Retirement Answer Man

I cannot believe that this is our first time doing a monthlong series on Medicare! Thankfully, this is a five-week month, so we can really dive deep into this complex topic. Let me lay out the month for you. This week we’re talking about Medicare Part A and B. During the next episode we’ll discuss part D and all the things that Medicare doesn’t cover. Following that episode, we’ll discuss Medigap and Medicare Advantage as well as mistakes we can make with Medicare. Finally, we will dive in deep to help build a framework that we can use to best serve ourselves when it comes to Medicare. Are you ready to start your Medicare learning journey? Press play to start your Medicare education now. How does Medicare work? Danielle K. Roberts is a Medicare expert from Boomer Benefits. She helps people educate people on their Medicare journey all the time and she has even helped out in the Rock Retirement Club. I have invited her on the show to help all of us better understand Medicare. Today she is helping us learn about Medicare Part A and B. Medicare benefits can be so confusing, especially since most of us are coming from a completely different system of insurance. Are you ready to hear what is covered, what is not covered, what requires copays, and if you can ever fully exhaust your benefits? Well then, start listening now. What is Medicare Part A? Medicare Part A started in the 1960s and was modeled after the old Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance. Part A covers inpatient hospital stays and outpatient medical care related to a hospital stay. Included in Part A coverage are the hospital room, doctors, nurses, drugs, nursing facility visits, and hospice care. Medicare Part A does have its limits in coverage which could result in expensive copays and eventually exhausting the benefits fully. Listen in to find out what those limits are. What is Part B? Whereas Medicare Part A covers your hospital stays, Part B covers all that other stuff. For example, Part B covers chemotherapy, radiation, blood work, and doctor visits. However, Part B has a completely different deductible and coinsurance setup than Part A. The good news is that the deductible is only $198. The bad news is that there is no cap on the 20% coinsurance. Who do you pay?  Doctors’ visits can be so confusing. Should you pay the doctor at the time of your visit? Should you wait for the bill to come in the mail? What about those statements that Medicare sends? Danielle’s advice is to wait for Medicare to process the doctor’s bill before you pay. The doctor will then bill you if there are any excess fees. She also advises to ask plenty of questions and become an advocate for yourself. Even though Medicare can seem confusing at first, this system has been in place for a long time and actually runs quite well. If you are interested in receiving resources to help you make your own Medicare decisions, sign up for 6-Shot Saturday at RogerWhitney.com OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:13] What is fear?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:05] Our plan for the month[7:14] What is Medicare Part A?[11:30] What should people be aware of?[13:32] What is Part B?[16:12] Who do I pay?Q&A SEGMENT [26:58] Place yourself in the future when making a decision[31:02] A Social Security survivor benefit question[33:34] Comparing a first position HELOC instead of a mortgageTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [43:09] Sign up for 6-Shot Saturday at RogerWhitney.com to get a Medicare resource packetResources Mentioned In This Episode Boomer BenefitsMyMedicare.govRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

This whole month of August we have talked about improving decision making. Retirement brings about hundreds of choices. If you aren’t well-prepared to make those decisions you might simply revert to the default choice. Do you really want your retirement to be set to default? In this episode, you’ll learn how to create a framework to make tactical decisions. If you’re ready to learn how to make decisions that will help you rock retirement then press play now. What is the difference between strategy and tactics? A strategy is an overarching plan to help you achieve the kind of life you envision for yourself. Strategies don’t change very often. Tactics are the specific actions or steps you take to accomplish the strategy create an amazing life. This sequence can be hard to achieve because we often jump straight to the tactical decisions without thinking about the strategy first. It’s important to keep in mind your strategy first. Have you thought about the strategy that you want to use to create the retirement of your dreams? Retirement changes the trajectory of your life The trajectory of your life is changing in retirement. Your life is coming off autopilot and so that leads to hundreds of small decisions. It can be hard to adjust to making all these new decisions, we often just resort to the default choice. But if you can change the way you make decisions it can have a huge impact on your life. Think about the butterfly effect that has led to the life you live right now. One tiny change in the state of your life can really make an impact in the long term. If you are wondering how you can improve your decision-making press play to hear how. Use a process-strategy-tactics approach Before learning to make tactical decisions it is important to have some other things in place before jumping into making decisions. It is important to start with your values. Once you have a clear vision of your values then you can set goals that align with those values. After you have clear goals in place then you can develop a strategy to achieve your goals. Finally, within that strategy come the tactics. You’ll use these tactics to execute the strategy to achieve your goals that are in line with your values. How do you make tactical decisions? Once you have your goals and strategy in place you can make the most of your decisions by using this decision-making framework. Ask yourself these questions before making any decisions. Try it out on small decisions first before jumping into the bigger ones. What is your objective? What does success look like after you make the decision?What is the ideal outcome if you make this decision? What is the worst-case scenario?What are the consequences of the decision? What are the effects of this decision? Test it out. Use first-order and second-order thinking tease out what those effects might be.Listen in to hear how some real-life retirement decisions could play out using this framework. