Retirement Answer Man

What age are you using to plan retirement? When we think of age we usually think of the number of years that we have lived and not the physical state of our bodies. But maybe we should rethink the way we use age to plan retirement. I recently attended a fascinating seminar about the science of aging that has me rethinking age and retirement. During the Practical Planning segment, I discuss the merits of telomere testing while in the Hot Topic segment we talk about the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Listen to this episode to discover whether you are using the right age to plan retirement.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

The Baader Meinhof phenomenon is what we call our tendency to see things with uncommon frequency after we start thinking about something. Internet advertising has begun to take advantage of this and now repeatedly shows us all the things we have been thinking of buying. I liken this to our tendency to see the glass half full or half empty. You will find what you look for. People that are always looking for negative things to happen end up finding negativity. How are you viewing your retirement plans? Are you hoping to just scrape by and survive retirement or are you preparing to rock retirement?

Are you ready to rock retirement?

What are you doing to prepare yourself for retirement? Are you setting yourself up to simply survive retirement or are you ready to rock retirement? The Rock Retirement Club is now open for enrollment for a short time only. Head over to the website to take a peek. We have events and tours of the clubhouse that you can take before the enrollment period ends on January 3. The 60 founding members are all ready to welcome you and spread their knowledge. Joining the Rock Retirement Club is a fantastic way to gain insight and really connect with others on the same journey. Check out the Rock Retirement Club now before the enrollment period ends.

What is biological age?

The entire system of retirement is based on thinking about chronological age. We use chronological age to tell us when to take social security and our chronological age decides when we can withdraw from our Roth IRA without penalties. But what if you are physically much younger than the years that you have lived? Would that affect your decision on when to collect social security? If you knew that your body was that of a 55-year-old when you are 65 would you delay in taking social security? Your biological age may be different than your chronological age. Listen to this episode to hear more about the difference between the two.

How can knowing your biological age help you plan retirement?

There may be a better way to measure age. Scientists have developed a new test that measures the length of your telomeres which can help determine the biological age of your body. This could be very useful in your retirement planning. Living a long life would be a blessing, but it is one that you need to be prepared for. The older you become the more money you will need. If there is a probability of living a long life then you may want to use your human capital for a longer period than you thought. Are you curious about your biological age? Do you think knowing your biological age would change your views on pretirement?

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

  • [2:58] What is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon?
  • [5:53] Are you preparing to survive retirement or rock retirement?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [10:15] What is biological age?
  • [11:45] Is chronological age the best way to make retirement decisions?
  • [13:22] A better way to test longevity
  • [17:54] How long should you use your human capital for?

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT

  • [20:25] Finding out my biological age will make me happy

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [21:28] Find the word that will be the guiding light for you for the next year

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Teloyears.com

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Ask Roger a question

Work with Roger

3-video Series: 5 Minute Retirement Makeover

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page

Direct download: RAM253.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

Each year I choose one word to be my guiding light throughout the year. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, I will help you understand why choosing one word can help you rock your retirement plan in the upcoming year. Many people choose the New Year as a time to make resolutions for the year ahead. But narrowing your resolution to concentrate on one word can help you improve your focus so that you can stay on track to reach your goals. Listen to this episode of Retirement Answer Man to hear how choosing one word can help you narrow your focus and achieve your retirement goals. So what’s your word going to be?


Why choose one word?


Many people make resolutions at the start of each year. I have found that the problem with New Year's resolutions is that no one seems to keep them. We often set the bar so high or focus on goals that are too far ahead that the resolutions become impossible to keep. They seem to always result in failure. Instead of making a resolution this year try shifting your focus to choosing one word to serve as your guide over the next year. This word can really help better yourself or help you plan to rock your retirement. What’s your word for the new year?


How do I choose my word for the year?


I say I choose a word each year, but really it chooses me. A few years ago I quit the practice of making a New Year’s resolution each year. My whole life was really changing. I wanted to become more intentional and focus my skills in a new way. I began to focus on agile retirement management and I started this podcast. I realized that God was never going to come down and hold my hand through my life changes. I knew that I had to simply trust that I was doing the right thing. That is how trust became the word of the year that first year. Are you shifting your focus toward retirement? How will you choose your word? How will it impact your retirement plans?


