Keen on Retirement

A year ago, on this podcast, we were discussing how the upcoming 2016 presidential election might affect the economy. Then, at the beginning of 2017, my clients and listeners wanted to know if the surprising "Trump rally" was for real, and how the new administration's plans might affect taxes and popular retirement-planning tools. Now, my clients are asking: "Has the 'Trump rally' peaked? Is there...

You'll have to forgive me if I'm feeling a little nostalgic this week, but like many of you, I'm in the process of packing up my son for college. In just the last 18 years of Devin's life, the world has changed so dramatically. That got me thinking about my Great Aunt Nina, born in 1901, who lived a full and eventful 100 years. It's truly amazing to think about all the incredible things Aunt Nina...

If you're new to investing, or just trying to educate yourself so that you can play a more active role in managing your money, wading through all the financial terms and acronyms used in our industry might make you feel like you're drowning in alphabet soup. On today's show, we try to demystify some of these financial terms and acronyms for our listeners. Because we adhere to the fiduciary standar...

For the first part of our working lives, our retirement plans are on autopilot. We save what we can every month, we contribute to our employer-match 401(k)s, and if we're living within our means, we don't think about the plan very much.  But at Keen Wealth, we often see that once our clients hit 50, a lightbulb goes on: "My retirement plan is not just numbers on a page. This plan is going to have...

We've all had a good chuckle seeing #adulting and #failuretolaunch on social media, describing the difficulty some millennials have adjusting to adulthood. But the numbers behind the hashtags aren't funny. For the first time in 130 years, an 18-34-year-old is more likely to be living at home with his or her parents than to be living with a spouse or partner. Incredibly, 25% of adults aged 25-29 ar...

Retirement planning isn't just about fueling up for the flight to that dream destination. A lot of my clients at Keen Wealth also want to plan the most tax-efficient and responsible ways to set aside resources now that will support their kids and grandkids as they get started on their financial journey. That may mean a college education, buying a first home, or even giving them a head start on the...

Imagine getting on an airplane for a dream vacation that you've been saving and planning for your entire life. Just as you're settling into your seat, there's an announcement from the captain: "Ladies and gentlemen, we've completed our pre-flight check, but I didn't worry about the required fuel this time. If we end up being short, hopefully we will catch a tailwind that will get us to our destina...

Tax season may – finally! – be behind us, but taxes are still very much on the minds of our listeners, and my clients at Keen Wealth. President Trump recently unveiled a new tax plan, the consequences of which are still being unpacked and analyzed. And changing taxes is just one part of the broader Trump economic plan that the president and Congress are trying to convert from campaign promises int...

The 2016 presidential election was filled with uncertainty, including how a President Trump or a President Clinton would affect the stock market. Last summer, when we discussed the potential impact of the election on the broader economic picture, many experts believed that Donald Trump would be bad for the markets. That prediction seemed to bear out on Election Night: as Trump's odds increased, th...

Whether you are currently enrolled in Medicare or are planning for it in the future, this episode will provide you with important information you need to be aware of. Medicare's options and intricacies can be overwhelming if you're not prepared for them - and like many issues in financial planning - they are a moving target. That's why at Keen Wealth Advisors we encourage our clients to talk to a...

When we're working with our clients at Keen Wealth Advisors, we understand that retirement planning is much more than just "getting the numbers right." Yes, you have to track your investments, budget your monthly bills, and calculate how living off retirement assets is going to affect your taxes. But a successful retirement is more than just a spreadsheet -- it's a whole new chapter of your life,...

Whether you're a long-term retiree or are on the glide slope, it's that time of year again to collect all of your various documents and prepare to file your taxes. Where your income is coming from, how it's reported, what forms you use, what has been withheld -- these are all things that need to be gathered and accounted for. It can be confusing and it seems that so much continues to change with r...

When working with a financial advisor, how do you know whose best interest they are putting first--yours or theirs? If the advisor is required to put your best interests first, then they are operating under what's called the fiduciary standard. If they are legally able to put their own interests before yours, then they are operating under a less stringent standard called the suitability standard....

"How much money do I need to retire?" That's one of many retirement questions we hear the most when helping clients with retirement planning. With retirement itself undergoing so many drastic changes , it's not surprising that more and more retirees are trying to quantify their retirement needs and plan accordingly. On today's show, we tackle this and other common retirement questions submitted by...

As the IRS starts rolling out its forms to taxpayers, there's a lot of uncertainty and misinformation, clouding big picture tax issues for both individuals and corporations. A good advisory firm is proactive and thinking ahead on behalf of its clients. Good firms consider market realities rather than the high emotions that dominate the current political landscape. We try to help our clients think...

The legendary baseball player Satchel Paige famously asked, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" Chronologically, the calendar may say we're a certain age, but how old do you feel? Today, we're going to share some thoughts on staying young at heart no matter what the calendar says your age is. We all know how important it is to have a hobby and stay social. You hear that in a...

In this second presentation, my colleague Matt Wilson helps us understand what's happening with interest rates, with wages and inflation, and with Trump's policies. Are we heading into trade wars? What will happen to healthcare? What's going on in the financial markets? Matt does a terrific job of putting all these things into perspective in an informative and entertaining way. On top of that, he...

In this first of two presentations, I spend about 20 minutes and introduce several new Keen Wealth Advisors team members and share our business philosophy. I think it's important for our clients to know how we operate our firm and understand the culture that we purposely create.

Most of us have put together a jigsaw puzzle at some point in our life. But if I asked you, "What is the most important piece of the puzzle?" how would you answer? Well, my co-host Steve hit me cold with that question and it led to a great discussion about the importance of vision and clarity in building a successful financial plan and living a fulfilling life. In today's episode, we also share a...

At Keen Wealth Advisors, we spend a lot of time helping you build financial security. Yet all that financial security could become secondary when you feel a lump in the breast, the car behind you on the freeway doesn't stop in time, or you slip on the ice in the winter and your whole world becomes directed to your immediate health care needs. If that happens, your focus turns to trying to get the...

One lesson that was driven home again during the recent 24-hour news cycle surrounding the election was, "Don't believe everything you read and hear." Regardless of your political persuasion, what you hear on the campaign trail often differs markedly from what happens after the election. It's similar in the financial markets. Scary headlines one day could turn into "the markets are on their way to...

Thanks to the aging Baby Boomer generation, about one in every seven Americans is 65 years or older. That number is expected to continue rising for decades to come , according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As we age, it's important to make sure we have a plan in place. And not just a financial plan . Having a will, of course, is important. But we also need to have a plan to...

As you know, the name of our podcast is Keen On Retirement. Normally, we talk about things like Social Security and retirement income. But today we're going to talk about the fun part of retirement. Our guest today is Mark Wolf. Mark is a close personal friend of mine for nearly 20 years. I'm very fortunate to call him a friend. He also has a long history in the travel industry, and he is an exper...

Dr. Daniel Crosby is one of the country's leading authorities on behavioral investing. He joins the show today to discuss some of the key learnings from his new book, The Laws of Wealth. We review some of the rules of behavioral self-management and cover some key ideas to remember so we can all make sound financial decisions. One of the most important things we do at Keen Wealth Advisors is educat...

Should you delay taking social security payments? When you're retired, should you still try to "save" money each month and put it in a bank account just like you did before you retired? Those are just a couple of the questions we address in today's show that were prompted from what our client's are asking us. As we meet with our clients, we enjoy learning what questions they have and what issues a...