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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.
As much as we caution investors against making knee-jerk reactions to the news, your investments and your long-term planning don’t exist in a vacuum either. That’s why when I attend conferences like the Barron’s Top Independent Advisors Summit or the Schwab Impact Conference, I like to come back with a report that I think will be beneficial to my clients and listeners. It’s just another way that we at Keen Wealth try to give the folks we work with a comprehensive financial-planning experience.
Over the years we have evolved a unique specialization working with Kansas City’s thriving engineering community. And that surprises many folks in our industry! Whenever I discuss that we work with many engineers at financial conferences, our colleagues from around the country think we’re crazy. We hear things like, "They are too detailed," or, "They are too smart," or, “Their standards are way too high.”
I suspect that a month or two from now, your inbox and social media feeds will be full of year-end tax-planning checklists and advice articles. But one of our mantras at Keen Wealth is, “get out ahead of issues as early as we can.” So on today’s show, we help our listeners get a jump on year-end tax planning. If you put off addressing these important items, you’re not just wasting time. You could be losing money.