Retirement Answer Man

What do you do if you lose your job but you’re still not ready to retire? Whether it’s personally, professionally, or financially, if you’re not ready to retire then you’ll have to take action to find new employment. How do you fill that gap between this job loss and retirement? On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we’ll brainstorm some ways that you can take action to find your next job. 

What happens to you when you lose your job?

Losing your job sucks. It never feels good to get pushed in a direction that you aren’t ready to take. It can zap your confidence even if the job loss had nothing to do with your performance. 

There are several things that happen when you lose your job. You lose your connections. You lose the rhythm of your life. You lose the intellectual challenge. And of course, you lose your income. 

Losing your job can make it feel like all your dreams have been zapped away. 

What next?

While it’s okay to have feelings of anger, sadness, and remorse, you don’t want to wallow in them. One outlet you can take is to journal. When I’m faced with a difficult situation, I like to get all my feelings out on paper. I essentially yell into the page. This form of release can even help me figure out what my next step will be. 

If you find yourself floundering and you don’t know what to do next, be sure to listen to episode 346 to discover some first steps to take when you lose your job. It’s important to start to get that forward momentum going so you don’t just sit there shellshocked. 

Ways to fill the income gap quickly

What if you are really strapped for cash and you need income right away? If you don’t have the cash reserves to wait out a lengthy job search there are several ways that you can start earning income quickly. 

  • File for unemployment
  • Register at temp agencies like Manpower. 
  • Declutter your house and sell things on OfferUp or eBay. 
  • Deliver groceries or food with UberEats or drive for Uber. 
  • Consider a job at Starbucks if you need health benefits.
  • Tutor online or teach English remotely

None of these are perfect solutions, but they can help you be proactive and gain forward momentum. 

How do you move forward in your job search?

The first step to take in your job search is to update your resume. It may have been a while since you have done so. Here are some tips for resume writing from an experienced HR professional:

  1. Look for keywords in the jobs that you want. Listen in to hear why your resume often won’t make it past the screening stage without these keywords.
  2. Have a base resume then tweak it to the specific job. Gone are the days when you only have one resume.
  3. Review resume examples for the job you want. 
  4. Make your resume simple and easy to read. 
  5. Focus on measurable accomplishments. 
  6. Put the most important information first and only use the last 10 years of your work history in your resume.
  7. Use these action verbs to help your resume stand out. 

Listen in to hear what you should do after you update your resume to help you take action and find your next job. Stick around until the end to hear the Coaches Corner segment with BW to learn about your changing relationships in retirement.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [3:52] What happens to you when you lose your job unexpectedly?
  • [10:02] Ways to fill the gap quickly 
  • [13:08] How do you move forward in your job search?

COACHES CORNER WITH BW

  • [20:20] Changing relationships with your spouse
  • [23:40] What can you do to help your relationship?
  • [28:12] Define your roles
  • [31:04] Communication is key

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [38:47] Pick a couple of ways to take action

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

139 Action Verbs

Episode 346 - 5 Things to do When You’re Suddenly Retired

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Direct download: RAM349.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

A result of the infamous year 2020 is that companies are looking left and right for ways to cut costs. One way many companies are trimming the fat is by offering early retirement packages to their most experienced team members. There are many questions you should ask yourself if you have received the offer of an early retirement package. Listen in to discover what you need to be thinking about in this situation. 

Even if you have been planning to retire you may not be ready just yet 

You may have been considering and planning your retirement for a while now. But even if you are well prepared for that future date, receiving an early retirement offer can still feel like you are being thrown a curveball. You may not feel like you are ready to pack it in just yet. Even after all of your planning, there is an internal struggle. 

What should you do if you are offered an early retirement package?

If you receive an early retirement offer you may have a limited amount of time to make your decision. The first thing you should do is seek counsel. Gather your team together. This should include your spouse and anyone whose opinion you value in these matters. Next, you’ll want to consider how the package can serve you. Will it simply move forward all the things you were planning?

Questions to consider before taking the package

There are many questions you should consider before coming to a decision. How will this package affect your benefits like pension, life insurance, and your vestedness within the company? How will it affect your healthcare options? Filling the gap between workplace provided health insurance and Medicare is the biggest challenge of early retirement. Listen in to hear all the questions to ask yourself if you are offered an early retirement package. 

What if you’re still not ready to retire? 

What should you ask yourself if you say no? Do you want to continue and stay in your role at the company? If you do, what will that look like? Will your job become harder? If you don’t accept the package will that affect workplace politics? 

Before you come to any decision you need to make sure that you have a feasible plan in place. If you aren’t sure how to create that plan, consider joining the Rock Retirement Club. We have a masterclass where we teach you how to build a plan that is designed just for you. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [5:07] What should you ask yourself if you receive an early retirement package offer?

Q&A SEGMENT

  • [16:08] A question from a listener that received an early buyout package
  • [21:24] A suggestion for a series theme
  • [22:35] How to migrate to a more balanced portfolio
  • [24:20] A bond index question

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [29:46] Work on your retirement planning project

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

The Pie Cake episode

The bond series - Start here

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Direct download: RAM348.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

Retirement brings an onslaught of life-changing choices, so one thing you can do to help you rock retirement is to become a better decision-maker. If you are wondering how you can do that, then you’ll want to listen to this interview with Annie Duke. Annie Duke is the author of Thinking in Bets and she just released a new book called How to Decide. She knows that people can improve the quality of their decisions and she’s here to teach us how. Press play to learn how you can make better decisions so that you can rock your retirement. 