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [1:20] What is the difference between strategy and tactics?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [5:50] If you can get just a little better at making tactical decisions it can have a huge impact on your life[9:52] How do you make tactical decisions?[16:45] A framework for tactical decision makingCOACHES CORNER [24:44] Choosing leisure activities to add spice to your retirementTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [35:31] Test out this decision-making frameworkResources Mentioned In This Episode Rock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

We’ve been talking about decision making for the past several episodes and today I want to help you build a framework to rely upon when making decisions in retirement. This framework for better decision making will help ensure that you are living the life you really want. If you are ready to create a strategy that reflects your values so that you can rock retirement then press play now. Why do you need to build a decision-making framework? Have you really thought about your values? A person’s values are their principles or standards of behavior. Values are what you feel is important to your life. If you want to build a retirement and a life that you love then you need to live a life that reflects your values. The life that you lead is based on the decisions that you make. So if you want to enjoy a life that stays true to your values you need to put some thought into the decisions that you make. Having a decision making framework in place will help you stay true to your values. How to create a strategy that reflects your values So now you know why you need a decision-making framework, but how do you build one? You can create a strategy that reflects your values in just 4 easy steps. Step one is easy to remember. Start with your values! Before you can begin to build your framework you need to establish what is important in your life. What are your values?Create a vision of what you want your life to look like. This may sound a bit cheesy, but try and picture what you want your life to look like. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be important to you. Try asking yourself this question: at the end of your life what would make you think that your life was amazing?What’s your mission? This question leads to the how. How you are going to achieve your vision? Create strategic objectives that follow your mission. What strategic objectives will you focus on first? How will you focus on your mission?Build your decision-making framework today.  That’s it! Your framework can be as detailed or loose as you need it to be. But if you start taking these 4 steps you can build the strategy to make decisions that will reflect your values. Stay true to yourself and rock your retirement by creating a decision making strategy that you can implement. The ideal framework will reflect your values and set you up to live a life you truly love. Some real-life examples If you are curious about how these steps play out in the real world listen in to hear a couple of examples. You’ll discover how I started my firm and how my values are reflected in what I do. You will also hear how this strategy can be applied to life in retirement. You also want to listen in to hear Tanya Nichols help me answer some listener questions. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT’S THAT MEAN? [1:31] Values are your judgment of what is important to youPRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:31] Build your framework[6:30] Some examples of building a framework[9:44] An example of how you can build your framework in retirement Q&A SEGMENT WITH TANYA NICHOLS [12:28] What is the best and worst decision Tanya has made[15:21] Does it make sense to have a trust as a beneficiary?[17:52] How to predict taxable investment income from year to year[26:55] What is a good strategy for asset allocation after taxes?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [34:12] Sign up for 6 shot Saturday to help you figure out your top 10 valuesResources Mentioned In This Episode HolistiplanAlign FinancialRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center 

What is your retirement strategy? Do you have one? A strategy is born from a process and tactics are born from that strategy. This is why it is so important to make sure that you have a process and strategy in place when planning for retirement. Your strategy will help you drive those important decisions. Your decisions during the accumulation phase of life were much different than they will be in retirement. This is why I’ve got Dan Miller joining me to discuss his book 48 Days to the Work and Life You Love. Why did Dan decide to change the title of his book? Dan Miller recently changed the title of his best-selling book from 48 Days to the Work You Love to 48 Days to the Work and Life You Love. He changed the title to reflect the fact that work is just one tool in a successful life. What people really want is a successful life. His book can help you discover what drives you and how to dig in and strive toward building a life you love. Why 48 days? Dan mentions that although 48 is a somewhat arbitrary number, it is enough time to get you on the road to change your life. No, it isn’t scientifically tested, but if you work at it those 48 days can give you a roadmap to build a life you love. It is enough time to assess where you are, create a plan, and act on it. When making decisions and changes in your life it is important to have constraints. It is much too easy to sit back on your heals and wait for changes to act upon you. By setting a deadline of 48 days you are able to take control of your life. How do you deal with your identity when you leave your work behind?  