April 15, 2025 • 18 mins
Is your retirement plan based on outdated assumptions—or real-world trends?
In this episode of Women’s Money Wisdom, Melissa Joy, CFP®, breaks down how retirement is changing—especially for women and Gen Xers.
From unexpected post-retirement spending spikes to the growing trend of phased retirement, Melissa shares insights on what today’s retirees really need to be thinking about.
You’ll hear why traditional assumptions about retirement may no longer apply, how inflation and rising costs are impacting timelines, and why confidence levels vary so dramatically between generations and genders.
Whether you're planning decades ahead or approaching retirement soon, this conversation will help you understand the trends, risks, and planning opportunities shaping the future of retirement.
Key Topics Covered:
- Why retirement spending often increases—not decreases—right after leaving the workforce
- The impact of inflation and rising living costs on retirement timelines
- Confidence disparities across age groups and between men and women
- Commonly underestimated costs in retirement—especially healthcare
- How phased retirement is changing the traditional retirement model
- The importance of flexible, forward-looking planning strategies
Tune in to gain valuable insights on how to build a retirement strategy that’s both realistic and resilient—regardless of where you are in your journey.
The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https:...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast.
I'm Melissa Joy, a certifiedfinancial planner and the
founder of Pearl Planning.
My goal is to help youstreamline and organize your
finances, navigate big moneydecisions with confidence and be
strategic in order to grow yourwealth.
As a woman, you work hard foryour money and I'm here to help
(00:21):
you make the most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
And I'm here to help you makethe most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
Just a quick note before wedive in.
The information that we shareis meant to educate and inspire,
not serve as personalizedfinancial advice.
Everyone's situation is unique,so be sure to consult with your
own financial professional forguidance that fits your life.
(00:44):
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
are my own.
So be sure to consult with yourown financial professional for
guidance that fits your life.
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
are my own and those of my guest, and they don't necessarily
represent those of anyorganizations that I'm
affiliated with.
For more important disclosures,please go to our webpage at
PearlPlancom.
Now let's get started.
Hi everybody, welcome back tothe Women's Money Wisdom Podcast
(01:07):
.
I think we have a refreshingand interesting episode today.
I know that, for you aslisteners, our episodes that
talk about retirement are alwaysquite popular, and so I did
some research on some newinformation and trends in
retirement research, and Ithought it would be fun to talk
(01:27):
about some of the trends thatmore recent studies are seeing
in terms of retirees.
Now I know our listenerpopulation is in many cases, a
little bit younger thanretirement.
We think that the people thatlisten to us and you guys can
let us know are often millennialand Gen X listeners, and so we
(01:49):
think I think that some of theinformation I'm going to share
today is really relevant to youand your lives, and it also may
be relevant to your peers andparents and friends who are in
that retirement phase right now.
So, without further ado, I'mgoing to provide you seven or
eight trends that we're seeingin terms of retirement, and I
just want to comment on kind ofwhat I see anecdotally when
(02:12):
working with clients and seeingthese trends.
So one of the first reallyinteresting things in a study
that was published by JPMorganChase is that people have a
spending surge right when theyretire, and so there has been
this concept, and maybe in thepast.
(02:33):
I think I've talked with youabout the retirement spending
smile, where people have thego-go years early in retirement
and then the slower go years asthey kind of stay closer to home
, hopefully in good health, intheir 70s and 80s or 80s and 90s
, and then no-go years wherehealthcare costs go back up as
(02:56):
you get to kind of end-of-lifecare or with longevity.
And so, though, what studiesshow, is that often right.
When people retire, you know,maybe there's that bucket list
or kind of the list of things todo, but there's been a common
conventional wisdom that peoplereally adjust pretty quickly to
their new fixed income.
But research is showing thatpeople have a spending surge
(03:20):
immediately after theirretirement.
This is particularly happeningwith people who have lower
income under $150,000 of incomewhen they were working, and so
this just contradicts commonbeliefs about what happens with
retirement, in that peopleadjust right away.
So this goes hand in hand withthat retirement spending smile,
(03:43):
but I think it is an addedfactor, and what I've seen when
working with people is thatthere are groups of people that
just really lock down and needto be encouraged to be able to
spend, but there are also bigswaths of people who just don't
have their sea legs yet, orpeople who know.
