Keen On Retirement

As we discussed earlier this year, 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the IRA and the 20th anniversary of the Roth IRA. For decades, Americans have been using these investment accounts to take control of their retirement planning and provide their families with favorable wealth building vehicles. The Roth in particular has become extremely popular thanks to its tax-free accumulation. And, as more and more seniors are working in retirement, the ability to keep making contributions for as long as you’re earning income is attractive as well.

More and more retirees are doing something very surprising with their nest eggs. Nothing! OK, OK, I’m exaggerating a little bit. After all, cracking open that nest egg you’ve worked so hard for and finding money that will support you through your golden years is definitely a very big something.

At Keen Wealth, we encourage our married clients to participate equally in the financial planning process. One spouse might be the primary breadwinner and the other might keep up the home and raise the kids. Or both spouses may have careers but one still handles all of the financial planning.

A generation or two ago, most folks retired just because they turned 65. Today’s retirement is a bit more complicated than that. Age is still an important factor, but your ability to connect your financial resources to your lifestyle goals is just as important. And that brings us to one of my favorite planning tools – Checklists!

Last week I tried to provide some calm perspective on the recent fluctuations in the markets. Again, in summary: the corrections we’re experiencing right now are perfectly normal, and not nearly as scary as some of the headlines would have you believe.

The US economy passed a major milestone this summer: the longest bull market in history. Starting with the bottom of the market in March of 2009 through August of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 290%, the S&P 500 is up 320%, and the Nasdaq is up 520%. 2018 has also seen more job growth, strong consumer sales and housing numbers, and Apple and Amazon hitting trillion-dollar valuations.