Keen On Retirement

There's an old joke among financial advisors that part of our job is to help new retirees get comfortable taking more "SKI" Trips -- meaning, "Spend the Kids' Inheritance!" Many seniors who have worked hard and committed to a comprehensive financial plan retire with more money than they've ever had in their lives. We want those folks to feel safe and secure about their finances as they head into their Golden Years. But we also want them to have fun, pursue their passions, and explore opportunities for growth. To accomplish both goals -- security and enjoyment -- retirees should be aware that it can be difficult to shift from a savings mentality to an “it’s ok to spend even though I’m not receiving earned income anymore” mindset. My team at Keen Wealth focuses our spending conversations with retirees on these four important points.

If you go back and skim the 200-plus episodes we've recorded of Keen on Retirement, you'll notice that every year or so, we devote an episode to the latest financial frauds and scams that are making the rounds. Especially as we head into tax season, it's important that folks remember the IRS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Social Security Administration are never, ever going to call you and ask for your banking info. We also regularly caution folks against clicking on suspicious emails or text message links, or making investments that seem too good to be true with the Bernie Madoffs of the world. On today's show, we talk about another type of financial "fraud" that's perfectly legal but potentially just as dangerous to your financial security: taking bad advice from unaccredited financial commentators and celebrities trying to further their own best interests, not yours.

According to a recent Charles Schwab survey, U.S. workers believe they'll need around $2 million to retire. Using the old 4% Rule for some back-of-the-napkin math, those retirees are expecting to withdraw about $80,000 their first year in retirement, with future withdrawals going up or down from there based on how much annual savings and investment returns replenish their assets. We also know in most cases there will be other income sources like social security or pension income. So, is $80,000 per year from your investment portfolio, give or take, enough to live on in retirement? That's a much more complicated question to answer than some folks realize. So many factors that affect retirement planning are in a state of constant flux – most of all, your life. A financial plan that's built around static numbers might not be able to adjust how and when you need it to. Let's talk about some of the variables that factor into Keen Wealth's comprehensive planning process and try to arrive at a more thorough analysis of a $2 million nest egg goal.

The comprehensive financial plans we design at Keen Wealth factor in every piece of available information to help folks plan for what we know is coming and prepare for the unexpected. While recent events at home and abroad are raising some new questions, we did learn some important answers last week that will help folks get ready for 2024. On today's show, we discuss listener questions about Social Security, Medicare, Ukraine and Israel, and year-end financial planning.

It's worth celebrating just about any time our leaders on both sides of the political aisle can meet in the middle. But seniors in Kansas City, MO should all be smiling now that, starting in 2024, they’ll get to enjoy a little bit more of their Social Security benefits. Thanks to a broadly bipartisan vote, Missouri is set to become the 39th state to make Social Security payments exempt from state taxes. Of course, that also means many folks in our audience will have to factor in a new variable when they're deciding when to take Social Security. Luckily, Matt Wilson, Keen Wealth's Chief Investment Officer and President, recently hosted a comprehensive webinar on Maximizing Social Security Benefits that you can rewatch on our website. Today, we're going to discuss some follow-up questions Matt received from attendees.

On today's show, we answer a request from a Keen on Retirement listener who's been reading Garrett B. Gunderson's popular book "Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity." You might have seen some of Gunderson's thoughts about alternative financial strategies passed around online, especially among folks who are skeptical about the markets and the government's role in economic policy. But while there's certainly no one way to create a financial plan, most investors who steer clear of "sacred cows" like investing in a diversified portfolio and funding their retirement accounts could be killing their chances of a secure retirement. Below are several of the points we discuss.

Today marks the third time I've had the honor to welcome retired FBI Special Agent Jeff Lanza to our podcast. In his 20-plus-year career, Jeff investigated cybercrime, fraud, organized crime, human trafficking, and terrorism. Jeff is now a regular on TV news, including CNBC, the Fox News Channel, "The Today Show," and "Good Morning America." He's the author of two books and has spoken around the globe and in 49 states, including lecturing at Princeton and Harvard University. On this episode, Jeff offers several actionable steps that folks can take to secure their online info and steer clear of the latest scams.

As we head into the summer vacation season, one item that's high on many travelers’ wish lists is value. With the pandemic finally in the rearview mirror, high demand for travel is driving up costs. Additionally, the markets are still recovering, and consumer prices and inflation are still above average. That's enough to make even affluent retirees nervous about spending money on entertainment and leisure while nervous about their long-term security.

