home, and pursuing hobbies and other interests may have overlapped. You may have tried to share some responsibilities as close to 50/50 as you could. But ultimately, each person has their own feelings, perspectives, and formative memories that create a uniquely personal retirement vision. At Keen Wealth, we often help couples on the cusp of retirement have discussions about their individual retirement goals so that they can find common ground for a shared retirement blueprint. Answering these four questions could help you and your spouse start to find that same sense of alignment.

The idea that retirees can live off Social Security alone is a bit of a holdover from the old "automatic retirement at 65" days. For the most part, your parents and grandparents weren't thinking about 30 or 40-year retirements, active living into their 70s or 80s, or cycling in and out of the workforce to pursue new challenges and passions. Most -- but not all -- of today's retirees would have a hard time relying solely on their Social Security benefits to cover monthly expenses, especially in the later stages of retirement when health care costs tend to spike. However, just because Social Security has a different place in the retirement equation than it once did, that doesn't mean your benefits aren't still incredibly valuable! If you work hard and plan ahead with your financial advisor, you can utilize these five strategies to boost your benefits, pad your nest egg, and hopefully feel a little more secure about your retirement spending plan.