Hey, I'm willing to compromisea little bit down the road
(04:04):
because there's things I want todo now while I know I have my
health.
All of those can be okay.
I just encourage people to useresources to know what you're
doing.
You know if it's a fit and apossibility and certainly I'm
biased.
But financial planners'approaches to understanding what
and how to spend in retirementcan be incredibly valuable so
(04:26):
that that retirement spendingsurge doesn't come into a
retirement spending strategywhere you really have to make
cuts later in life.
A second interesting piece ofinformation that we took from a
publication on kind of trends inretirement from Harbor Life and
(04:46):
retirement statistics is that40% of older Americans, after we
had this bigger wave ofinflation, were delaying
retirement due to inflation orrising living costs.
And I think you know we had atime period where both inflation
was very low for a very longtime and then we also had a time
period where interest ratescoincidentally, probably related
(05:09):
to that inflation were alsoquite low, which made it easier
to kind of live life in a waythat didn't have higher costs.
And I think that's some of thethings that we've been dealing
with over the last few years.
It's just like once inflationcomes, the prices don't go back
to where they used to be, andthat's a lot to get used to.
(05:31):
And I will tell you that anytime you have circumstances
where there's difficultheadwinds in markets or the
economy whether it's inflation,a bear market, a recession all
three gosh?
I hope not then people tend tomake different choices.
They may extend their work orthey may not have the
(05:52):
opportunity to extend work,because if there were a big
recession, unemployment mightskyrocket.
But I have seen in the pasthaving worked and lived through
the kind of tech wreck of 2000to 2002, as well as the great
recession and great financialcrisis of 2008 and 2009, and
(06:13):
everything since that, peopleare adaptive and you will find
that people make adjustmentsbased on the way the world is
going, whether that's workinglonger, spending less, etc.
Now you just need to make surethat you're not pricing
everything to perfection.
So, whether it's financialplanning or retirement planning,
(06:34):
doing the work to make surethat you have safeguards, that
you have planned for a rainy day, that you know that not every
year will be up when it comes tomarkets and that there will be
some unexpected expenses when itcomes to retirement.
Those are important things thatcan help you be successful, no
matter what.
(06:55):
A couple of the next kind ofinteresting things piece of data
that I picked up, which iscoming from a report from News
Market is that there is aincrease in unexpected health
care costs and peoplemiscalculate those health care
needs when it comes toretirement, the first thing I
(07:16):
would mention is when, in all ofour retirement planning
software, we make assumptionsthat inflation is going to be
higher when it comes to healthcare and I don't think anybody
would disagree.
You know whether it's thepassed on costs that you have if
you have pre-retirement orpre-Medicare insurance, if you
retired before age 65, or youknow just the incidental costs
(07:40):
that are not covered.
Healthcare is just darnexpensive and you have more and
more often doctor's appointments, more and more chronic
conditions.
So this is something to keep inmind.
Healthcare expenses can be amajor concern for retirees, and
I know there's two batches.
Both Things tend to go downwhen you select Medicare.
But if you had, you know, justkind of chosen Medicare
(08:03):
Advantage versus additional, youknow kind of more traditional
Medicare coverage with Medigapplans, you may be fine with that
kind of HMO-like environmentwhen you're healthy and young
for a retiree in your 60s, butit may be disappointing or
difficult when you need moreextensive or specialized care
(08:23):
later in life.
But then there's also a cohortthat is very concerned about the
state of the Affordable CareAct, which is those of you who
plan to retire before age 65.
Because health insurance, ifyou retire before 65, if you
can't go on to a spouse's planthat is covered by employer, can
be very expensive, and so justyou know that's not a reason not
(08:44):
to retire early, but you needthe right numbers, you need the
right information, one of thethings I would suggest, whether
you're Medicare age in that case, or approaching Medicare age,
talking to a Medicare consultantwho is informative and not
salesy can be really valuable.
You don't pay more for Medicarewhen you work with someone
who's experienced versus whenyou go into the marketplace or
(09:05):
buy it at your drugstore.