It's clear from our latest batch of listener questions that the Keen on Retirement audience has been paying attention to how recent legislation is affecting retirement planning. But today's episode should also clarify just how challenging it can be for folks to find the answers they need when so many details keep changing. My team at Keen Wealth doesn't just dig into the fine print: we understand how to apply these rules to individual financial scenarios and create appropriate outcomes for folks in retirement.

Planning a vacation is often a balancing act between quality and quantity. But retirees who opt for slow travel may not have to make that choice. Rather than rushing from one attraction to the next, slow travel lets you really immerse yourself in your destination and get the most from two valuable retirement resources: your money and your time. Here are three reasons retirees should consider adding some extra days, or even weeks, to your next travel itinerary.

When our leaders in Washington passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act in 2019, it marked a major change in retirement planning. In a sense, the government was codifying advice that many financial advisors -- including my team at Keen Wealth -- had been giving for years. The next generation of retirees is going to live longer, with more active lives than any before it. Very few younger workers are going to stay at the same company for decades and earn generous pensions. Very few older workers will automatically retire at 65. And for most folks, Social Security alone will not fund a safe, secure, and rewarding retirement.

Because of the strong ties that Keen Wealth has established with metro Kansas City’s thriving engineering community, we’ve gained real appreciation for the power of employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs. The Harvard Business Review study shows that companies that implement this unique structure dramatically improve their performance by empowering their workers to think and act like owners. ESOPs can also improve workforce retention, which is a boon for both young workers seeking career stability and companies that are battling for talent in a tight labor market.

Thanks to the tremendous support of the Keen Wealth community, our podcast audience, and readers of our blog, I'm thrilled to announce that that the 2nd Edition of Keen on Retirement: Engineering The Second Half Of Your Life has hit Amazon's best-seller list! I think one of the reasons that folks have connected with the book is that I try to present up-to-date information on things like the SECURE Act and Medicare with an eye towards the big picture. And I think maintaining that wider perspective in your financial planning has only become more important since I published the 1st Edition of the book in 2019. The pandemic accelerated so many things in our society, from how we connect and communicate to how our government thinks about retirement. If you aren't working with an advisor and following a comprehensive financial plan, it's very easy to let the news of the day or the hot get-rich-quick pitch lead you off the path towards a safe, secure, and fulfilling retirement. On today's show, we talk about some of the additions I made to the 2nd Edition of my book. I sincerely hope that this new material and our discussion broadens your own perspective and helps you maintain focus on sound financial planning principles.

The numbers are finally out! And that means, if you haven't already started, it's time to get serious about working with your advisor to update your financial plan for 2023. On today's show, we discuss the changes coming to your Social Security and Medicare benefits next year, as well as an important clarification on the rules for inheriting IRAs that could impact how you and your family members think about legacy and tax planning.

On our last episode, we ran through the changes to Medicare and Social Security that will affect seniors' benefits next year. Today, we're going to complete our 2023 planning picture by discussing tax brackets and contribution limits for retirement accounts. We also examine whether or not gold and real estate should factor into your financial planning given the current levels of inflation.

We received very enthusiastic responses from folks who attended our recent webinar, Maximizing Social Security Benefits. As always, Matt Wilson, Keen Wealth's President and Chief Investment Officer, did an outstanding job of presenting up-to-the-minute information explaining some strategies for integrating Social Security into a comprehensive financial plan.

As the calendar flips over to Fall, our checklist-driven process at Keen Wealth brings my team to some important action items to help folks prep for the year ahead. In particular, we want to make sure retirees are getting ready to review their Medicare coverage during the upcoming Open Enrollment period in November. And we're also waiting for the Social Security Administration to announce its benefit changes for 2023.

"Ben" and "Shirley" are 62 years old and married. Shirley retired at the beginning of 2022. Ben is still working, earning $130,000 per year and taking home about $7,000 every month. If Ben retired right now, he'd be eligible for $24,000 per year in Social Security; Shirley could collect $20,000. Ben has a 401(k) worth $1.1 million; Shirley's 401(k) is worth $300,000. They have $45,000 in Roth IRA accounts and $50,000 spread across their checking and savings. Their home is worth $400,000. In 2021, they refinanced the $100,000 balance on their mortgage for 30 years at 2.75%. They have $500,000 in life insurance coverage on Ben, and they're paying $13,000 a year in annual premiums. In part, they're paying those premiums because they have a special needs son, and Ben recently had a stent put in. At Keen Wealth, we call these financial details a person or couple's "case facts." And on today's show, we use these facts to help this couple answer the number one question on their minds, and on the minds of many of our listeners: If "Ben" retires this year, will they be able to replace the $7,000 post-tax income they have been living on and ultimately – will they be OK?

