Ready For Retirement

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the myth that investments are negatively impacted during election years. Many people shift their portfolios to less risky investments or pull out their funds entirely during election years because of this belief, but is it true? While there may be some residual effects of elections, particularly presidential elections, on the stock market and other investments, the data shows that these effects are not substantial enough for investors to need to take drastic steps. Every year has volatility and variance, but the long-term returns are optimized by staying the course regardless of the political party that is in power. In fact, the stock market seems to do best when there is some level of political gridlock in Washington.  If you want to ensure that your investments are going to provide you with adequate returns for your retirement goals, your best bet is to diversify your portfolio and include international investments as well as the typical US-based stocks, bonds, real estate, and business investments. Have an overall investment strategy, perhaps with the assistance of a financial planner, and don’t make your decisions out of the fear of what could happen if a certain person or party gets elected.LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Whether you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur, being your own boss has many perks. You can set your own schedule, prioritize the projects that mean the most to you, and you have the leverage to make key decisions that can alter the course of your career. When you’re self-employed, however, you don’t have the built-in HR benefits that come with being an employee of a company — instead, you need to manage things like retirement savings for yourself.Luckily, there are plenty of options when it comes to planning for retirement if you’re self-employed. Below we explore six types of accounts you can open to start saving for the future.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the issues you need to keep in mind when helping your aging parents with their finances and estate plans. James describes the five main categories of issues that need to be considered: cash flow and living arrangements, estate planning, insurance, tax planning, and asset and debt.No one is really ever prepared to walk through these categories with their aging parents, but with the help of this podcast and the downloadable checklist James has provided on www.readyforretirement.co, hopefully you will feel more adequately prepared for this process. At its core, this process is an investigative one during which you are working with your parents to locate all of their cash flow, estate planning, insurance, and asset/debt documentation. It is important to review the policies and benefits, making note of any requirements and adjusting beneficiaries or other details as needed. It would be helpful to you and your siblings or the others involved in your parents’ estate plans to have access to the contact information for any attorneys, financial planners, doctors, etc. that are key stakeholders as well as the passwords for any digital assets that your parents maintain before you have a need for them.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses a strategy for increasing your tax savings through charitable giving. James gives the example of a couple who contributed $12,000 to charity every year but they were still taking the standard deduction every year on their taxes, so they were never able to reap any tax deduction benefits from their contributions. He helped them set up a Donor Advised Fund into which they could contribute a large sum of money that could be distributed at their discretion over the next few years while providing them significant tax savings in the process. This is a great strategy for folks who do not qualify to itemize their deductions but are contributing significantly to charity throughout the year, but there are other beneficial strategies for other situations as well. Don’t feel limited by what you “qualify for”, because you likely fall into multiple categories and a financial planner can help you navigate these dynamics.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

This episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is a top-level flyby of the topics to consider as you prepare for retirement. Many of these topics have been covered in detail in previous episodes, so you may find it helpful to go back and listen to have a better understanding. The main issues that should be involved in your retirement planning are cash flow, healthcare and insurance, asset and debt options, and tax planning. While you can do some of this planning on your own, you will notice several times throughout this episode that there are strategies for optimizing your Social Security or tax benefits based on your particular situation, which would best be handled by talking with a financial advisor or planner.Be sure you also download the issues checklist and review the HSA contributions flowchart on our website!LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

