The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast

Ep: 051 7,300 days. 175,200 hours. 10,512,000 minutes. That is the amount of time you can expect to have in retirement, considering the average length of retirement is approximately 20 years, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. How will you spend all of that newfound free time? Without a sense of purpose, the risk of dissatisfaction increases, and what should be a me...

Ep:050 Cybercriminals and fraudsters will always attempt to go after the most vulnerable targets, and not enough is being done to protect and educate the elderly who are among those most regularly targeted by online scams. Much is discussed about protecting the workforce online, but as the web-using population ages, there's an increasing number of older web users who are using the internet without...

Ep:049 We did things a little differently this episode – no guest! Instead, Ben and Curtis sat down to give you a Retirement Potpourri. Tune in to hear them give an update on Guidance Point Advisors and The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast. Further in the conversation, Ben and Curtis share some helpful Retirement Resources and discuss what’s trending in the retirement universe. Use the link bel...

Ep 048: According to a September 8, 2020, CNBC article "Here’s what you need to know about moving in retirement" by Jill Cornfield, “Sixty-four percent of retirees say that they are likely to move at least once during retirement." Downsizing, such as moving to a smaller, more manageable property in the same area, is the most typical move people make. It makes sense from several perspectives, right...

Ep 047: In today's day and age, we're having more and more conversations with our financial planning and advisory clients that they want their values to be incorporated in all aspects of their lives. There are hot button items that they want to be impacting wherever possible. Maybe its climate. Maybe its social inequality. Maybe its disclosure of a company's business practices or countless others....

Ep 046: According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data from 2017, the average monthly energy bill in Maine is just $87.21. That’s the lowest average energy bill of any state in New England, and one of the lowest in the U.S. For reference, Maine’s closest neighbor, New Hampshire, features a much pricier $114.95 average monthly energy bill. (Source: SmartData) However, that's not the...

Ep 045: The next jackpot for the next Powerball drawing has hit $1.5 billion. If you win it, you won't ever have to worry about money again--right? Wrong. With good money management you--and your heirs--could live handsomely for many, many years. But from the moment that you claim that prize, you will be descended upon by vultures who want a hefty helping of those winnings. And if you didn't have...

Ep 044: In our show, we've covered many topics but we've not had the conversation about Caregiving. According to the National Alliance of Caregiving (NAC) and AARP, 53 million, or 21% of Americans are providing unpaid care to an adult with health or functional needs. 24% of caregivers are caring for more than one person. 26% of Americans are caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease or dementia....

Ep 043: You'd think that in retirement we are going to be stress and anxiety free and life is just six Saturdays and a Sunday, right? But, there is always something to worry about - starting with the retirement transition period of "who am I and what do i do with the rest of my life?" to financial, medical, relationships, and life in general. One thing we've found with our clients is that just bec...

Ep 042: In the United States, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community is large; in fact, this group makes up approximately 4.5% of the country’s total population. An estimated 2.7 million adults in the US are both LGBTQ+ and over 50, with 1.1 million over the age of 65. Despite their size and prevalence, the LGBTQ+ community still experiences myriads of hurdles and ch...

Ep 041: One of the things as financial advisors, we get asked about a lot from clients, but also just people we bump into, is cryptocurrency - there just seems to be lots of questions about what it is and how it's impacting people. There are questions about what it is today, how it's impacting us and also, how it's tying into our lives, both today and in our retirement and how we think about aging...

EP 040: It's estimated that for the average American retiree, 40% of our retirement income comes from Social Security. But how do I make sure that I'm making good decisions about a social security benefit that is supposed to pay me for the rest of my life? Am I asking the right questions of Social Security when I talk to them? Are there benefits that I might be entitled to that I don't know about?...

EP 039: Earlier in our shows, we had two estate planners come on and talk about the importance of having an up-to-date estate plan. In our experience as financial planners, many people come to us nearing retirement and have a will/estate plan that can date back to 30 years ago. So we all know now that we should keep these plans up to date. BUT, what are some common mistakes that we (as in Mainers)...

