Retirement Starts Today

Have you ever thought about your relationship with work? As retirement looms ahead, many people become fearful of the unknown that it brings. A common way to express this fear is to worry about money, but this fear goes beyond money. The real fear that people have about retirement is about how they will spend their time when they no longer have work to fill their days.  In 2017, Paul Millerd chang...

We've all been sitting at home for the past year and now everyone is getting the travel bug. That's why today we're kicking off the Summer Travel Series with an interview with Lee Huffman. Lee hosts a podcast called  We Travel There  and he writes a frugal travel blog at  BaldThoughts.com . I've been curious about the world of travel hacking, so I have plenty of questions for Lee about using trave...

Nobody wants to think about becoming a widow or widower, but unfortunately, if you are married, there is a 50/50 chance that you could. In addition to the crushing grief that comes with losing a spouse, there are many details to take care of in that first year alone. This is why I want to share an article with you from  NextAvenue.org . The article, written by Anna Byrne, outlines 7 steps that you...

Do you consider being rich and being wealthy the same thing? In the book by Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money, the author argues that these words mean two different things. In this episode of Retirement Starts Today, we'll explore the difference between rich and wealthy as well as the connotation of the word money.  Outline of This Episode [1:42] A review of the psychology of money [4:30] The...

Are you one of the many that are being held back from early retirement by the exorbitant cost of health insurance? If so, you won't want to miss this episode. This week's retirement headline comes from Carolyn McClanahan at  AdvisorPerspectives.com  and it outlines the enhanced health insurance subsidies that stem from the American Rescue Plan (ARP).  You'll want to stick around for the listener q...

I'm sure you've all heard about the 4% rule for retirement planning. This rule is great for speculating your likelihood of success, but it isn't always the best rule to follow in practice.  Druce Vertes at  AdvisorPerspecives.com  offers a different approach to implementing the original 4% Rule. On this episode of Retirement Starts Today, we'll dive into his technical article which explores the id...

As you prepare yourself for retirement, you probably have a vision of your retired self traveling, spending more time on your hobbies, or with loved ones. Retirement will give you time for all that and more. I read an article recently that describes the 6 phases of retirement. I had never defined it that way before, but this was an interesting way to delineate a natural progression of this time pe...

Have you ever considered going back to school? Early retirement can be a fantastic time to explore new learning opportunities.  In this episode of Retirement Starts Today, we'll take a look at a  Market Watch article  that describes the burgeoning culture of adult learning for those at or near retirement age. We'll continue by exploring many higher education programs across the United States that...

Since 2020 was the year of working from home, you may be wondering how you can deduct your home office expenses from your taxes now that tax time is upon us. For this reason, we explore an article written by Jeffrey Levine at  Kitces.com . Learn the home office deduction rules and discover if they will apply to your situation. Outline of This Episode [2:12] The specifics of the home office deducti...

If 2020 has taught us anything it is that the future is not always certain. This has brought about feelings of insecurity and anxiety in some people. That's why this week, I share an article from  Harvard Business Review  which describes how people can use micro-planning and biomimicry to combat feelings of uncertainty brought on by this post-pandemic world.  After the retirement headlines, I'll a...

Are you signed up for the My Social Security account from the Social Security Administration? In this episode, we'll review a  Kitces.com  article written by Jeffrey Levine about this important resource. We'll review the history of My Social Security, how to sign up for it, how its benefit calculations account for inflation, and how Americans can interpret its information in order to understand th...

Despite the economic downturn, 2020 turned out to be a fantastic year for charitable giving. In this episode, we'll look at how people chose to give and you'll learn about the efficiency of giving through donor-advised funds (DAFs).  In the listener questions segment, you'll learn how to survive a bear market in retirement. We'll investigate the length of the average bear market and see how you ca...

