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6 Habits of Happy Retirees

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6 habits of happy retirees. 

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):

I used to think this job was all about investments, rates of return, market volatility etc…Its not.  In a decade of helping people get into (and more importantly stay) in retirement I have noticed some common things my happiest retirees do like:

  • Eliminate the unexpected
  • Focus on their health
  • Outsource

You can skip my pontifications if you like to the 📽️👇.

I have conversations every day with people at every stage of their financial lives.

Encouraging young savers to forego that cup of coffee and invest the $14 it costs to get time and compounding interest on their side.

Talking my near-retirees through market ups (ok, mostly the downs.)

Checking in with my retirees about that stage of life that they worked, saved, and invested to reach.

Over hundreds of conversations I have discovered that the things people talk about change.

Younger investors are focused on the money, an “escape hatch”, and planning for growth, tax efficiency, and individual investments.  But underneath those conversations I pick out that what they are really worried about is:

“Am I doing the right thing”

“Am I on track”

“I am so busy I don’t have time for this (or know what I am doing)”

When I talk to my clients who are kicked back on a beach or visiting their grand kids on vacation I have discovered that the conversation has shifted from the dollars and cents.  Given the right tools, I have very few clients who live the retired life they want knowing the money will be there.

In talking to retirees all the time (getting a glimpse into where I will hopefully be…one day…) I like to find out some common themes around what makes the retired people happy.  I have noticed 6 things happy retirees have in common 📽️👇.

The basic theme among the most successful retirees are things that

  • Free up time
  • Free up head space
  • Decrease worry
  • Increase confidence

Watch the video below to learn about these habits and try and incorporate them into your overall financial plan.

Retire earlier: the Pension Hack

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Have a PENSION? Read this to maximize your retirement income.

ATTN: Public Employees 👮‍♂️ 👩‍🚒 👨‍🏫

ATTN: Boeing and other Union members.

You don’t have to choose between the highest income and protecting your spouse. 

BLUF (bottom line up front): There are ways to take the most income, and make sure your spouse is taken care of and you leave something behind.  Boeing case study video at the end 👇📽️.

If you don’t have a pension you will be a hero to someone who does if you forward this to them.

Because I specialize in working with first responders and public employees, all retirees with a pension face the same dilemma (here’s looking at you Boeing and other union members ✈️.)

The conversation is always the same…

“This sucks 😣 , if I take the highest pension, my family doesn’t get anything when I die…I guess I’ll settle for the lower amount….”

Here is the thing.

I believe people who work hard deserve to live the life they want. I spent too long on the police department around the opposite.

So when it comes to what tools we use to generate passive income in retirement…it matters.

Typically, the formula looks like this for people with a pension:

1️⃣ MAX pension: stops when you die.

2️⃣2/3rds pension: stops when the last spouse dies.

3️⃣Typically there is nothing left for the kids.

❗Done correctly this does not have to be the case❗ There are tools available that can produce more income (getting near the max) while at the same time providing income for survivors and leaving money behind for heirs.

This is not for everyone❗. There is nothing wrong with taking a traditional pension option, and there are advantages and drawbacks to everything that need to be clearly understood. But with my clients that have elected to use some other outside-the-pension tools, the feedback I get is that they love having their cake and eating it too.

High Income Earners, the TRUTH about Roth accounts

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I work with a lot of high-income earners.  Near Seattle we have Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Meta, and a host of other high tech, high paying companies.

When doing financial planning for high income earners, once I create tax efficiency in their current investments and retirement assets we can personally invest, I help them with their company retirement plans (401ks mostly).

Often, I will say “ok, you are saving into pretax 401k, I want you to save into a Roth.”

The response I normally get is “I can’t, I make too much money for Roth.”

This statement is actually 50% TRUE, 50% False.

Creating tax free wealth is something I preach as loudly and often as I can to my clients.  And the short version of this sermon is this.

The more money you make, and the younger you are, the more you need to create tax-free wealth.

The Roth IRA is one-way high-income earners can save money tax free, but it is not the only way.  And it is true that if you make too much money, you cannot directly contribute to a Roth IRA.  But it is NOT true that you cannot get money into a Roth at all.

Watch below to learn more.

What are you doing to protect your financial plan from this big threat?

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I get a little “tin-foil hat” sometimes.