Our identities are so wrapped up in the titles of our jobs. In retirement or upon leaving any job, it can often feel like we are leaving our identity behind. But this shouldn’t be the case. Who you are should include more than just the work that you do. It is important to realize the difference between these three things: vocation, career, and job. Your vocation is who you want to be remembered for, this should include your mission, your purpose, your destiny, and your calling. Your career is simply a subset of that vocation. Your job has an even smaller role; it is just what you do from day to day. So, what is your identity? How do you define your vocation? There are 3 main problems in retirement In retirement, three of the biggest problems that people experience are no friends, no money, and no purpose. The lack of money and friends can easily be changed, but what about the lack of purpose. It’s important to really define what your purpose is and what it will be in retirement. You can use your background, training, and network to help you figure out what you really want to do, who you really want to be in retirement. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:31] Why did Dan Miller decide to change the title of his book?[12:12] Why is there a deadline of 48 days?[16:20] How do you deal with your identity when you leave your work?[27:32] Procrastination is the enemy of changeQ&A SEGMENT WITH FRITZ GILBERT [34:07] Fritz’s spending process in retirement[40:40] An planned early retirement question[52:35] Should they stop saving in pretax assets[57:30] A five year ladder strategy questionTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [1:09:45] Do you have a strategy in place?Resources Mentioned In This Episode Episode 45 - Can Carl Retire?Retirement Manifesto Resources48Days.com/RogerBOOK - 48 Days to the Work and Life You Love by Dan MillerRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

I’m excited to share with you this next series of episodes. Over the next 4 episodes, we will explore how to make better decisions for yourself in retirement. Today we’ll examine what a decision is and think about all the different choices you have to make in retirement. Learn how to evaluate your decision-making process and discover how to make better retirement choices on this episode of Retirement Answer Man. Decision fatigue can wear you down Every day we are faced with so many choices. Have you ever looked at the number of different kinds of toothpaste there are to choose from? Even that small choice is overwhelming.  If you don’t have a framework in place to help you make decisions you can easily get worn down. This type of exhaustion is called decision fatigue. The more decisions you have to make the more your willpower becomes depleted. When decision fatigue sets in people often turn to the choices they have always chosen in the past. What do you do when you become overwhelmed by choices? There are so many decisions you face in retirement Think about all the decisions you need to make surrounding retirement.  When are you going to retire? Will you retire fully or ease into it? What will your spending look like? How will you create a paycheck for yourself? How will you protect against inflation? How will you pay taxes? Who will you spend your time with? Where do you want to live?  The list goes on and on.  And with each of those big decisions a decision tree with massive roots and limbs sprouts with new questions. It becomes easier to simply ignore all of those retirement choices and stick with the status quo. Is there a better way to make decisions?  The goal of this series is to help you build a framework to harness decisions. You’ll learn how to make good incremental decisions so that you don’t become overwhelmed. You’ll discover how to focus on the right decisions, the ones that really impact your life. You will develop a structure to get to the result that serves you the best. As a result, this framework will help you improve the quality of your life in retirement.  Are you ready to learn how to start making better decisions? Don’t miss this series, it could change the course of your life in retirement! OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT'S THAT MEAN? [2:16] What is a decision? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [3:55] There are so many choices to make [9:04] Set some rules to combat decision fatigue Q&A WITH CHAD SMITH [16:10] What is the Financial Symmetry podcast about? [18:12] Does it make sense to have a high yield savings account? [27:45] How you can access webinar replays [28:41] What about the SWAN ETFs? [37:36] Jane did a direct transfer from a 401K to an IRA [41:16] What’s on Financial Symmetry this month? TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [42:30] Premake one decision for yourself Resources Mentioned In This Episode PODCAST - Financial Symmetry with Chad Smith BOOK - The Behavioral Investor by Dr. Dan Crosby Rock Retirement Club Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney Work with Roger Roger’s Retirement Learning Center

