Keen On Retirement™

Election cycles can stir up some intense emotions. And while everyone is entitled to have their individual beliefs, as well as causes and candidates that they support, there's one area where we all need to draw a very strong line: between our politics and our money. In the run-up to any election, folks across the whole political spectrum ask the Keen Wealth team the same questions. If Candidate X wins: Will the economy go under? Will inflation and interest rates destroy my nest egg? Are my taxes going up? Should I get out of the market and move to cash? History tells us that the feelings folks have around these kinds of questions don't typically move the markets. But following your feelings every other November can lead to some devastating financial moves that may be impossible to recover from. On today's show, we discuss how to keep your retirement plan insulated from the political noise during the midterms.

Every day in retirement presents a new set of choices. After all, once you don't need to work, you're in charge! A full day at the golf course? Absolutely. A spontaneous weekend getaway with your spouse? Why not? Grabbing coffee with friends, or sitting at a table solo to enjoy a good book? It's up to you. And if you don't like how today turns out, you can always make different choices tomorrow. However, there are some choices in retirement that don't come with easy do-overs. And the less reversible a decision is, the more important it is to think through all of your options and make the right choice the first time. Let's look at where some key retirement decisions fall on the reversibility spectrum.

The leaves are changing. Sweaters are coming out of closets. Ghosts and monsters are popping up in neighborhood yards. And the Social Security Administration is about to announce the cost-of-living adjustment for 2027. That's why October can be one of the spookiest – and most dangerous – months for seniors. Any time the government makes major announcements about Social Security or Medicare, fraudsters spring into action: texts, phone calls, emails, social media messages, "warning" seniors that they need to "activate" their benefits or make an "emergency" transfer to avoid theft. Another group of scammers, knowing that many seniors are preparing for a lonely holiday season, offer false promises of companionship ... "If you can just send money to help me pay the rent this month." The financial toll of these crimes is heartbreaking. According to the FBI, folks 60 and older reported almost $8 billion in losses to scams in 2025 – a 60% increase from the previous year. On today's show, we discuss how fraudsters try to bypass logic by targeting emotions and review some actionable steps you can take to protect yourself from the latest scams.

What's on your bucket list for retirement? Globe-trotting vacations? Long afternoons on the golf course or in your fishing boat? Relocating to a beachfront condo or a cozy cabin in the woods? That vision can motivate years of saving and planning. But the retirement you enjoy may look different from the one you first imagined. A good financial plan doesn't lock you into one version of retirement. It gives you room to adjust as your life changes. As I've discussed throughout this six-part blog series on The Adaptable Retirement, you don't need to predict exactly what will make you happy in retirement. You need a plan that helps you evaluate and support changing priorities.

Giving back is one of our core values at Keen Wealth. Every year, my wife Carissa, who leads our Keen Community Impact Committee and the Keen Wealth Foundation, works with the committee to bring philanthropic opportunities to our broader team. Together, we identify key initiatives to support through fundraising, volunteer work, and our financial expertise. If you visit our offices during the week and see a couple of empty desks, it's a good bet that our team members are pitching in at one of these causes and trying to make our community a little brighter. I'm especially grateful for our relationship with the Veterans Community Project (VCP), which is working to end homelessness among veterans by building "tiny homes" and offering outreach to our heroes. Keen Wealth has contributed over $500,000 to the VCP's mission, provided hundreds of hours of community service, and helped found and continues to volunteer at its "Operation Clay Storm" skeet and trap shooting fundraiser. I was honored to be a part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony when the VCP broke ground on their new Veterans Navigation Campus, which will expand the support services they're able to offer veterans in our community. On today's episode, we follow up on a recent webinar I co-hosted with VCP Co-Founder & Chief Project Officer Brandonn Mixon and Keen Wealth Senior Financial Planner Jeb Flynn and discuss giving strategies that can help folks do the most good for the causes that matter most.

In financial planning, we sometimes refer to your working years as the "accumulation years." A large part of your time is spent working and earning so that you can support your family, achieve milestones like buying a house, and secure your financial future. But during those years, you're "accumulating" more than money. You're gaining relationships, hobbies, interests, skills, experiences, memories, and, yes, possessions. By the time you reach retirement, your life is probably as full as it's ever been. Too full, maybe. As you move through the various stages of retirement, your identity is going to change along with your interests and priorities. And part of change is letting go so that you can make room for new people and new experiences that are going to make every step of your journey more fulfilling.