BLUF (bottom line up front)

If you aren’t, AGGRESSIVELY, creating TAX FREE wealth, you are setting yourself up for a lot of pain.

No. Roth is not enough.

People often see the threats to their retirement investing through an entirely market driven lens.

– Inflation 📈

– Volatility 🎢

– Poor earnings 🤮

– The economy 🏭

If any number of those turn out bad, you stand to lose 📉 a chunk of money (and, worse, time.)

People often overlook one of the major events that can IMMEDIATLEY cost you 5, 10, 20, 50% of your assets.

Case in point in the article below. “But it only applies to people with big $$$!”

The point is that the federal and state government can change what they like, when they like?

Don’t believe me. For 133 years the State of Washington considered a capital gains tax to be unconstitutional. In 2022….never mind, JK, LOL.

The tax man can not only change tax RATES, but the NATURE of taxation.

Today’s capital gains could be tomorrow’s ordinary income.

This is why I am outside the box, kind of obnoxious, and occasionally cost myself potential clients by using every tool available to create tax FREE wealth in my client portfolios.

Could the IRS/State attack the Roth? Absolutely. The government could:

1️⃣ Income test Roth distributions (yeah, you might pay income tax twice.)

2️⃣ Net worth test Roth distributions

3️⃣ Take away Roth contributions based on income/net worth.

We cannot control what the legislatures do. What we can control is how we prepare.

So the question is NOT what they will do. The question is what are YOU doing to protect your financial plan.

The secret to MAXIMIZING your retirement income.

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Two of the most common questions I get when it comes to financial planning is…

When can I retire, and how much income will I have in retirement?

The honest answer to those questions is…it depends.

There is really two components to figuring out the answers to these questions.

1️⃣How much money will you have?

2️⃣How much can you safely and comfortably take out?

These two principals fit in with the investing strategy at my firm.

1️⃣Lose less than everyone else when the market stinks.

2️⃣Do a little better than everyone else when the market is good.

So, what are the benefits of maximizing your retirement income?

  • Have more money in retirement 💰
  • Retire earlier 💪
  • Have more confidence and peace of mind when you retire 🧘
  • Leave more behind to those you care about 💸

Watch here to learn how to create the most income possible in retirement.

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Market timing is a bad idea, but you can “beat the market.”

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If you are 55+ years old and nearing or in #retirement…

With the market a blood bath 🔻 🤮 again for this week, I thought it a good time to poke Wall St in the eye by addressing one of the biggest reasons I have seen people lose money.

Unquestionably WORSE: The TIME⌛ AND PEACE OF MIND 😟 people lose.

The reason? TIMING THE MARKET (and why this is always a bad idea.)

The solution: You can actually “beat the market” in 2 distinct ways (mathematical and the feels.).

I have three people currently considering coming aboard my practice.

1️⃣ A great guy managing his own money. “I buy and hold the S&P500, because the market always comes back.” After a little trust was built, he admitted “I currently am in cash, I usually work on gut feeling.”

2️⃣ A couple with a big Wall St firm that said “we’re tired of losing but want to make back some losses before we move.”

3️⃣ A couple who sold their house and turned $500,000 over to a Wall St firm because a friend who “has done very well” gave them a referral…(more on this, which is a timing issue.

Three points on market timing.

1️⃣ It is almost impossible. First you have to be right. Then you have to be right all the time. Just because you successfully buy high, you then have to know when to sell, then when to buy ad infinitum. Consider that, according to Barron’s JUST 7% of professionally managed funds have “beaten the market” in the last decade. These are “experts” who wake up every day, with all the most expensive research and insider knowledge, and they fail 93% of the time.

2️⃣ Its a no win scenario. Let’s say you time it right. “I want to wait till the market comes back”. If you are right and the market rebounds, but then drops (a “bull trap”) you lose everything you just made back. You also lose time. And was it a lot of stress free “fun” waiting for the market to come back? If you are wrong and the market keeps tanking 🔻 how long are you going to wait for it to come back? Consider: The S&P 500 took ❗ 12 YEARS ❗ to “come back” from the peak of the 2002 tech bubble. Do you want to put your plans off 12 years?