Also, though, there arespecialists who do individual
health insurance plans who cannavigate through the ACA
marketplace advantage forunderstanding what the cost
(09:27):
might be if you're going toeither have a gap in employment
or you're going to be retiringearlier than Medicare age, which
, again, many of my clients aredoing, and doing successfully
with confidence and loving it.
But it does take planning.
You need to decide where themoney's coming from and how much
money you're going to need andunderstand how all the parts
work.
There are also one of the trendsthat we saw with research
(09:48):
coming from again from, in thiscase from a BlackRock retirement
survey was that there areconfidence gaps when it comes to
retirement planning bygeneration, and the least
confident generation is mygeneration, generation X.
They're the least optimisticgeneration about when it comes
(10:10):
to retirement.
Only 53% of us feel confidentwhen they feel like they can
retire on their own terms.
That's disappointing to mebecause you know these are my
peers, these are my people, butI would tell you, if you're in
that group that just doesn'tknow how retirement will ever
work, our ages are not too late.
If you're in your 40s and 50sto really get serious about
(10:34):
retirement, do some catching up,do some retirement adulting and
get you know kind of yourretirement game plan on.
There are also genderdisparities when it comes to
these cohorts and 59% of womenfeel on track for retirement in
general versus 75% of men.
(10:56):
That's a disappointment and Ihope for those of you who are
listeners to our podcast, thatour money talks are helping you
to feel more confident, whetherit comes to retirement or other
aspects of your money life.
If you have those confidencegaps, you're not alone.
I hear about them all the timeand one of the things I would
suggest is, you know, kind oflocking in with setting aside
(11:18):
space for just money decisionsand, if you have the resources
to engage with a financialprofessional in whatever way
that can be really powerful tofiguring out how things work.
Okay, another interestingstatistic that I found was that
so many people have during theirretirement this is information
(11:40):
from McKnight Senior Living somany people end up having
unexpected financial shocks whenit comes to retirement.
And I find sometimes that Ihave clients who are like we're
going to pay off the mortgage,we're going to do all the home
improvements we need, we'regoing to buy a car, I'm just
going to be ready for retirementbecause I'm never going to have
(12:01):
a big expense again and whetherit's a planned expense or a
surprise, you can have thingsthat go bump in the night and
you also will be changing.
You know, improving, investing,buying another car.
You didn't make your last bigfinancial purchase or have your
last financial, you knowsurprise on the downside the day
(12:25):
that you retired.
And so if you haven't built ina safety net or cushion whether
it's cash on hand, every singleexpense isn't a known expense
when you retire then theseshocks can be really harmful to
kind of your overall financialplan and make things more shaky,
whether it's a medical expenseor unexpected inflation or
(12:46):
another.
You know kind of big bad wolfis if you have a really bad
stock market right when youretire.
Now, all of these things aremanageable.
I just think again, it helps tobe much more realistic in terms
of who you're working with, sothat you're not just blindly
kind of throwing numbers in aretirement calculator and saying
(13:07):
, oh, I'm going to withdraw 4%of my portfolio and that's great
.
It is a little more complicatedthan that to understand exactly
how things work and you know,with my clients I'm always
trying to build in thatunpredictability in the way that
we do planning.
A curious and, I think, verylike encouraging trend is that
(13:27):
we see more and more people whoare phasing their retirement and
have longer working lives.
Now why is this a good thing?
Well, I do think thatretirement, when you're planning
it and it can be transitionalor phased in can feel more
comfortable for you, and it alsomay allow you to kind of start
and plan to retire a little bitearlier.
(13:48):
So working part time,continuing to do some consulting
income with your previous job,all of those types of things can
be quite powerful.
Phased in retirement is, whilebecoming more common, it also
requires a lot of planningbecause you need to know oh,
what would I do about healthinsurance, or what would I?
(14:11):
How will I kind of make up forgaps in income?
So it's not without its ownretirement planning needs.
Another interesting thing isthat, by generation, people are
often feeling, you know, like asa group, certain things, and so
a couple of generations thatI'll pull out is our millennials
(14:34):
feel like they have to balanceso much with balancing debt
payments and long term savings,while Gen Z is already worried
about outliving their savings,even though they're barely
getting started Now.
These are kind of.
You know, millennials wereoften said to be the broke
generation and yet you know theywere just doing a little bit
(14:56):
delayed household formation.
