Retirement Answer Man

If you're planning on living a long life, make investing in your health a priority. USA Today recently reported that the top retirement concern for people over age 50 is healthcare costs. Growing older and being unhealthy can be financially disastrous. It just makes sense, to take a proactive approach to investing in your health. 

INVEST WISELY: 5 Steps to a Healthier Life with Corbin Links

Corbin Links not only talks the talk, he has walked the walk. His 12 year journey to living a healthy lifestyle 
included tons of research on nutrition, slowly creating healthier habits that helped him lose over 80 lbs. Today, his is a walking encyclopedia of health and nutrition.

In this episode we explore his 5 steps to living a healthier life. We discuss:

  • How to approach your journey to living healthier
  • Why it's important to get out in front of your health issues
  • How to simply evaluate your current health condition (beyond physical fitness)
  • The value of making small incremental changes
  • His 5 steps to living healthier today (and the science behind it)
    • Mineralized water
    • Green juice
    • Sleep
    • Probiatics
    • Magnesium

How to learn more:

PLAN WELL:   How does working affect Social Security Survivor Benefits?

Last week I a listener e-mailed me this question. 

Here are the facts about Social Security Survivor Benefits that we discuss in this episode

  • The Social Security Administration's resource on the topic
  • If you are under Full Retirement Age (FRA) and receive a survivor benefit it can be reduced based on the income you earn. Here is the current table
  • Once you reach FRA, your survivor benefit will not be reduced
  • A spouse survivor can receive 100% of the worker's benefit at Full Retirement Age (FRA)
  • If you are 60 or over but under FRA, you'll receive between 77-99% of the benefit
  • A surviving spouse of any age with children 16 or under can receive 75% of the worker's benefit

Question: What steps are you taking to invest in your health?

Direct download: 33_Retirement_Answer_Man.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:08pm CDT

Are you in a career that matches your God given talents? Most of us are in careers that we were trained to do. Not careers that centered on our talents.  After college, we start work and our careers generally progress on their own, without much intentional direction from us. If you're in your 50's and this fits you, it's not too late to begin to pivot you're career towards something you have natural talents for. In this episode, Career Pivot's Marc Miller, outlines how to start your pivot.

INVEST WISELY: Things to Consider Before You Buy Alibaba

Interesting. Over the last few days I've heard more people talking about the blockbuster Alibaba IPO than the new iPhone 6. As a result, I've gotten more than a few inquiries asking whether Alibaba is worth buying. Now, I would not dare to recommend the purchase of any investment on this blog. That would be silly. I know nothing about you or your situation. In fact, please RUN from any site that makes such recommendations.

  • If you are considering buying Alibaba stock, ask (and answer) yourself these questions:
  • Are you gambling or investings?
  • If you're gambling, treat it as such and make sure you are only using excess funds that you can afford and are willing to lose.
  • If you say you are investing, then do your homework and evaluate for yourself:
    • Is Alibaba a well run company?
    • Is it profitable?
    • What is the competitive environment?
    • What is the regulatory environment?
    • Does Alibaba have a solid balance sheet (that can survive growing pains)?
    • Are you paying a discount, premium or fair value for the projected growth?
    • What is your exit strategy?
    • How does this help you Retire Well?

 PLAN WELL:   Doing What You Love: A Conversation with Marc Miller from careerpivot.com

Marc and I discuss:

  • The origins of the “retirement” concept and why it’s outdated
  • How Baby Boomer’s view of themselves is changing the concept of retirement
  • The importance of having a purpose during retirement
  • How the social contract has changed between employers and employees
  • How to pivot your career even in if you’re in your 50’s
  • The difference between skills and talents
  • How to make the transition from doing what you’re trained for to doing what you love
  • The importance of relationships in your career pivot
  • The value of simplifying your life as you pivot

You can connect with Marc at careerpivot.com

Question: If you're in your 50's, do you plan to work during retirement? Let me know on Twitter

Direct download: Retirement_Answer_Man_32.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:15pm CDT

Wouldn't it be great to learn about retirement from those that have retired successfully? Here's your chance.  Today at FinCon, the national conference for money media, moneytips.com is releasing the book, The Retiree Next Door. The best part is you can get it for free.

Over the last year, the folks at moneytips.com conducted a survey of over 500 successful retirees. Their objective: to identify clear traits and strategies they used to do so. 

Recently, I spoke with Moneytips.com's Michael Dubrow about the project and some of the lessons learn for those working towards retirement.

Take a listen and learn:

  • Where you can get your free book
  • How to use the research to plan well for your retirement
  • How the research was conducted
  • What the biggest surprises were
  • How you have more control over your retirement then you may think
  • The wisdom learned from those surveyed 

These projects are great because they help us learn from those that have walked before us. No theory here, just practical incites into the Retiree Next Door.

 

Direct download: Retirement_Answer_Man_31.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:54pm CDT

Have you ever felt distant from your wife? I sure have. In my 23 years of marriage, there were times my wife and I drifted apart. It's easy to do. Work, kids, hobbies, etc. can cause a man and wife to drift apart. We eventually learned we needed to be intentional about nurturing our marriage. 