3️⃣ Its not worth it. Why would you put your plans, your peace of mind, your time with your family, and your money at risk when you don’t have to? If it were a matter of “sit in cash” and “buy and hold” I get it…maybe there is an argument there. But with #investments that limit or eliminate loss, but can still make double digit returns if the market rebounds available, there is no reason to try and “time the market.”

Below is an example of 2 ways to “beat the market….”

1️⃣  The first way is mathematical.  I was the first DIY investor I know.  I started by buying a single stock (TRMB if you want to know) using paper route money through my great-grandmother when I was 12.  Since then I have day traded, bought and sold options, traded futures, done the “10 stock portfolio”, 60/40, read every blog (I was a Boglehead) and mirrored Warren Buffet.   Then I started managing client’s money using one simple principle.  Reduce unnecessary risk without giving up the reward.  By using these institutionally available investments I started to notice my clients were way outperforming my personally money.  Since I have started doing for myself what I do for my clients I have a far better ROI and lost far less sleep over money.

2️⃣  The REAL way you beat the market is this.

INVEST SO THAT IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT THE MARKET DOES.

INVEST SO THAT YOUR PEACE OF MIND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH “THE MARKET COMING BACK”

 

The best investments both protect and grow.

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With the FED holding rates high to try and drop inflation, and the DOW at a net loss for the year, things are uncertain.

In all my financial plans I often recommend things 95% of people aren’t familiar with. This is because 95% of financial planning is run by Wall St, who wants to convince people that “the institutional research we do blah blah…buy and hold…don’t catch a falling knife…” will get you to the finish line. And, to be honest, over a long enough period of time…it probably will.

When it comes to the tools you can use to do things like reduce unnecessary risk, lower your tax burden etc… here is my belief about the BEST investment available, and it isn’t what you think.

The truth is…there is no one best investment 🤯 . I know, statements like that are why I will never retire. I probably have half the clients I could but have happier clients than most, because I believe people deserve honesty, and not a sales pitch.

Ok, I told a half truth. The best investment is the one that accomplishes your goals. The best investment is the one that does the job you want it to do.

All stock jocks think their “propriety portfolio” will make you rich overnight 🛥 while ignoring that something ridiculous like 95% of active portfolios underperform a passive index 😥 .

Everyone in real estate will tell you that as soon as they “get to 100 doors” you can help them pick our the color of leather interior on their new G5 🛫 (and then interest rates go from 0% to 10% and the market tanks.)

“Can’t go wrong putting 100% of your money in annuities” says your buddy who was hired at an insurance company right out of business school.

The truth is that all investments do different things, at different times, and have different strengths and weaknesses. Every investment vehicle is different and all have their purpose (except Variable Annuities, I will die on this hill).

Want tax free growth and safety: Roth fixed income

“But I want to use my money before I am 59.5”

I get it, I want my cake but also to eat my cake.

This is why the best financial plans and portfolios have all different tools at their disposal, and why I don’t push one solution, or shy away from another. At the end of the day the point is to have the right tools to build a financial plan that will grow in the sunshine but protect us from the rain.

It’s not just your will that needs to be up to date.

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How important is it to make sure that you’re investment and insurance documents are up to date?

There are all kinds of things that can happen if you don’t have a designated beneficiary on your accounts. Typically if you pass away and your money is going to pass on, and you don’t designate a beneficiary, that money will be subject to probate.

Probate can involve pain off creditors, contentious battles between airs, taxation, and other unpleasant things that you don’t want your loved ones to deal with when they’re grappling with the loss of a loved one.

But there are other requirements you might be missing that could cost a lot of money or emotional strain.

For instance, i just received a call from a client who was the beneficiary of her long time boyfriend’s life insurance.

He had an extended illness and she had been taking care of him for the last five years.

Even though she’s the beneficiary on the life insurance they never filed an official domestic partnership. I was attempting to help her file the death claim so that she can receive the insurance benefits that he designated for her, but his family is refusing to communicate with her.

The State of Washington will only release the full “long form” death certificate to certain individuals, and she doesn’t qualify. Since they never registered as an official “domestic partnership” the Department of Health will not release the certificate she needs to file the life insurance claim.

Luckily, I called the family of the deceased and smoothed things over, and we were able to get the needed form.

Wills, trusts, and other legal documents besides the beneficiary designation are key to making sure your loved ones don’t have to deal with a big mess at the time they are dealing with a big loss.