Keen On Retirement™

In recent months, my two daughters have given me a personal perspective on just how hot and how competitive the real estate market is right now. Both decided to buy homes in the Kansas City area, and both had to make unsuccessful bids on multiple houses before they were able to close on their new homes. The thought that millions of families all over the country are trying to navigate these same issues is quite a turnaround from just a decade ago, when folks were hesitant to buy houses in the shadow of the Great Recession.

Many of my new clients want to know if they have enough money to retire. Once I explain that, at Keen Wealth, we don’t believe folks should be focused on hitting some magic number, the follow-up question is almost always, “OK … But how do my assets compare with other people my age?”

Longtime Keen on Retirement listeners might remember a running gag where Matt Wilson and I would joke with our co-host, Steve Sanduski, about all the bitcoin we suspected he was hoarding. At the time, bitcoin had just emerged from one of its periodic freefalls and was starting to seep back into the general public’s awareness.

When we set our monthly budgets or make a long-term plan for retirement, it's common to separate line items into three categories: needs, wants, and wishes. Then, we do the sensible thing and prioritize our needs. Once the mortgage, car payments, utilities, and grocery bills are covered, we move on to deciding if we can schedule a date night at that new restaurant. Maybe a weekend getaway will have to wait until next month.

A few years ago, I was intrigued by the many news stories I was seeing about the new “tiny homes” helping homeless veterans around Kansas City. I reached out and connected with the Veterans Community Project, and the more I learned, the more impressed I was by the impact that the VCP is having. One number really stood out: over 90% of the veterans whom the VCP work with are able to get back on their feet and reacclimate into society.

Instead of looking for ways to stay "young at heart," this generation of retirees might just end up staying younger, longer. In his book The New Long Life, Professor Andrew Scott of the London Business School argues that the intersection of technology and longevity is going to fundamentally change how all of us approach life. Instead of a traditional three-stage journey from education to work to retirement, folks who stay healthier and more active as they age will have more power to shape and reshape themselves over multiple stages.