EP 038: What's the one "hobby" that everyone associates with retirement? They might say "So now that you're retired, I bet you're playing lots of golf". Well, for some retirees that's EXACTLY what they want to do. But what if we've never actually played before, how do we start learning to play (is it too late)? Or we've played some while we've been busy in our careers, how can we get better? What...

EP 037: As we change from one stage of our life to another, one thing we observe is the RESISTANCE and STRUGGLE of losing our identity from a previous stage of life. Maybe we were a captain of industry, maybe we were a star athlete, or perhaps a parent to a child or children that are now independent. One identity struggle we have heard from women over 50 is that the things that have made them feel...

EP 036: What if we're thinking about retirement all wrong? What if retirement ISN'T exchanging a binge on working for 40 years for a binge of NOT working for 30 years? Many of the clients we talk to as they are in the mid-to-late stage of their career and may have already achieved a certain level of career success  are searching for what is next. But what is next for us? This inflection point lead...

EP 035: For many Mainers, families have a place where they retreat to during the spring, summer, and fall months and enjoy the best that Maine weather has to offer. Many families use this place, AKA camps, as the retreat where the family "from away" vacation to and reconnect with family members that are here. There are sounds of children swimming and jumping in the water, the firepit and bonfire b...

EP 034: What if there was a time machine? How would it change our lives? Would you do things differently if you could? Well, today we're talking about a different take on a time machine. As we're aging, we tend to be a bit more sensitive to HOW we spend our time and WHAT we do with our time. Many times, retirees state the goal of wanting to travel TO places and experiencing new things. But the big...

EP 033: As Financial Advisors, we are very frequently asked to give our thoughts on the investable markets and what it means for our retirement. While our show mainly discusses life challenges pre and post-retirement, we wanted to share a bit of our team's expertise on how investments and financial movements may be impacting your retirement directly or indirectly from the events of 2020. Join us f...

EP032: About now, we're all needing something to look forward to. One of those things that you and perhaps your spouse state is that you want to travel more. But what do you want to see? What if you and your spouse have different interests and tastes? How should we go about creating a "WanderList" of things we want to do and places we want to visit? What if we're interested in certain themes like...

EP 031: As we were creating our podcast, we looked around the State of Maine to see if anyone else was having similar conversations as what we're having here. We reached out to our next guest, Diane Atwood, about her "Catching Health Blog" and "Conversations About Aging Podcast" to discuss her writing and audio show. Many in Maine might have seen Diane's previous work as a Health Reporter at WCHS6...

EP 030: Do you ever get to the point that the weather in Maine kind of gets to you? Do you ever dream about moving to another destination, perhaps in retirement? Well, following our episode about international living, we wanted to explore a more traditional move that many Maine retirees make ~ moving to a sunnier locale in the U.S.! Our colleague, Larry Pelletier and his wife, Joyce, did just that...

EP 029: A common goal we hear from our clients is that "I want to age in my home for as long as possible!" But when do we know that it's time to consider other living arrangements specifically targeted towards us as seniors? What are the various types of living and care arrangements and how do I know which one is right for me (not only now but in the future)? These are the types of questions we wa...

EP 028: Several of our clients have expressed to us over the years when visualizing their own retirement success that they are interested in living abroad. But living abroad means we'll have to change almost EVERYTHING about our life: different governments-different cultures-maybe different languages-different cost of living-changing citizenships (maybe?) -different healthcare access- and more! We...

EP 027: Communication is hard. We were all born with a voice box, but it didn’t come with instructions on how best to use it. We see this in our financial planning sessions with clients ~ there are just some things they don't know HOW to say. We could be EMBARRASSED by feeling something or maybe we don't know how to navigate tough conversations without saying something we'll regret, giving our pow...