Keen On Retirement

Most retirees know that, once they turn 73 (if born after 1950), they are required by law to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their retirement accounts. But in financial planning, nothing is ever quite that simple. In the past several years, the rules around RMDs have changed in very significant ways. Those changes, other rules around how and when RMDs occur, and changes to the very nature of retirement create complex planning scenarios that affect all retirees in very different ways. To maximize your nest egg, make sure you discuss these lesser-known facts about RMDs with your financial advisor:

Early retirement is a goal that's become a very common plot point in the comprehensive financial plans we put together at Keen Wealth. Young Boomers and older Gen Xers who have the means to stop working or downshift into part-time employment want to enjoy the wealth they've worked so hard for while they're still young enough and able-bodied enough to play their favorite sports, see the world, and spend more quality time with family and friends. But there's much more to early retirement than just hitting a number. Several aspects of your financial plan should be fine-tuned and coordinated to ensure that your nest egg supports today's goals while also ensuring your long-term security in the latter years of retirement. Let's take a look at Keen Wealth's five-point checklist for retiring at 55.

Formulating a one-time, bulletproof financial plan would be incredibly simple if you could supply an advisor with just two pieces of information: exactly how much money you're going to spend every single year in retirement, and your date of death. Absent those two impossible data points, an effective, comprehensive financial plan has to be an ongoing, personalized, and adjustable process, no matter what size your nest egg is. On today's show, we talk through another case study to illustrate how my team at Keen Wealth helps folks plan for a retirement that's much more than just their numbers.

"Robin" is a single mother of two high schoolers. She's 45 and she earns about $350,000 per year. Robin had never worked with a financial advisor before, and one of our clients referred her to Keen Wealth because she was looking for help with streamlining her finances and, hopefully, retiring in nine years. On today's show, we run Robin's case through Keen Wealth's checklist-driven, comprehensive planning process and explain how my team arrived at actionable strategies for achieving that early retirement goal.

When discussing the unique financial challenges that many senior women face, it's important to make clear distinctions between useless stereotypes and scientific facts. As I've written about and discussed frequently on my podcast, there's just no truth to outdated cliches about women needing more help than men when it comes to managing money. And while it may have been more common in decades past for married couples to leave the family's finances to the breadwinning man, that old-fashioned dynamic is rare today. But, according to longevity expert Maddy Dychtwald, it's a fact that women, on average, live six years longer than men. Whatever your marital status is, and however big your nest egg is, women have to be very intentional about how they plan to cover their needs during those extra years. My Keen on Retirement co-host, Steve Sanduski, recently talked to Dychtwald about her new book, Ageless Aging: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan. Their conversation was full of insightful and actionable advice for women who are aiming to live well long into retirement.

Earlier this month, millions of investors and financial professionals around the world turned their attention to Nebraska, where Warren Buffett spoke at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder's meeting. Buffett's tone was a little more somber than usual, as this was the first shareholder's meeting since Charlie Munger's passing at age 99. But, as is usually the case, the news from Berkshire Hathaway was positive: strong earnings for shareholders and $189 billion in cash for the Oracle of Omaha to manage. Succession planning was also an important topic in the 93-year-old Buffett's comments. Over the years, as he's accumulated not just wealth but experience, Buffett has delivered many pithy observations that reflect how his wisdom reaches far beyond the markets. I would encourage seniors to reflect on how these seven quotes apply to not just your financial planning, but how you're planning to live in retirement.