What’s your word?


Think about your own life. Has your focus begun to shift? What do you want to work on over the next year? If you think about these things your word will naturally find you. Use your word as your guiding light throughout the year. I try to ensure that it naturally comes into my consciousness each day. One year I had my word stitched into my sports coats. Another year I used it in the signature line of my emails. Think about what your word will be and how you will remind yourself of your focus. Let your word become a filter for all the opportunities and situations that come up throughout the year.


What’s my word for the upcoming year?


Last year, Nichole’s word was simplify. She wanted to simplify her life a bit more and not get bogged down with so many commitments. She didn’t feel that she did the best job with her word this year. Maybe next year she will do better, she chose flow as her focus for next year. Hopefully, she can learn how to go with the flow. This past year my word was celebrate. I often don’t pause to celebrate my accomplishments, especially when it comes to working. I am always driven to focus on the next thing. I did celebrate my life more by taking some big trips and doing more things with my wife. Listen to this episode to hear the word I chose for the upcoming year.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

  • [2:11] The importance of one word to narrow your focus
  • [4:09] How I began my one-word focus
  • [9:37] Tips for keeping your word relevant in your life

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [11:50] How did I do this year with my word?
  • [14:15] How did Nichole do this year?
  • [18:06] What are their words for 2019?

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT

  • [21:32] Reflect on what made you happy in 2018

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [23:10] What will your word be in 2019?

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Parenthood Movie

The Trashmen Surfin’ Bird

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Ask Roger a question

Work with Roger

3-video Series: 5 Minute Retirement Makeover

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page

Direct download: RAM252.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

Welcome to the Retirement Answer Man show. On episode 251 we discuss what you can do to battle Alzheimer’s in the Hot Topic segment and Dan Crosby joins me to discuss behavioral investing in the Practical Planning segment. This is the podcast dedicated to helping not just survive retirement, but rock retirement! One way to really rock retirement is to surround yourself with people that are in the same boat. If you are surrounded by people that are motivated and intentional and working toward the same goal then that is a great way to ensure that you will rock your retirement. Join the Rock Retirement Club waitlist to arm yourself with the best retirement resources and community.

What can you do to keep Alzheimer’s at bay?

Increasing longevity is a scientific marvel. While it is exciting that people are living longer and longer, longevity can be a source of worry as well. Alzheimer’s disease is now battling heart disease for the rank of the top killer of the elderly. One way that you can combat this scary disease is to keep learning. People that are continually learning are exercising their mental muscles. Work is another fantastic way to keep the mind active. Work actually creates a type of cross-training for your brain. Find out why work could be just what the doctor ordered to combat Alzheimer’s disease on the Hot Topic segment.

Why don’t we talk about the behavioral aspects of investing?

People are always discussing active vs. passive investment strategies, but no one ever brings up the behavioral side of investing. Making better financial decisions depends on much more than just whether one is passively or actively investing. Behavioral investing actually requires something more from people. You have to stop and consider how your behaviors really affect your choices. Debating passive vs. active is a much easier debate. Considering investor behavior requires sacrifice and introspection. Listen to Dan Crosby describe why it is not easy for us as humans to change our behaviors even when it’s for the best.

What are the 4 tendencies that impact investor behavior?

There are 4 tendencies that impact investor behavior. They are conservatism, attention, emotion bias, and ego. Conservatism is an overreliance on the status quo. We as humans love to stick with the way things already are. Attention means that we tend to confuse sensationalism and the lure of the improbable with the probable. Emotion bias means we think that things that we like must be safe. Ego means that we have a tendency to be overconfident. We think that we are smarter than we are, and we think that we are luckier than we are and we also think that we can be more precise than we actually can. Find out why intelligence is not a factor in good investing.

