Keen On Retirement™

Are you ready for the Great Wealth Transfer? Financial analysts estimate that older Americans will pass on as much as $124 trillion of personal wealth to their spouses, heirs, and charities over the next 25 years. And, unfortunately, much of that wealth won't survive for another transfer. According to one study, 42% of heirs fall back to their pre-inheritance net worth in about 12 months. Meaning that, due to poor planning or poor fiscal discipline, the money is gone. Whether you're a senior fine-tuning your legacy plan, a potential beneficiary, or a caregiver who might be tasked with settling a loved one's estate, folks have to plan ahead to make sure that wishes are honored and wealth is preserved, potentially for generations to come. On today's show, we discuss some best practices for managing inheritances at both ends of a family's wealth transfer and taking a generational approach to comprehensive financial planning.

You and your spouse have shared so much over the years. Professional ups and downs. Buying a home. The joys and challenges of raising kids. Taking vacations. Caring for your aging parents. Setting and reaching so many financial goals. Through it all, you've always been on the same page. So, why would retirement be any different? Because once you and your spouse stop working, your lives are going to change dramatically – much more, in fact, than many seniors are prepared for. And even if you and your spouse agree on when you're going to retire, you may not agree on what's going to come next. Here’s why retirement is different than other life transitions that you and your spouse have gone through and some important ideas you should discuss as you progress down your retirement runway.

"Tom and Linda" are a married couple. They're both 55-years-old. Tom works as an operations manager for a regional manufacturer, and Linda works in corporate finance. They are both targeting retirement at age 65. Complicating that 10-year runway is a situation that's becoming more and more common among Tom and Linda's generation: they're "sandwiched" between taking care of Linda's parents, who are in their early 90s, and their 25-year-old son, who is still living at home with them. On today's show, we explain how comprehensive financial planning can help couples like "Tom and Linda" manage complex, multigenerational family variables while maintaining progress towards their retirement goals.

You have the money. In fact, as you're heading into your Golden Years, you might have more money than you've ever had at any point in your life. The back-of-the-napkin math is clear: You can stop working. So why don't you? As I've discussed in my recent blog posts, the final barrier to retirement for many affluent seniors is in their decision-making process. But if you're waiting for "green lights" from the economy or the wider world, you could end up waiting for an illusion.

Feeling happy? That could be because spring has finally sprung here in the Midwest. Or, more specifically, it could be because you're part of the Keen Wealth audience right here in Overland Park! A recent report by WalletHub ranked the 182 "Happiest Cities in America." The researchers evaluated 29 “key indicators of happiness, including depression rates, income growth, and average daily leisure time.” Fremont, California topped the list, and half of the top ten were cities in sunny California and Arizona. But the Midwest had a strong showing, too. Bismarck and Fargo, North Dakota both made the top five. And coming in at number six was ... Overland Park, Kansas! While it's certainly gratifying to see well-deserved recognition for our city, I've always felt grateful to be living and working here. Yes, the reasonable cost of living, centrality for travel to other parts of the country, and variety of outdoor activities are all wonderful. But the sense of community here is really special. My team at Keen Wealth experienced that firsthand recently when the Keen Wealth Foundation and Charitable Impact Committee, led by my wife Carissa, had the honor of serving as the entertainment sponsor for "Kids Night Out," a massive gala that raised $3.5 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. Taking care of each other, in our communities and in our homes, is one of the most direct ways that a financial plan can boost your spirits. On today's show, we answer questions from two listeners who are thinking about how different generations of Americans can help each other enjoy more security and happiness in retirement.

In a way, my four previous blog posts about coping with volatility in retirement were about prework: The choices you and your advisor make that don’t always show up on a spreadsheet. Why maintaining flexibility can be more important than optimizing your numbers. How to make high-consequence decisions when there is no one right answer. And some of the nuts and bolts mechanics that prepare a retirement plan to absorb life’s inevitable shocks. But once you do retire, your plan is only half of the equation. The other half is you. And that's because, with a comprehensive financial plan in place, the real risk to your long-term security in retirement usually isn’t market volatility. It's how you respond to that volatility in the moment.