If you've been working from home over the past year you may wonder why you feel even more exhausted than normal. This could be due to Zoom Fatigue. In this episode, we'll explore an article from CNBC that references a Stanford study about this phenomenon. In the listener questions segment, I'll answer questions about RMDs and Roth conversions. Let's get to the bottom of your exhaustion--press play...

You have fraud protection on your bank accounts and your credit cards, but what about your retirement accounts? Today we'll explore an article from the  Wall Street Journal  outlining a case of cyber fraud in a 401K account. We'll also discuss ways for people to safeguard their savings.  In the listener questions segment, I'll answer a question about buying an RV in retirement and we'll wrap up th...

If you have listened to the news at all lately, you probably know what our Retirement Headlines segment will cover. The American Rescue Plan is all any financial news is talking about these days, so in today's episode, we'll explore what you need to know about this recent piece of legislation.  Then in the Listener Questions segment, I answer the question: should having a pension change the way we...

Enrolling in Medicare can be extremely stressful and confusing. There are so many choices to make, there are different rules to follow, and timelines to be met. Additionally, there is so much information out there that it merely adds to the confusion.  On this episode of Retirement Starts Today, I share with you an article written by Joanne Giardini-Russel from Advisor Perspectives entitled,  5 Ti...

How long have you been saving for retirement? Are you hesitant to break into your retirement funds and start living it up once you retire?  This week I share two Retirement Headlines articles. The first is called  Right-Sizing Retirement  and it comes from the  Financial Planning Association . In this article, the authors pose an important question: why save for retirement if you're not going to s...

Have you heard of the Monte Carlo retirement projection analysis? It is being used more and more by advisors and even popular retirement planning websites. Today, in the Retirement Headlines segment, I offer some insight on an  article  from Kitces.com that argues that using the Monte Carlo projection, a 50%probability of success rate is good enough. Then in the listener questions segment, I answe...

Have you wondered why the markets had such an amazing year in 2020 when the economy was a mess and everyone was stuck at home? You aren't the only one. That's why in this episode, we'll look at a New York Times article that examines this question.  We'll also answer some listener questions directly from our  newsletter  readers. Dave asks about dividend investing in retirement and Brian asks about...

Has the Covid-19 pandemic cut into your vacation plans? It seems like everyone's travel plans have changed over the past year. But what does that mean for employees and companies? Anne Steele and Chip Cutter examine the effects of Covid-19 and vacation taking in a recent  Wall Street Journal article  that we'll look at today.  In addition to our Retirement Headline, I'll answer two listener questi...

Has the news about the ups and downs in the market lately got you a bit worried? You aren't the only one. Many people are even thinking about pulling their money out in case there is a market correction. Does this sound like you? If so, you'll definitely need to listen to this episode.  When you press play you'll hear what would happen if you only invested at the market peaks, what to do with an i...

Are you setting yourself up for a single-ply retirement? Do you find yourself trying to save money out of habit rather than necessity? Listen to the retirement headlines segment to find out why this may not be the best idea in retirement.  In the listener questions segment, I actually have a listener answer. I asked the subscribers of my Every Day is Saturday newsletter what they were doing to com...

I figured that you all may be a bit sick of hearing the news lately which is why this week's episode will focus only on listener questions without the Retirement Headlines segment. I've got 2 listener questions that will pique your interest. Chris asks about long term care insurance. What is the difference between hybrid and traditional policies and when can someone self insure? And Janet wants to...

I'm feeling optimistic this year and I want to continue to spread that optimism. That's why I want to focus several shows on travel. Most people's travel plans were foiled by covid in 2020, so 2021 will be the year of the vacation! We'll be interviewing experts and discussing the mental and physical health benefits of travel. We get started on that road today with a Retirement Headline from Harvar...

Would you want to raise your standard of living for half of what you live on now? Tim Leffel did, which is why he chose to uproot his family from their life in Nashville to move to a small city in Mexico. Tim is the author of the book A Better Life for Half the Price and he joins me today to discuss the pros and cons of living abroad. Don't miss the opportunity to learn how you can save money by l...