Keen On Retirement™

Your life and career haven't progressed in a straight line. Retirement won't either. But that's a misconception, or maybe a hope, that so many folks build into their retirement plans: that, after decades of ups and downs, happy surprises and serious challenges, retirement is going to coast along on autopilot. Hopefully, you have decades of retirement ahead of you. And those years are going to be just as unpredictable as any other period of your life, with one major new variable guaranteed. You won't have a paycheck from employment to rely on. Without the reassurance that more money is coming at the end of the month, too many seniors start making emotional money moves in the moment, whether they're facing a market dip or an unplanned home repair. That's not the kind of adaptability I was describing in part one of this blog series. I'm suggesting that if you view retirement planning as an ongoing process, you should be able to reroute when necessary. And, just as importantly, you'll have a decision-making framework that will help you distinguish between genuine warning sirens and noise you can ignore.

A comprehensive retirement plan usually includes a lot of important documents. Charts and graphs. Monte Carlo simulations. Annual rate of return projections. Lifetime tax liability. Legacy plans. But a comprehensive retirement plan isn't just documents. It's a dynamic framework for making the best possible decisions for you, your family, your money, and your life for decades to come. And as important as the numbers printed in black and white are to that framework, I believe that the true strength of a retirement plan is measured by its durability and by the confidence it gives seniors to live their best lives during their Golden Years.

Are you feeling a little more anxious than usual about your money? Given everything that's happening in the world right now, that's perfectly understandable. What concerns me is the rising number of Americans who say that their money worries are nudging them towards high-risk speculation in crypto, meme stocks, and prediction markets. And what's even more concerning is that folks aren't taking massive money risks just because they want to get rich quick. They're afraid that their peers and some of the bedrock assumptions of our financial system are leaving them behind. Unfortunately, substituting a disciplined financial plan with speculative gambling rarely helps anyone catch up, let alone build wealth to secure retirement. On today's show, we try to ease some of this financial anxiety by answering three listener questions that touch on some very common money fears.

Your phone buzzes with a text message that appears to be from your bank: "Did you authorize a purchase on your debit card at a local apparel shop today? Reply YES if you recognize this. Reply NO if you don't, and a fraud specialist will contact you." You reply, "No." A minute later, your phone rings. The man on the other end is calm, professional, and sympathetic. "I'm from the fraud department. I'm going to help you stop this unauthorized transaction. I sent a six-digit code to your phone. Just read it back to me." You do. He thanks you. The call ends. Minutes later, three transfers leave your bank account. You call your bank and manage to cancel one. But two transfers totaling thousands of dollars are gone permanently. And because you voluntarily provided the man on the phone with that six-digit code, the bank is likely not liable for your loss. This is a hypothetical example of what the FBI calls "takeover fraud." But the reality is that scams like this are targeting more and more seniors every single day. On today's show, we review the latest data from the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report and some best practices that can help keep your money and personal info safe.

A comprehensive financial plan gives you options. Working with a fiduciary advisor gives you a trusted partner who can help you sort through those options and make informed and thoughtful decisions. But what happens if you aren't capable of making decisions for yourself? When assessing potential risk scenarios in a financial plan, cognitive decline and incapacitation are every bit as important as market volatility and liquidity. Maybe even more important. You can always earn more money. You can adjust your spending. The markets, historically, bounce back. But health is a resource that we can't always renew. That's why a secure retirement plan must include a clear, actionable process for protecting you and your assets against these cognitive risks.

You and your spouse have shared so much over the years. Professional ups and downs. Buying a home. The joys and challenges of raising kids. Taking vacations. Caring for your aging parents. Setting and reaching so many financial goals. Through it all, you've always been on the same page. So, why would retirement be any different? Because once you and your spouse stop working, your lives are going to change dramatically – much more, in fact, than many seniors are prepared for. And even if you and your spouse agree on when you're going to retire, you may not agree on what's going to come next. Here’s why retirement is different than other life transitions that you and your spouse have gone through and some important ideas you should discuss as you progress down your retirement runway.