I think their numbers lookpretty decent today.
Us Gen Xers, we always tendedto be pessimistic.
You can see our grungegeneration or old Daria episodes
for that.
So I think that kind of fitswith you know, kind of our
perspective.
Gen Z, you know they're back inwhat millennials were 10 or 15
years ago, where everybody feelslike they're behind.
(15:17):
But I will tell you, for all ofthese generations there's a
huge waves of wealth transferfrom inheritances from their
parents, who are living longerand longer but also in many
cases, have significant assets.
Speaking of parents, babyboomers emphasize the importance
and value of income as securityand I also know baby boomers
(15:38):
really love long-term careinsurance.
It's much more difficult to getthat insurance or plan for
stable income if you don't plana little bit earlier when you
know if you used annuityplanning which could create some
stable income, fixed incomeplanning or purchase long term
care insurance earlier.
(15:59):
All of those things are optionswhich are preferred when you
get to be a certain age, buteasier planned for in many cases
a little bit earlier.
And then, finally, many workershave kind of a number targeted.
I always hear people say canyou just tell me how much I need
to retire?
And it's like well, tell me alittle bit about yourself and
(16:21):
then we'll talk about how muchyou need to retire later.
But an EBRI study showed thatfor many people.
They think that maybe they needlike one and a half million
dollars to retire and they justare not getting nearly enough
savings Because for the averageAmerican, frankly, beyond Social
Security, they really oftendon't have that much.
(16:42):
In fact, in this study, a thirdof workers estimated they would
need one and a half million toretire but currently would have
less than $50,000 saved.
And you know, I'm not surprisedby that.
While it's difficult anddisappointing, I think one of my
goals for this podcast is forour listeners to be different
than that third, to be in thetop two thirds and growing where
(17:04):
they are, you know, kind oftaking the initiative to plan
for their own success over time.
We're going to keep bringingyou retirement conversations
because I know how importantthey are to so many people.
I love reading retirementresearch.
I'm sure you can hear that I'mjust a geek when it comes to
(17:25):
these financial planning topics,and so I hope that you, as you
listen, understand a perspectivethat not everybody has it
figured out.
You're not alone and also thereare ways to plan and prepare.
I see these in my day-to-dayconversations with clients and
would love to hear your feedbackabout what you want to hear
(17:46):
about, but also what you'velearned, whether it comes to
retirement planning or what youwant to know.
Have a great week.
Thank you for listening to theWomen's Money Wisdom Podcast.
(18:08):
If you found value in thisepisode, the best way you can
support the podcast is toforward an episode to a friend
or leave a review.
Go to pearlplancom and thepodcast link to get all the
resources and links mentioned.
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast.
I'm Melissa Joy, a certifiedfinancial planner and the
founder of Pearl Planning.
My goal is to help youstreamline and organize your
finances, navigate big moneydecisions with confidence and be
strategic in order to grow yourwealth.
As a woman, you work hard foryour money and I'm here to help
(00:21):
you make the most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
And I'm here to help you makethe most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
Just a quick note before wedive in.
The information that we shareis meant to educate and inspire,
not serve as personalizedfinancial advice.
Everyone's situation is unique,so be sure to consult with your
own financial professional forguidance that fits your life.
(00:44):
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
are my own.
So be sure to consult with yourown financial professional for
guidance that fits your life.
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
are my own and those of my guest, and they don't necessarily
represent those of anyorganizations that I'm
affiliated with.
For more important disclosures,please go to our webpage at
PearlPlancom.
Now let's get started.
Hi everybody, welcome back tothe Women's Money Wisdom Podcast
(01:07):
.
I think we have a refreshingand interesting episode today.
I know that, for you aslisteners, our episodes that
talk about retirement are alwaysquite popular, and so I did
some research on some newinformation and trends in
retirement research, and Ithought it would be fun to talk
(01:27):
about some of the trends thatmore recent studies are seeing
in terms of retirees.
Now I know our listenerpopulation is in many cases, a
little bit younger thanretirement.
We think that the people thatlisten to us and you guys can
let us know are often millennialand Gen X listeners, and so we
(01:49):
think I think that some of theinformation I'm going to share
today is really relevant to youand your lives, and it also may
be relevant to your peers andparents and friends who are in
that retirement phase right now.
