Retirement planning will never be the same. Actually there are many aspects of our lives that will never be the same. The Coronavirus disruption has been exactly that, a disruption of our everyday lives. It has affected everything from education, to work life, to retirement planning. Find out how staying intentional and agile will help you rock retirement on this episode of Retirement Answer Man. 

Disruption causes trends to accelerate

Normally we see new trends happening but they take time to really take root. But once some kind of disruption takes hold those trends begin to accelerate. Remote working and online learning were two trends that were coming along in the world but they never really took hold until the Coronavirus disruption. These two trends have been fueled by this disruption and education and the workspace will never be the same. 

How do you define retirement?

If you look retirement up in the dictionary it can mean several things. But none of those ring true for most people in the various stages of retirement planning. We all have our own definitions, our own versions of how we want to spend our golden years. Many of us feel that the most important thing to consider in retirement is time freedom. We want to have control over our own schedules. Plenty of people want to continue to work, but for a different purpose. The compensation may not be the same. Instead, they choose to work to give or to make an impact in the world. So what does retirement mean to you?

5 ways retirement planning is changing

School and work aren’t the only aspects of life that are changing. Retirement planning is changing as well. This field has its own trends that will be accelerated by the Coronavirus disruption as well. Here are 5 trends that I see changing retirement planning.

• I think we were all starting to value experiences over things and that will continue to accelerate when all this is said and done. 
• Retirement planning generally starts out as a mathematical formula and we often forget life outcomes. I think retirement planning will become less investment-focused, and more focused on creating the outcomes that are right for you. 
• Matching our assets with our liabilities will increase in importance in retirement. This is what retirement planning actually is.
• People will become more focused on short-term volatility risk and may forget about long-term inflation risk and decreased buying power. Since inflation has been so low for so long we frequently ignore its risk. 
• Pretirement will boom. Pretirement is an excellent bridge between full-time work and retirement. It doesn’t just give you cash flow in retirement it also gives you:
• • Time freedom
  • A purpose or something that interests you
  • A way to help mentally ease into retirement
  • A transition in your social network
  • Agency and a sense of power 

What trends do you think might accelerate from all of this? Let me know by responding to the 6 Shot Saturday email. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

• [0:40] Disruption causes trends to accelerate

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

• [3:20] What does retirement mean?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [5:35] 5 trends in retirement planning

Q&A SEGMENT

• [20:28] How should Mitchell roll his pension so that he doesn’t get taxed for the lump sum?
• [22:00] What kind of stress tests can we do to prepare for retirement?
• [25:38] How to prioritize what’s important in stressful times
• [30:28] How to pursue a second act

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [33:24] What can you do to treat yourself?

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center