These are just some of the questions that we've been fielding about the IRA at Keen Wealth. On today's show, we answer these questions and discuss five major bullet points about the new law.

As we discuss on today's episode, this year's report, released on June 2nd, is a bit more optimistic. But the ongoing social, political, and economic challenges that will affect your benefits in retirement mean it's critical that folks understand how these funds work, maintain realistic expectations, and work with an advisor to plan ahead.

On today's show, we (briefly) debate the pros and cons of leaving our clocks alone before digging into the details of SECURE Act 2.0 that could affect retirement if this new bill is passed.

Here are three things seniors should be thinking about as they plan for their second or third professional act.

Seniors may have noticed that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has redesigned the periodic statements it sends about your benefits. Perhaps one of the most helpful changes is that these statements now explain how much your monthly benefits will be depending on when you decide to take Social Security. In my experience, some seniors head into retirement with slightly unrealistic expectations about these benefits. These new statements will help folks get a better idea of where their benefits will fit in to their overall retirement plan.

Recently, while answering some listener questions about early retirement, I pointed out that every piece of your financial plan is connected to every other piece. Adjust one lever, and you might trigger some unexpected consequences if you're not working with a professional who can help you anticipate and prepare for further changes.

The pandemic given us all a new perspective on our lives and our work. I think that’s a big reason why we’ve had a number of our clients at Keen Wealth ask us about early retirement scenarios this year. After a year of locking down, missing friends and family, working from home, and in far too many cases, losing loved ones, folks want more than just financial security. They want to use their assets to live their best lives for as long as they can.

According to a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Retirement Security Research Center, affluent retirees are, on average, more satisfied than retirees with modest assets and folks who are just managing to get by. Now that probably doesn't sound like a very eye-opening conclusion. But what the EBRI found was that it wasn't really money that made affluent retirees feel better about retirement. It was three factors that I believe should be a cornerstone of any retirement plan, no matter how big your nest egg is.

Folks on opposite sides of the political aisle don't agree on very much these days. But one area where Republicans and Democrats have found some common ground is the need for Americans to take more responsibility for their retirement planning. Corporate pensions are disappearing. Social Security won’t cover the bills. And many young folks face uncertain long-term prospects in our new decentralized post-pandemic workforce.

The American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) doesn’t sound quite as catchy as the SECURE Act or the CARES Act. But the government’s new trillion-dollar plan to accelerate our country’s recovery from COVID-19 is no less consequential.

Should retirees “work” in retirement doing something they love? How does that affect your Social Security income? Is paying off your mortgage before you retire a good idea or are you better off with the extra cash cushion? What should you do when you inherit an IRA from your spouse?

Should you delay taking social security payments? When you’re retired, should you still try to “save” money each month and put it in a bank account just like you did before you retired? Those are just a couple of the questions we address in today’s show that were prompted from what our clients are asking us.

At Keen Wealth Advisors, we spend a lot of time helping you build financial security. Yet all that financial security could become secondary when you feel a lump in the breast, the car behind you on the freeway doesn’t stop in time, or you slip on the ice in the winter and your whole world becomes directed to your immediate health care needs. If that happens, your focus turns to trying to get the best medical care possible.

The number one question we get from clients and friends at Keen Wealth is, “How much money do I need to retire?” But that’s not the question we help our clients answer when we’re working on their financial plans. Contrary to all the late-night TV and internet ads, there’s not some magic number to hit, no secret formula for combined savings, assets and investments that’s going to guarantee a secure retirement.

The stock market has recently been acting like that old saying about the weather, “if you don’t like it today, just wait for tomorrow.” The past few months have been very bumpy in the stock market. Down big one day, up big the next, rinse and repeat.

Figuring out Social Security is not easy. For the typical couple, there are more than 8,000 different Social Security claiming possibilities. How can you make sure you don’t make a mistake that could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars?

If you’ve started to receive 2018 tax info from your financial institutions and can already feel a sense of dread building, let me try to put a more positive spin on this process. At Keen Wealth, we like to remind clients that, to some extent, taxes are a problem of prosperity. Sticking with disciplined savings and investment strategies, even during volatility, could help generate wealth and security for your family in the long run. Taxes are just part of the price tag that comes with achieving that dream retirement scenario.

Social Security was originally developed to be just a retirement safety net, but over time benefits grew and the system now covers an estimated 96% of Americans and makes up an average of 40% of a typical retiree’s income.