So, without further ado, I'mgoing to provide you seven or
eight trends that we're seeingin terms of retirement, and I
just want to comment on kind ofwhat I see anecdotally when
(02:12):
working with clients and seeingthese trends.
So one of the first reallyinteresting things in a study
that was published by JPMorganChase is that people have a
spending surge right when theyretire, and so there has been
this concept, and maybe in thepast.
(02:33):
I think I've talked with youabout the retirement spending
smile, where people have thego-go years early in retirement
and then the slower go years asthey kind of stay closer to home
, hopefully in good health, intheir 70s and 80s or 80s and 90s
, and then no-go years wherehealthcare costs go back up as
(02:56):
you get to kind of end-of-lifecare or with longevity.
And so, though, what studiesshow, is that often right.
When people retire, you know,maybe there's that bucket list
or kind of the list of things todo, but there's been a common
conventional wisdom that peoplereally adjust pretty quickly to
their new fixed income.
But research is showing thatpeople have a spending surge
(03:20):
immediately after theirretirement.
This is particularly happeningwith people who have lower
income under $150,000 of incomewhen they were working, and so
this just contradicts commonbeliefs about what happens with
retirement, in that peopleadjust right away.
So this goes hand in hand withthat retirement spending smile,
(03:43):
but I think it is an addedfactor, and what I've seen when
working with people is thatthere are groups of people that
just really lock down and needto be encouraged to be able to
spend, but there are also bigswaths of people who just don't
have their sea legs yet, orpeople who know.
Hey, I'm willing to compromisea little bit down the road
(04:04):
because there's things I want todo now while I know I have my
health.
All of those can be okay.
I just encourage people to useresources to know what you're
doing.
You know if it's a fit and apossibility and certainly I'm
biased.
But financial planners'approaches to understanding what
and how to spend in retirementcan be incredibly valuable so
(04:26):
that that retirement spendingsurge doesn't come into a
retirement spending strategywhere you really have to make
cuts later in life.
A second interesting piece ofinformation that we took from a
publication on kind of trends inretirement from Harbor Life and
(04:46):
retirement statistics is that40% of older Americans, after we
had this bigger wave ofinflation, were delaying
retirement due to inflation orrising living costs.
And I think you know we had atime period where both inflation
was very low for a very longtime and then we also had a time
period where interest ratescoincidentally, probably related
(05:09):
to that inflation were alsoquite low, which made it easier
to kind of live life in a waythat didn't have higher costs.
And I think that's some of thethings that we've been dealing
with over the last few years.
It's just like once inflationcomes, the prices don't go back
to where they used to be, andthat's a lot to get used to.
(05:31):
And I will tell you that anytime you have circumstances
where there's difficultheadwinds in markets or the
economy whether it's inflation,a bear market, a recession all
three gosh?
I hope not then people tend tomake different choices.
They may extend their work orthey may not have the
(05:52):
opportunity to extend work,because if there were a big
recession, unemployment mightskyrocket.
But I have seen in the pasthaving worked and lived through
the kind of tech wreck of 2000to 2002, as well as the great
recession and great financialcrisis of 2008 and 2009, and
(06:13):
everything since that, peopleare adaptive and you will find
that people make adjustmentsbased on the way the world is
going, whether that's workinglonger, spending less, etc.
Now you just need to make surethat you're not pricing
everything to perfection.
So, whether it's financialplanning or retirement planning,
(06:34):
doing the work to make surethat you have safeguards, that
you have planned for a rainy day, that you know that not every
year will be up when it comes tomarkets and that there will be
some unexpected expenses when itcomes to retirement.
Those are important things thatcan help you be successful, no
matter what.
(06:55):
A couple of the next kind ofinteresting things piece of data
that I picked up, which iscoming from a report from News
Market is that there is aincrease in unexpected health
care costs and peoplemiscalculate those health care
needs when it comes toretirement, the first thing I
(07:16):
would mention is when, in all ofour retirement planning
software, we make assumptionsthat inflation is going to be
higher when it comes to healthcare and I don't think anybody
would disagree.
