Keen On Retirement™

A recurring theme in my series of blogs about The Adaptable Retirement is that your financial plan has to account for a constant that seniors often overlook. Change. As you near the end of your career, I doubt that you have the exact same goals, relationships, and interests that you had when you started working, or when you and your spouse first met. What you do every day has changed. Who you do those things with has changed. How you spend time when you are and aren't working has changed. Your body and health have changed. Your understanding of the world and other people has changed. In many ways, you’re a different person with a different identity. And this continual process of growth and renewal doesn't stop when you stop working.

"Save more than you spend" sounds like a timeless piece of money advice, as true today as it was two hundred years ago. But in the mid-1800s, many folks believed you needed to spend your money as soon as possible. In fact, saving too much back then could lead to financial ruin! That's just one example of how Americans' attitudes about money have evolved throughout history. But it's not just rules of thumb and hand-me-down wisdom that's changed. It's the nature of money and our relationship to it. On today's show, we welcome author Joseph S. Moore to discuss his new book, How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (& Didn't), and the surprising ways five money philosophies have shifted over time.

In my previous post, I explained why a 30-year retirement plan cannot be treated as a "one and done" checklist. From unexpected health events to shifting personal priorities, your life should determine how and when your financial plan needs to adjust, not the other way around. But not every change requires a new financial strategy. And that's where the true tension in retirement planning lies. On the one hand, underestimating the effects of a meaningful change could put your long-term security at risk. On the other hand, overreacting to every market dip, unsettling headline, or argument with your spouse about money can cause lasting damage to your wealth. The goal for retirees should be thoughtful adaptation, not constant reaction. Before you overhaul your portfolio, ask yourself these six questions to determine if your plan truly needs an adjustment.

Housing is one of the biggest line items on just about any retirement budget. Whether you're still paying a mortgage, looking to escalate your payment schedule so you can retire debt-free, or thinking about relocating or buying a vacation home, where you live plays a significant role in how you spend your time, who you spend it with, and what your financial plan looks like. On today's show, we group together some common questions about managing mortgages that we've received from seniors in our Keen on Retirement audience.

Your life and career haven't progressed in a straight line. Retirement won't either. But that's a misconception, or maybe a hope, that so many folks build into their retirement plans: that, after decades of ups and downs, happy surprises and serious challenges, retirement is going to coast along on autopilot. Hopefully, you have decades of retirement ahead of you. And those years are going to be just as unpredictable as any other period of your life, with one major new variable guaranteed. You won't have a paycheck from employment to rely on. Without the reassurance that more money is coming at the end of the month, too many seniors start making emotional money moves in the moment, whether they're facing a market dip or an unplanned home repair. That's not the kind of adaptability I was describing in part one of this blog series. I'm suggesting that if you view retirement planning as an ongoing process, you should be able to reroute when necessary. And, just as importantly, you'll have a decision-making framework that will help you distinguish between genuine warning sirens and noise you can ignore.

"Ute" (SUV), "chips" (French fries), "sunnies" (sunglasses), and "mates" (friends) are just a few of the slang terms I picked up earlier this year when the Keens visited our family in Brisbane, Australia. Another was "super," which is short for "superannuation." This mandatory savings program is central to Australia's retirement planning. And recently, President Trump floated the idea of implementing a similar program here in the U.S. On today's show, we discuss if taking some inspiration from our friends Down Under could provide a "super" solution to Social Security's looming insolvency and help more Americans build their nest eggs for retirement.