Have you ever had to deal with closing an estate? Mark Ross happens to have the unfortunate experience of helping to close out 4 different estates in a short period of time. Since experience is the best teacher, Mark joins me today to discuss his experience with the probate process. He’ll share how he dealt with his feelings during the process, how long it took, how he managed, and what he thinks you can do to organize your own estate. Give your heirs the gift of an organized estate by learning all you can now to help ease the probate process. Organization can be a gift to your heirs In helping to close out 4 different estates in a short amount of time, Mark Ross learned a lot about the differing levels of organization in estate planning. Probate is a long and complicated process that can be even more challenging if you don’t have all of the pieces of the puzzle. Mark learned that when an estate is well organized the process is so much easier. He feels like that organization was a gift that helped him through the probate process.  How should you organize your own estate plan? Mark’s main piece of advice in organizing your own estate plan is to get an attorney that is a good fit for you and your personality. He also recommends that you keep meticulous records of all conversations regarding your estate.  Since family dynamics can play a role when money is involved it is important to be clear about the flow of money.  One last piece of advice he has is to never be a coexecutor. He found that that situation could drag out the emotional journey even longer than it needs to be. An executor needs to be able to have the accountability to make difficult decisions.  How organized is your estate plan? Is it updated to reflect your current situation? 3 things you can do to gain confidence in your financial plan in retirement If you don’t have confidence in your financial plan you won’t be happy in retirement. There are 3 things you can do to gain more confidence in your plan.  Understand how your financial plan reflects your personality. There are a couple of different ways that you can go about planning your finances in retirement. With a probability-based or investment based plan, you will have a portfolio that generates enough income to live on. The second style is the safety-first style. This means having your basic expenses covered by guaranteed income like social security or a pension. These two very different planning styles optimize for different things. Make sure the style you choose to follow reflects your personality.  Educate yourself. Many families have one who invests and the other doesn’t. Both partners need to be educated to have enough understanding to be confident in the financial plan. Hope isn’t good enough. Get a plan you are both comfortable and have confidence in. Have an emergency fund and a “fun” fund. Sure, this is just a psychological trick but it could give you peace of mind.  How confident are you in your retirement plan? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT’S THAT MEAN? [2:07] What is the difference between information and knowledge? PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:41] How do you balance the obligations of the estate with your feelings? [13:04] They have been able to learn and prepare for the estate closure over time [14:36] How should you organize your own estate plan? [16:54] How to deal with differing interests? COACHES CORNER WITH BW [20:27] If you don’t have confidence in your plan you won’t be happy in retirement [23:01] Paying off your mortgage can mean so much to some people [27:45] Have an emergency fund TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [33:03] Think about the past year: what were the best and worst decisions you made 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

By now you know how important estate planning is in retirement. But what is also important is to organize and communicate your wishes to your loved ones. In this episode, you’ll learn how to organize and communicate your estate planning wishes. We’ll chat with Sarah Bunnell from Everplans who will let you know how and why organization and communication are so important. Listen in to hear her expert take on these matters. And make sure you are signed up for the 6-Shot Saturday email so that you can receive an essential document checklist. An estate plan that is not organized or communicated correctly misses the point Let’s say that you have just finished your estate plan. Congratulations on putting that all together! Now that you have completed this first step it is imperative that you take that next step and communicate your wishes to your loved ones. Once you get your financial assets and legal records organized then you’ll want to ensure that your loved ones know about them. The probate process is very involved so the more information that you can give them now will save them time and worry during an already stressful period. Who should you communicate your estate plan to? Once you get your estate plan set up you’ll need to think about who you want to share it with. Do you have a trusted financial advisor? A CPA? An attorney? Who will be your point person? You’ll also want to make sure that you tell more than one person in your family. What would happen then if the family member that has all the information was involved in an accident with you? If you are single you’ll also want to consider who your trusted team may be. What about organizing your digital life? Almost everybody knows that you should have a will and a medical directive. But what about your digital estate? How will your family access your digital files? Is your digital estate a mess? In these modern times of paperless statements, your heirs may not know what kind of accounts, insurance policies, or even properties you own. Without the passwords to the myriad online accounts, they won’t be able to make the payments or changes that they need to in the event of your passing. A bit about EverplansEverplans is an online digital vault that we use in the Rock Retirement Club. This online organizational tool stores all the estate information you would need to have organized. Everplans allows you to share information on a piece by piece basis either now or after death to the important people in your life. You can store funeral plans, wills, trusts, financial statements, even recipes, and videos. Learn more about Everplans and organizing and communicating your estate plan on this episode of Retirement Answer Man. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?  [1:50] What is an emergency plan?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:18] Why is the organization of your financial assets and legal records so important?[6:50] What are the essential elements of an organized estate plan?[14:30] How important is it to organize[19:45] A bit about Everplans Q&A SEGMENT [26:10] You can do qualified charitable distributions at age 70.5[28:08] A state pension offset question[29:38] Baby boomers retiring and taking money out of the market[33:21] What did I end up doing for medical insurance?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [39:20] Lessen the impact of loneliness in the pandemic by calling a loved oneResources Mentioned In This Episode EverPlans.comRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