You have made it to the final episode of the countdown to retirement mini-series on the Ready for Retirement podcast! If you didn’t catch the previous episodes, go back and listen to Episodes 12-14 of the podcast to have a full understanding of the countdown. The fourth question, which is the topic of this episode, is: Is your spouse ready for you to retire? The answer really comes down to expectations, and there are 5 main pitfalls that James sees couples fall into: 1.     Misaligned expectations – While you may be planning to be with your spouse 24/7 and work on house projects, they may think that their ideal retirement involves tee times every morning and spending time with friends.2.     Bringing the workplace home – You spent your entire career working up the corporate ladder, and by the time you retired, you were in a leadership position with many direct reports. When you suddenly aren’t in that leadership position anymore, it is likely that you will try to “manage” your spouse.3.     Handling money – There is usually one spender and one saver in the family, so of course, you will have different ideas of how to spend your money in retirement.4.     Depression – Studies have shown that people are up to 40% more likely to experience clinical depression after retiring due to the loss of a sense of purpose. A great way to combat this is by having a solid answer to question 3 (from Episode 14).5.     Disenchantment – Your entire working life, you have looked forward to retirement and built it up to be the best thing you could have ever imagined. When you actually retire and the honeymoon phase wears off, you may become disenchanted. So what can you do now to ensure you and your spouse are on the same page? Share your visions for retirement with each other and communicate about compromises when necessary. Set appropriate expectations about what you are both going to do. Listen to Episodes 13 and 14 of the podcast and have your answers prepared. Talk to an objective third party, whether that is another couple who are retired, a counselor, or a financial planner.Click Here For The Full Show NotesCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the 3rd question in the Countdown to Retirement series: “Do you know what you’ll do when you retire?” This can be an overwhelming question to contemplate at the end of a long career, when you’ve spent your entire life up to that point pushing towards the “next thing”, and you don’t have to have the answer right now, but hopefully this episode will help you narrow down your thought process. Perhaps you have spent your life in the same town for decades and your children have moved to another part of the country; consider packing up and moving somewhere new for your retirement years, maybe close to your children/grandchildren. Or you could stay put and commit to traveling. You could look into getting a fulfilling part-time job or volunteer position with an organization you are passionate about. You could sign up for some exercise classes or a new sports league to make that a part of your routine. Pursuing educational endeavors such as becoming a mentor, taking a class, reading, or writing a book or blog could be helpful in prolonging your health span and preventing cognitive decline. No matter what you plan to do, you would likely find it helpful to take a breather at the beginning of retirement to get used to living on a fixed income. Think about these things now so you feel like you are retiring into something, not just out of something.Tune back in next week for the final part of this Countdown to Retirement series!LET'S CONNECT!FacebookLinkedInWebsiteENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google PlayHave a question you want answered on a future episode? Submit it hereCreate Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

This episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the second part of four within a mini-series that answers the question “How do you know if you are on track for retirement?” In these four episodes, James outlines the four distinct questions that will ultimately help you know if you are on track.In this episode, James answers this question: Have you had enough work? Some people think that there’s no reason not to retire if they have the money to do so. While you need to be prepared financially in order to retire, retirement is about much more than just giving up a paycheck. You want to make sure that you’re actually ready to give up your job and everything that goes along with it. How can you know if you’ve had enough work? James explains four signs that you’ve had enough and are ready to retire: One, you consistently bring negative energy from work into your home life. Two, you’re too comfortable and aren’t challenged in your work. Three, you dread going to work in the mornings. Four, your work environment is toxic. And five, you feel physically or mentally unhealthy. On the flip side, James also gives four reasons you might want to continue working for a few more years: One, if your work provides you with a sense of purpose. Two, if you have mentorship opportunities and want to invest in others or the company. Three, if you have good friendships with your coworkers and would miss seeing them five days a week. Four, if work provides a routine that you need. If you’ve already determined that you’re financially ready to retire, this episode will help you decide if you’re ready to retire in other ways. Continue working if you feel that the benefits of working outweigh the benefits of retiring. But what should you do if your work isn’t providing benefits to your life? Tune back in to the third part of this series to find out! Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is how to handle your debt and investments before retirement. It seems like there is a constant tension between paying off debt and contributing to investment accounts when you have extra cash flow. How do you know which is the right decision in the long run?James outlines several crucial considerations as you develop the strategy that will work for you, starting with understanding the specifics of the debt you are paying off and taking a look at your actual cash flow to see how quickly you could pay debt down and how much you have available to invest. It is also important to keep in mind all of the places you could have your money, from contributions by you and your employer to retirement and HSA accounts to paying off debt. While it might seem like these decisions are black and white, there are also behavioral aspects that impact how aggressively you will pursue your strategy.It is also imperative to keep in mind the volatility of the market and plan out some contingencies for sticking to your retirement plan if the market conditions are not ideal. Research has shown that starting at a 4% withdrawal rate is typically sufficient to avoid outliving your money but sticking to that safe withdrawal rate may not always be easy. Overall, the biggest consideration is asking yourself what will bring you the most peace of mind in retirement and how to structure your pre-retirement decisions to align with the retirement you want.Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here.Join the new Root Collective HERE!