Keen On Retirement™

On October 14th, the Social Security Administration announced the highest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 2023: a 3.6% benefit increase for 2027. That's about an additional $900 for an average retiree over the course of next year. Any extra support for retirees is good news. But Social Security's annual COLA announcement is also an annual reminder that there's more to managing retirement than how big your nest egg is. Your cash flow and investments have to account for various fluctuations in the economy to maintain your purchasing power and secure your preferred lifestyle for decades to come. On today's show, we discuss COLA, the latest inflation data, and the distinct roles that interest rates, bonds, and stock returns play in a comprehensive retirement plan.

The leaves are changing. Sweaters are coming out of closets. Ghosts and monsters are popping up in neighborhood yards. And the Social Security Administration is about to announce the cost-of-living adjustment for 2027. That's why October can be one of the spookiest – and most dangerous – months for seniors. Any time the government makes major announcements about Social Security or Medicare, fraudsters spring into action: texts, phone calls, emails, social media messages, "warning" seniors that they need to "activate" their benefits or make an "emergency" transfer to avoid theft. Another group of scammers, knowing that many seniors are preparing for a lonely holiday season, offer false promises of companionship ... "If you can just send money to help me pay the rent this month." The financial toll of these crimes is heartbreaking. According to the FBI, folks 60 and older reported almost $8 billion in losses to scams in 2025 – a 60% increase from the previous year. On today's show, we discuss how fraudsters try to bypass logic by targeting emotions and review some actionable steps you can take to protect yourself from the latest scams.

Housing is one of the biggest line items on just about any retirement budget. Whether you're still paying a mortgage, looking to escalate your payment schedule so you can retire debt-free, or thinking about relocating or buying a vacation home, where you live plays a significant role in how you spend your time, who you spend it with, and what your financial plan looks like. On today's show, we group together some common questions about managing mortgages that we've received from seniors in our Keen on Retirement audience.

Keen on Retirement listener "Joe" is 51 and his wife is 60. They are thinking about an early retirement before either of them turns 65. Joe wrote in asking about the best strategy for coordinating Social Security benefits around that retirement goal. Should they take his wife's benefits now? Delay benefits to keep their income low and make Roth conversions? And since they're both too young to collect Medicare, how will their Social Security benefits affect their Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies? The good news is that Joe and his wife are already thinking about the main topic of today's episode: when you pull one lever on your retirement plan, another piece adjusts. Working with a professional advisor can help you navigate these interconnected decisions with greater clarity and confidence.

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.