Plan Well:  Invest in Your Marriage

In this week's episode Jackie and I discuss how married men can become the leaders they want to be.

Jackie helps husbands and fathers learn how to lead and love their families so they can have lasting, fulfilling marriages and meaningful influence on their kids.

  • How to be the leader you want to be
  • Husband as a servant leader
  • The G.E.T. strategy: Give, Encourage, Teach
  • How to control your inner voice
  • The importance of having a date night with your wife
  • The top ten dates to improve communication
  • How to have date nights that fit your time and budget
  • Lessons he learned from his parents 50 year marriage
  • Why you need to know the  7 Rings of Marriage

Want to be a better husband and father? Check out Jackie's great resources:

Invest Wisely: Should I Worry About Big Bad Events?

The recent anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack reminds us that big bad events can happen in the world. There always seems to be some catastrophic event "just around the corner":

  • Russian and the Ukraine
  • ISIS
  • Syria
  • Terrorist threats
  • China

Should you worry about these as you invest for your future? It sure seems so. This week, I take a look at how markets have acted after some of the biggest "big bad events" over the last 75 years. 

It's easy to act emotionally with investing.  Our emotions drive most decisions. If you are going to Invest Wisely for your future, it's important you focus on facts and process. This will help you make smarter financial decisions

Here's a table to give you some perspective:

 

Direct download: RAM_Podcast_30.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:51pm CDT

Taxes suck. They erode away your income, savings and investments. One strategy to maximize your retirement savings is to convert your IRA to a ROTH IRA. ROTH IRAs are a powerful tool to help you do this but there are lots tax and planning issues to consider first.

That's why I turned to Ed Slott, America's IRA expert. He is a nationally recognized IRA-distribution expert, a professional speaker, and the creator of several public television specials, including the most recent, Ed Slott’s Retirement Rescue!

Investing Corner--The Importance of Dividends

When most people thing of making money in equities, they think of buying low and selling high. That's a great strategy, but it's only part of the story. This week I explore the importance dividends can have in any investment portfolio.

I discuss these 5 reasons dividend can be a benefit to any portfolio:

 

  1. How dividends have comprised over 50% of the total return of the S&P 500 index
  2. The favorable tax treatment dividends can receive
  3. How dividends can be a good hedge against inflation
  4. Why dividends can help you control risk in your portfolio
  5. What are the attributes of most companies that pay dividends

Retirement Tip of the Week

During my conversation with Ed Slott, we cover:

  1. Best places to save for retirement
  2. The benefit of contributing to a ROTH IRA
  3. Ed's "Forever Tax to Never Tax" strategy using a ROTH IRA
  4. The importance of understanding the ROTH IRA conversion rules
  5. When it doesn't make sense to use a ROTH IRA
  6. How to use ROTH IRAs as an estate planning vehicle
  7. The types of people that should consider converting to a ROTH IRA
  8. The order to draw from your taxable, IRA & ROTH IRA accounts during retirement
  9. The benefits of drawing from your IRA in order to delay Social Security during retirement
  10. Biggest mistakes people make with IRAs

Have you considered converting to a ROTH IRA?  

If you have a question, ask me at rogerwhitney.com

Direct download: 29_Retirement_Answer_Man.mp3
Category:Finance -- posted at: 4:41pm CDT

Stressed about planning for retirement??? Your not alone, most of use (including me) freak out when we look at what it could take to provide for our family in retirement. Don't believe all the statistics, you can take control.

Investing Corner

Listener Question Wayne Asks

My question is are there hidden risks doing my diversifying on top of diversity that I do not realize, other than my time for managing, and the loss of opportunity of my conservative and explore portfolio $s?

Wayne has multiple portfolios, each with it's own allocation

  • Large aggressive portfolio
  • Small moderately conservative portfolio
  • Explore portfolio (where he invests based on his economic views)

Hidden risks might include:

  • You are 55, and close to the danger zone. A time 5 years before and after retirement when big investing mistakes can have the most impact on your retirement. The retirement danger zone is a time to focus on consistent investment returns.
  • Not having a consistent risk profile of your investments based on what you are trying to accomplish
  • Not having a process for evaluating the value, performance of each bucket. (no bonus points for complicated investments)
  • Chasing returns or safety at the cost of focusing on your lifestyle goals for retirement

Retirment Planning Stress: How to take control

No Wonder We're Stressed:

  • 60% of all works have less than 25k saving for retirement (USA Today)
  • Only 22% of workers have over 100k saved for retirement
  • Only 28% of current retirees have over 100k in savings and investments

4 Strategies for Beating Retirement Planning Stress:

  1. Forgive yourself--We've all made financial mistakes. Stop with the coulda/woulda/shoulda's and own where you are now and focus on the future.
  2. Don’t stick your head in the sand--Don't get discouraged by the statistics about retirement. Regardless of your financial situation, you CAN make progress.
  3. Take control of your financial decisions
  4. Think creatively about your future

rogerwhitney.com

Direct download: 28_Retirement_Answer_Man.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:53pm CDT

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