In today’s episode we discuss ramping up your income by owning dividend-paying stocks. And shockingly, many stocks pay higher dividends than 10-year U.S. Government securities.

Today I’d like to delve into these underpaid benefits issues at the Social Security Administration and raise a couple points that just about anyone who is retired or about to retire should be aware of when it comes to your entitled benefits.

Deciding when to start taking Social Security payments is one of the most important decisions you and your fiduciary advisor will make about your retirement plan. It’s also one of the trickiest to get right.

Many new retirees are surprised to find that Medicare is not a simple, free, one-size-fits-all health care solution. There are crucial decisions that both you and your spouse will have to make to secure the coverage that makes the most sense during your golden years.

In order to avoid this downside of retirement, my Keen Wealth team works to determine not only our clients’ financial needs, but we also work to understand their psychological and emotional needs. We like to really get to know our clients so that we can plan together for a meaningful retirement in which financial security and an active, engaged, fulfilling lifestyle go hand-in-hand.

Generally, on Keen on Retirement, we don’t like to discuss proposals that are floating around in Washington. There’s so much politicized chatter in our newsfeeds every day that we prefer to wait until the facts get separated from the fiction, all the dust settles, and a new law is actually put into effect. But we’re making an exception on today’s episode for the SECURE Act of 2019, which passed the House back in May and is currently kicking around in the Senate. The discussion surrounding the House version of the bill gives us some important insights on what the government is thinking about your nest egg and the future of retirement planning.

It’s certainly been an eventful couple of weeks since our last episode! There’s a very good chance that the first round of COVID-19 vaccines will be administered to our frontline medical heroes before the end of the year. We also saw the Dow Jones pass the historic 30,000 mark for the first time in history.

Clients and friends of Keen Wealth have questions surrounding the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act that was passed at the end of 2019. And with good reason! In many ways, the SECURE Act represents a significant rethink of retirement and estate planning. The government has recognized that as folks begin working longer at a wider variety of jobs, individuals need to start taking more personal responsibility for their retirement planning.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to make recent market swings difficult to follow. Are the markets recovering or not? Are we still bearish or heading back to bullish? And what do these movements mean for your retirement planning? Today’s episode is another up-to-the-minute look at the current economic situation that we wanted to get out to you all as quickly as possible. We also just recorded a more in-depth webinar on these topics that you can view by clicking here.

I’m really happy that clients and other friends of Keen Wealth have continued to ask us questions about their financial planning over the past month or so. Those questions tell me that even as we’re dealing with all of the uncontrollable stresses surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, folks are keeping at least one eye on the things they can control

It wasn’t long ago that retirement was an almost automatic decision. Once you turned 65, it was time to retire, start collecting your pension and Social Security, jump over to Medicare, and move down to Florida.

Now that the presidential election is nearly over, I hope that folks will start to focus a little bit more attention on their financial planning to-do lists as we close out 2020. I know it’s tempting to get caught up in speculating what Congress and the Federal Reserve will or won’t do with regards to the economy, the markets, and health care. But those are unknown variables right now that none of us can control.

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the storms that hit the Midwest recently. In particular, the mile-wide tornado that tore through Linwood, KS was a sobering reminder that we’re going to be dealing with peak tornado season for at least a few more weeks, as well as ongoing concerns about flooding as our rivers continue to swell. You know our mantra at Keen Wealth when it comes to your finances and your life: plan ahead. And in our part of the country, tornado and flood prep has to be a part of that larger picture. Take a moment to go through these important tips that will help protect you, your family, your home, and your money.

For most of our clients at Keen Wealth, the end result of hard work and diligent financial planning is a happy retirement. A big reason for that is how our process helps clients to plan for not just financial security, but for their daily lives in retirement: the things they want to do, the hobbies and interests they want to pursue, the people they want to share this new stage of their lives with.

Now that the SECURE Act has become law, it’s time for the follow-up we promised. Here are the key themes and specific provisions in the SECURE Act that my Keen Wealth team is studying right now:

You have a steady job that pays the bills and puts your abilities to good use. You have loving relationships with your spouse, your children, extended family, and close friends. Your house provides enough space and security. Your golf league gives you a chance to unwind. Your volunteer work improves your community.

As our country starts reopening, it’s become clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to be one of those generational “before and after” moments. Just like travel and public security were never the same after 9/11, COVID-19 is going to change how we gather in public, how we assess and prepare for new viruses, how our children and grandchildren learn, and how companies of all sizes do business.