You know whether it's thepassed on costs that you have if
you have pre-retirement orpre-Medicare insurance, if you
retired before age 65, or youknow just the incidental costs
(07:40):
that are not covered.
Healthcare is just darnexpensive and you have more and
more often doctor's appointments, more and more chronic
conditions.
So this is something to keep inmind.
Healthcare expenses can be amajor concern for retirees, and
I know there's two batches.
Both Things tend to go downwhen you select Medicare.
But if you had, you know, justkind of chosen Medicare
(08:03):
Advantage versus additional, youknow kind of more traditional
Medicare coverage with Medigapplans, you may be fine with that
kind of HMO-like environmentwhen you're healthy and young
for a retiree in your 60s, butit may be disappointing or
difficult when you need moreextensive or specialized care
(08:23):
later in life.
But then there's also a cohortthat is very concerned about the
state of the Affordable CareAct, which is those of you who
plan to retire before age 65.
Because health insurance, ifyou retire before 65, if you
can't go on to a spouse's planthat is covered by employer, can
be very expensive, and so justyou know that's not a reason not
(08:44):
to retire early, but you needthe right numbers, you need the
right information, one of thethings I would suggest, whether
you're Medicare age in that case, or approaching Medicare age,
talking to a Medicare consultantwho is informative and not
salesy can be really valuable.
You don't pay more for Medicarewhen you work with someone
who's experienced versus whenyou go into the marketplace or
(09:05):
buy it at your drugstore.
Also, though, there arespecialists who do individual
health insurance plans who cannavigate through the ACA
marketplace advantage forunderstanding what the cost
(09:27):
might be if you're going toeither have a gap in employment
or you're going to be retiringearlier than Medicare age, which
, again, many of my clients aredoing, and doing successfully
with confidence and loving it.
But it does take planning.
You need to decide where themoney's coming from and how much
money you're going to need andunderstand how all the parts
work.
There are also one of the trendsthat we saw with research
(09:48):
coming from again from, in thiscase from a BlackRock retirement
survey was that there areconfidence gaps when it comes to
retirement planning bygeneration, and the least
confident generation is mygeneration, generation X.
They're the least optimisticgeneration about when it comes
(10:10):
to retirement.
Only 53% of us feel confidentwhen they feel like they can
retire on their own terms.
That's disappointing to mebecause you know these are my
peers, these are my people, butI would tell you, if you're in
that group that just doesn'tknow how retirement will ever
work, our ages are not too late.
If you're in your 40s and 50sto really get serious about
(10:34):
retirement, do some catching up,do some retirement adulting and
get you know kind of yourretirement game plan on.
There are also genderdisparities when it comes to
these cohorts and 59% of womenfeel on track for retirement in
general versus 75% of men.
(10:56):
That's a disappointment and Ihope for those of you who are
listeners to our podcast, thatour money talks are helping you
to feel more confident, whetherit comes to retirement or other
aspects of your money life.
If you have those confidencegaps, you're not alone.
I hear about them all the timeand one of the things I would
suggest is, you know, kind oflocking in with setting aside
(11:18):
space for just money decisionsand, if you have the resources
to engage with a financialprofessional in whatever way
that can be really powerful tofiguring out how things work.
Okay, another interestingstatistic that I found was that
so many people have during theirretirement this is information
(11:40):
from McKnight Senior Living somany people end up having
unexpected financial shocks whenit comes to retirement.
And I find sometimes that Ihave clients who are like we're
going to pay off the mortgage,we're going to do all the home
improvements we need, we'regoing to buy a car, I'm just
going to be ready for retirementbecause I'm never going to have
(12:01):
a big expense again and whetherit's a planned expense or a
surprise, you can have thingsthat go bump in the night and
you also will be changing.
You know, improving, investing,buying another car.
You didn't make your last bigfinancial purchase or have your
last financial, you knowsurprise on the downside the day
(12:25):
that you retired.
And so if you haven't built ina safety net or cushion whether
it's cash on hand, every singleexpense isn't a known expense
when you retire then theseshocks can be really harmful to
kind of your overall financialplan and make things more shaky,
whether it's a medical expenseor unexpected inflation or
(12:46):
another.
You know kind of big bad wolfis if you have a really bad
stock market right when youretire.