There are 2 things that create a great life

There are only 2 things that determine the way your life turns out: luck and the quality of your decisions. You don’t have any control over the luck part, but you do have control over the quality of your decisions. It is important to acknowledge that luck has a role to play in the quality of your life. Once you have come to terms with that then you can focus on improving the quality of your decisions. 

Decisions are made with incomplete information

Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world where you have all the information needed to choose wisely. There are so many unknown factors that affect your choices, so how can you possibly choose correctly? Uncertainty, luck, and imperfect information all impact our decisions. But rather than being paralyzed by these factors, you can use probability to help you. 

Think about how you can get more information. Most of the time we are making our decisions behind a veil of ignorance. This is why it is so important to ask questions. When you ask you are doing something, you are improving your data set. Gain some information but don’t become overwhelmed with information overload. Set some parameters to help guide you in your decision making. 

Have you defined your values and goals? 

Before making any major life choices you’ll want to have a clear understanding of your values and your goals. Having well-defined values and goals can help you choose. Think about how positive or negative results of your decisions will move you toward your goals. 

Don’t just go with your gut

So many people use their guts to make decisions, but the gut is not the right tool to use. You can’t measure it. You want to make sure that you use a process, strategy, and tactics to help you decide. It’s also important to examine your decision making by going back and reflecting on your decisions. Learn why this is so important in this interview with Annie Duke. 

If listening to this episode wasn’t enough and you want to learn more about making better decisions, then make sure you’re signed up for the 6 Shot Saturday newsletter to receive a free chapter of Annie’s new book, How to Decide. You’ll also get an invite for the webinar taking place on October 29 at 7 pm CDT.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [3:32] There are 2 things that create a great life
  • [6:02] Are high stakes decisions more important than smaller decisions?
  • [12:50] How we judge decisions
  • [21:37] Don’t just go with your gut
  • [27:40] What hindsight can teach us
  • [33:48] A thought experiment
  • [44:23] Use decision tools to help you

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [48:03] Sign up for 6-Shot Saturday to get a FREE chapter of How to Decide

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

BOOK - How to Decide by Annie Duke

BOOK - Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Direct download: RAM347.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

The Coronavirus pandemic has brought about so many disruptions to our daily lives. In addition to all the health precautions we must take, many of us have had to deal with job loss as well. Whether it was a furlough, layoff, or early retirement, the results are the same. You used to be working and now you’re not. During this entire month, we will discuss what you can do when you are retired unexpectedly. On this episode, you’ll learn 5 things you can do when you are suddenly retired.

What is triage? 

Triage means assigning priority to projects based on where resources can be best used in order to increase the likelihood of success. We often hear the term triage in medical circumstances, but we can use it with financial situations as well. 

The first thing to do to triage a situation is to assess where you are. Once you do that you can determine what to do first. When life throws you a curveball triage your state of affairs before reacting. 

5 things you need to do if you are pulled into retirement

When you receive notice that you’ve been laid off or even if you are offered an early retirement package it can feel like the bottom has dropped out from under you. Before you can figure out your next move you need to give yourself some breathing room to contemplate the change. You can follow these 5 steps to give yourself the structure you need to move forward. 

  1. Get organized. You need to take stock of your financial life. Understand your spending. How much money do you need each month? Take some time to map out the monthly debts you owe yourself over the next 12 months. This step will help you get back on your feet. 
  2. Check your liquidity. Next you’ll want to map out your income sources for the year. This will help you figure out the deficit between your expenditures and revenue. This is also a good time to reorganize your financial assets and refresh your net worth statement.
  3. Reassess what is important to you. Are your priorities in order? Now is a good time to revisit what those priorities are and to make sure that your life is a reflection of those priorities.
  4. Gather your team. Now is the time to seek counsel. Talk to your spouse, your advisor, your CPA, and good friends whose opinion you value. It can be hard to gain perspective from where you sit, so having another opinion can help you see things from a different point of view. 
  5. Determine what to do first. This is the step that most people get stuck on. There are so many decisions to make that it can be overwhelming. Choose one thing to do first, then move on to the next. Don’t try to do everything all at once. 

Don’t miss the upcoming webinar!

Following these steps can help you take control of your circumstances and ultimately make better decisions. If you have been unexpectedly retired recently you won’t want to miss the webinar on October 29 at 9 pm. Make sure you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday newsletter to get your invitation. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

  • [4:06] What is triage?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [7:10] 5 things you need to do first if you are pushed into unexpected retirement
  • [21:42] Figure out the next version of you
  • [25:20] Join our live webinar on October 29 at 7 pm central

Q&A SEGMENT

  • [26:35] The pros and cons of choosing a certain month to retire
  • [31:02] What to do about an early retirement package?

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [36:09] Try being consciously incompetent

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Direct download: RAM346_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

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