Many people choose to give to charity as a way to give back to their community. If you are overfunded you may decide to give to charity while you are still alive as well as part of your estate after you pass. On this episode of Retirement Answer Man, we’ll continue the estate planning series to discuss different ways that you can give charitably now and as part of your estate. Stick around to hear the Q&A session with my esteemed guest Peter Lazaroff. What is a charity? U.S. citizens are known for being extremely charitable people. Although many people help others as individuals, a charity is an organization that uses money and human capital to make a greater impact in the world. Different charities have different motivations and missions. When choosing a charity to give to it is important to look at its mission but also to make sure that the organization is a good steward of the money it receives. What motivates you to give? Each of us has a different motivation to give to charity. Maybe your reasons are personal, or perhaps your life was affected by a certain event. Some people practice charitable giving as a way to model good citizenship to their family. Others are overfunded and use charitable donations to help ease their tax burden. For whatever reason you choose to give to charity it is important to make sure to find organizations that match your values. Why do you choose to give to charity? How you can give to charity in life There are several ways to give to charity now while you are still alive.If you are over 72 you may find that your RMD is more than you need. You can solve this problem and reduce your tax burden by making a qualified charitable distribution. You can give to one organization or spread out your contribution among several charities. You can donate appreciated assets and avoid capital gains. If you donate all or a portion of appreciated assets directly to a qualified charity you can avoid capital gains. This could help you rebalance your portfolio or reposition your assets. Use a donor-advised fund (DAF) like your own charity. With a DAF you can donate cash or assets. It’s like a simple version of a private foundation. You can choose one or many different charities to give to. Listen in to hear how you can involve the family in your charitable giving. Use a trust in tandem with your charitable giving. Charitable remainder trusts or charitable lead trusts are a bit more complicated and require the help of an attorney. How to give in an estate after you pass  There are basically 2 ways that you can give to charity in your estate once you pass. You can either make a bequest in your will or name the charity as a beneficiary of an asset. The most simple and direct way is by making a bequest in your will. If you chose to name a charity as a beneficiary in an IRA asset then the charity would pay no income tax on that asset. How would you prefer to give to charity? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [3:08] What is charity?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [7:04] What motivates you to give to charity?[9:30] How to give to charity while you are still alive[22:44] How you can give your estateQ&A WITH PETER LAZAROFF [26:44] Peter describes when decided to create his own estate documents[30:38] Will a Roth conversion send your assets over the income limit?[33:33] How to become a financial planner later in life[44:30] How to navigate stock risk with your companyTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [52:52] Examine your charitable giving to look for planning opportunitiesResources Mentioned In This Episode XY Planning NetworkPeterLazaroff.comRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center 

Retirement is often the time when people begin to think more about estate planning. On this episode in the Estate Planning series, we’ll talk about giving. You want to be able to give to your loved ones but you also don’t want to rob them of their problems. That’s why we’ll discuss how you can give without enabling and you’ll discover how to optimize the impact of your gift. You’ll also learn how to decide whether you have enough to give. When you begin to think intentionally you’ll see that there are so many ways to give. Do you have enough to give? It would be amazing to be able to give to your loved ones before you pass, but how will you know whether you have enough? The first hurdle in giving is being comfortable giving away your assets. What if you need that money later on? Actually that’s not so hard to figure out. Often times you’ll see that deciding how to give is less a money question than a mindest question. To be comfortable giving away assets you need to understand your level of fundedness. Are you underfunded, constrained, or overfunded? Once you understand this then you can begin to put a plan in place for giving. How can we give intentionally? We give for many reasons. A gift is an item that you give someone without an expectation of payment in return. Giving is a way to express feelings and emotions and share those feelings with the receiver. You may not want