Now, all of these things aremanageable.
I just think again, it helps tobe much more realistic in terms
of who you're working with, sothat you're not just blindly
kind of throwing numbers in aretirement calculator and saying
(13:07):
, oh, I'm going to withdraw 4%of my portfolio and that's great
.
It is a little more complicatedthan that to understand exactly
how things work and you know,with my clients I'm always
trying to build in thatunpredictability in the way that
we do planning.
A curious and, I think, verylike encouraging trend is that
(13:27):
we see more and more people whoare phasing their retirement and
have longer working lives.
Now why is this a good thing?
Well, I do think thatretirement, when you're planning
it and it can be transitionalor phased in can feel more
comfortable for you, and it alsomay allow you to kind of start
and plan to retire a little bitearlier.
(13:48):
So working part time,continuing to do some consulting
income with your previous job,all of those types of things can
be quite powerful.
Phased in retirement is, whilebecoming more common, it also
requires a lot of planningbecause you need to know oh,
what would I do about healthinsurance, or what would I?
(14:11):
How will I kind of make up forgaps in income?
So it's not without its ownretirement planning needs.
Another interesting thing isthat, by generation, people are
often feeling, you know, like asa group, certain things, and so
a couple of generations thatI'll pull out is our millennials
(14:34):
feel like they have to balanceso much with balancing debt
payments and long term savings,while Gen Z is already worried
about outliving their savings,even though they're barely
getting started Now.
These are kind of.
You know, millennials wereoften said to be the broke
generation and yet you know theywere just doing a little bit
(14:56):
delayed household formation.
I think their numbers lookpretty decent today.
Us Gen Xers, we always tendedto be pessimistic.
You can see our grungegeneration or old Daria episodes
for that.
So I think that kind of fitswith you know, kind of our
perspective.
Gen Z, you know they're back inwhat millennials were 10 or 15
years ago, where everybody feelslike they're behind.
(15:17):
But I will tell you, for all ofthese generations there's a
huge waves of wealth transferfrom inheritances from their
parents, who are living longerand longer but also in many
cases, have significant assets.
Speaking of parents, babyboomers emphasize the importance
and value of income as securityand I also know baby boomers
(15:38):
really love long-term careinsurance.
It's much more difficult to getthat insurance or plan for
stable income if you don't plana little bit earlier when you
know if you used annuityplanning which could create some
stable income, fixed incomeplanning or purchase long term
care insurance earlier.
(15:59):
All of those things are optionswhich are preferred when you
get to be a certain age, buteasier planned for in many cases
a little bit earlier.
And then, finally, many workershave kind of a number targeted.
I always hear people say canyou just tell me how much I need
to retire?
And it's like well, tell me alittle bit about yourself and
(16:21):
then we'll talk about how muchyou need to retire later.
But an EBRI study showed thatfor many people.
They think that maybe they needlike one and a half million
dollars to retire and they justare not getting nearly enough
savings Because for the averageAmerican, frankly, beyond Social
Security, they really oftendon't have that much.
(16:42):
In fact, in this study, a thirdof workers estimated they would
need one and a half million toretire but currently would have
less than $50,000 saved.
And you know, I'm not surprisedby that.
While it's difficult anddisappointing, I think one of my
goals for this podcast is forour listeners to be different
than that third, to be in thetop two thirds and growing where
(17:04):
they are, you know, kind oftaking the initiative to plan
for their own success over time.
We're going to keep bringingyou retirement conversations
because I know how importantthey are to so many people.
I love reading retirementresearch.
I'm sure you can hear that I'mjust a geek when it comes to
(17:25):
these financial planning topics,and so I hope that you, as you
listen, understand a perspectivethat not everybody has it
figured out.
You're not alone and also thereare ways to plan and prepare.
I see these in my day-to-dayconversations with clients and
would love to hear your feedbackabout what you want to hear
(17:46):
about, but also what you'velearned, whether it comes to
retirement planning or what youwant to know.
Have a great week.
Thank you for listening to theWomen's Money Wisdom Podcast.
(18:08):
If you found value in thisepisode, the best way you can
support the podcast is toforward an episode to a friend
or leave a review.
Go to pearlplancom and thepodcast link to get all the
resources and links mentioned.
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