The decumulation phase of investing is the least understood

Pending retirement means you are going from the accumulation phase of investing into the decumulation phase. This can be a scary and disempowering feeling to go from saving to withdrawing assets. Not only that, but retirees entire life purposes are changing and they are no longer generating income. This shift in mindset can cause people to feel out of control. Dan feels that you have to be just as diligent as putting your psychological realities in order as your finances. Discover how the PERMA model for happiness can help you prepare for the psychological realities of retiring by listening to Dan Crosby on the Retirement Answer Man show.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

  • [3:21] Alzheimers and longevity can be scary thoughts
  • [4:45] What can you do to lessen your chances of Alzheimer's

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [8:17] Dr. Dan Crosby is here to discuss the behavioral aspects of investing
  • [10:05] Why don’t we talk about behavioral aspects of investing enough?
  • [14:14] The 4 tendencies that impact investor behavior
  • [21:55] The decumulation phase is the least understood
  • [24:46] The PERMA model for happiness

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT

  • [29:24] Acknowledge that stress can cause a temporary decrease in intelligence

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

BOOK - The Behavioral Investor by Dan Crosby

BOOK - The Laws of Wealth by Dan Crosby

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Ask Roger a question

Work with Roger

3-video Series: 5 Minute Retirement Makeover

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page

Direct download: RAM251.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

On episode 250 of Retirement Answer Man we investigate the investment strategy of global diversification. With the U.S. stock market on a tear, is global diversification really worth it? In 2018 international investing has been a drag on our portfolios. As with everything, there are positives and negatives to investing internationally, but it is important to diversify your portfolio. David Stein, from the podcast Money for the Rest of Us, and I discussed the pros and cons of holding international stocks at FinCon recently and I share a bit of our conversation with you all. Listen to our discussion and hear some interesting facts about longevity on this episode of Retirement Answer Man.

Longevity is here to stay

Longevity is a big issue if you are approaching retirement since you will probably live longer than you think. This increase in longevity is important to consider when planning your retirement. Longevity has grown so much that the fastest growing population is that of centenarians. Between 2001 and 2015 deaths due to heart disease decreased while Alzheimer's deaths increased. As of now, the natural life expectancy seems to peak at 120 years old, but scientists are constantly looking for ways to increase it. The truth is we are getting healthier and staying productive for a longer time. Listen to the Hot Topic segment to find out what increasing longevity means for your retirement.

Pretirement is a great way to redefine retirement

Gone are the days when you can just stop working and do nothing. If you may live another 40 or so years after your retirement then pretirement is a great way to gain time freedom and it combats your feeling of having little or no control over your income and your time. If you simply stop working it can be much harder to jump back into the workforce if you ever need or want to. Pretirement helps to keep the mind active which is an important way to combat Alzheimer’s disease. Learn how to redefine retirement by listening to this episode of Retirement Answer Man.

Why do we need global diversification in our portfolios?

The S&P 500 has been on a roll over the past ten years while developed international markets have performed quite poorly. So if global markets are doing so badly, why should we even have them in our portfolio? There are positives and negatives to global diversification. There are quite a few quality companies that are traded overseas, like BMW, Shell and Volvo which you may want to invest in. Limiting your portfolio to companies that are only traded in the U.S. limits the reach of your portfolio. While holding international equities can be more complicated and take more research they can be a great way to bring balance to your portfolio. Discover the pros and cons of global diversification on this episode of Retirement Answer Man.

A conversation with David Stein on the pros and cons of global diversification

I recently chatted with David Stein from the Money for the Rest of Us podcast. We discussed whether global diversification is really worth it. The question of holding international investments is important to consider since the U.S. market has been outperforming global markets for over 10 years. David pointed out that if we want to hold a truly diverse portfolio then it should reflect the fact that over 40% of companies are held abroad. With a diverse portfolio it can always feel like you are missing out on something and that you have holdings which are dragging you down. How do you feel about your portfolio? Is it globally diverse?

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

  • [3:42] Longevity is a reality
  • [8:33] Why is pretirement so important?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

  • [12:10] What are the positives and negatives of holding international equities?
  • [16:07] Some data from the MSCI-EAFE index
  • [22:26] Why you still should hold international investments
  • [24:08] What does David Stein think of international diversification?

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT

  • [27:55] Longevity can lead to loneliness--so make some younger friends

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

  • [29:10] Review your asset allocation and identify your exposure to global markets

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

David Stein Money for the Rest of Us

BOOK - The 100 Year Life by Andrew Scott

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Ask Roger a question

Work with Roger

3-video Series: 5 Minute Retirement Makeover

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page

Direct download: RAM250.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am CDT

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