your gift to your heirs to come in the form of a check from an attorney several months after your death. There are more intentional ways that you can give so that your family can feel the love behind that gift. Enhance don’t enable As parents, we would love to solve all of our children’s problems for them, but then we would be robbing them of that learning opportunity. One of the best gifts we can give our kids is not robbing them of their problems. We need to find ways to help them but also allow them to figure things out for themselves. There are ways that we can give to them that enhance their lives rather than enabling them. There are many ways to give before you pass Create memories - I think this is a fantastic way to give and to be able to enjoy that gift as a family. You could rent a house at the beach and help subsidize the family trip. Spend money to bring the family together. Annual gifting - You can give anyone $15,000 per year without reporting it. You could help fund their Roth IRA or help buy them a house. You might be surprised when you find out how much the lifetime gift exemption is. The gift of education - There are many ways to give for education. You can pay for college tuition directly. You could fund the grandkids 529 plan and allow the money to grow tax-free. You can also use up to $10,000 per year to fund a pre-college education if your grandkids are in private school. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [2:20] What is a gift?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [6:50] How do you give more intentionally?[10:45] We don’t want to enable we want to enhance[14:55] Retain optionality[16:12] Ways to give[27:43] What is a trust?Q&A SEGMENT WITH TAYLOR SCHULTE [36:59] Should we be investing in ESG funds in the “new normal”?[44:08] A rainy day fund question[52:18] A tax bracket questionTODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [60:06] How do you want your assets to be distributed?Resources Mentioned In This Episode Stay Wealthy podcast with Taylor SchulteDefine FinancialCuriousHistory.comRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel - Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center

One important aspect of retirement that not everyone is prepared for is estate planning. People avoid estate planning for various reasons, but a properly done estate plan is more than just documents. An estate plan is a way of continuing relationships and loving those people you leave behind in ways that you may not even imagine. Today we are kicking off our monthlong series on estate planning and we are starting with the basics. Listen in to hear what kind of documents you should have in place but also why they are important. What is estate planning? Everyone knows they should have an estate plan, but very few have or understand what estate planning really is. Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging the management and disposal of your financial and legal life. The good news is that if you don’t have an estate plan the government has one for you. The bad news is that it probably won’t reflect your wishes. Done correctly, estate planning can be an important gift that you leave to those you care about. Why have an estate plan? Some people may be fine without a plan and having the state doling out their worldly possessions. The purpose of an estate plan is to close out your financial life. When you pass away you probably don’t want to leave your loved ones with a financial and legal mess. Planning your estate in advance is one way to give a gift of elegant simplicity to your family. What does an estate plan involve? Probate - When you pass away the process by which the state goes through closing out your legal and financial life is called probate. A will - A last will and testament is a document that designates where your assets will go, but there is quite a bit of paperwork involved so an executor is named to manage the paperwork and distribute the assets based on your wishes. Beneficiary driven accounts - These accounts have beneficiaries chosen when you set up the account. Beneficiary driven accounts include 401K’s, 403B’s, IRA’s, etc. The benefit of having a beneficiary listed on these accounts is that they get out of probate quickly and transfer quickly and directly.Power of attorney - Another important document to have in place is a durable power of attorney. This gives a specified person the power to make decisions for someone who is incapacitated. Healthcare power of attorney - This document allows you to appoint someone to make healthcare decisions for you should you not be able to. If you don’t have one in place it could delay treatment. You can also specify specific situations in which you may not want life-saving actions. How often do you review your estate plan? There is more to estate planning than just having these things in place. I am not a professional estate planner. Think about talking to an estate planner to help you plan your estate. And remember that it is important to periodically review your will and beneficiary driven accounts. Do you have an estate plan in place? When was the last time you reviewed it? OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? [3:06] What is estate planning?PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT [4:34] An example of why estate planning is important[9:14] What are the basics of estate planning?Q&A WITH TANYA NICHOLS [21:58] Should a woman seek to work with a female financial planner?[26:49] Should you plan leveled withdrawals in retirement?[35:09] How to factor secure income[45:41] Why do we use average rather than the median in market assumptions?TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT [51:02] Review your estate planning documentsResources Mentioned In This Episode Align FinancialRock Retirement ClubRoger’s YouTube Channel -  Roger ThatBOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger WhitneyWork with RogerRoger’s Retirement Learning Center