Keen on Retirement

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, there were 580,887 pending Social Security claims in March 2025. That's an increase of more than 80,000 from a year ago. Many of those claimants are seniors who have not yet reached their reach full retirement age. 

I'd love to believe that the majority of these folks are taking Social Security early as part of a carefully considered plan to achieve a specific goal, such as early r...

Matt Wilson, Chief Investment Officer and President of Keen Wealth, sure had a lot to work with when he put together his 2025 Q2 Market Update Webinar! It's been an eventful few months for the economy, and Matt delivered a clear analysis of everything from growth trends and interest rate expectations to the potential impacts of tariffs. 

On today's show, we complete our Q2 outlook by discussing some of Matt's broader points and ans...

Folks reach out to Keen Wealth for all sorts of reasons, at all different points in their lives. We talk to young couples just starting out who want to put themselves on a path towards financial security. New retirees want to feel secure about transitioning away from work. Older seniors come to us looking to secure their legacies and make life a little easier for the next generation. 

And, sometimes, a person realizes they've been ...

"Jim" (66) and "Karen" (64) both retired in the last six months.

Jim has an IRA with $900,000, and Karen has a Roth IRA with $300,000. They inherited a brokerage account with $600,000 and a cost basis of $500,000. They have $100,000 in an emergency cash fund.

Jim is receiving his Social Security benefits of $2,600 per month. He also has a pension of $1,800 per month.

Tariffs are nothing new. They've been implemented at several points in U.S. history, including as recently as 2018. But there are a confluence of factors surrounding President Trump's current round of tariffs that make it worth discussing.

On today's show, we round up questions we've been receiving at Keen Wealth about tariffs to provide a comprehensive rundown of why Wall Street is interes...

With about a month until Tax Day on Tuesday, April 15th, you should, ideally, have all your financial documents collected. It might be a good idea to check in one last time with your financial advisor before you send your 2024 data to your CPA or start plugging away on your favorite tax software. 

But as you put a bow on last year, it's important to keep an eye on the future, especially for retirees. Cracking open your nest egg and...

The words “fun” and “taxes” probably don’t go together in your mind. 

But, as I mention on today’s episode, they do at Keen Wealth! 

Helping folks be good stewards of their money so that they can enjoy life to the fullest is one of the most rewarding parts of being a financial advisor. And as Tax Day approaches, I love seeing my team in action, working through our checklist-driven process to make sure folks aren’t overlooking any d...

If you're spending a lot of your day scrolling on social media or glued to cable news, you might feel like your emotions are running a little high right now.

Major life transitions can also cause our feelings to spike, whether we're getting ready to send a kid to college or thinking about retiring.

But while letting your feelings in is just part of being human, letting ...

A New Year brings excitement, hope, and a little extra motivation to achieve some major goals. But 2025 has also brought some uncertainty as well. Political, economic, environmental, and technological events have all made big headlines, sometimes all on the same day. If you're feeling a little unsure about your financial planning right now, you're not alone.

So, on today's show, we answer t...

Happy 2025! 

At Keen Wealth, we're often of two minds at the beginning of the New Year. On the one hand, Tax Day is just around the corner, so we're helping folks put a bow on last year's financials and making sure they not missing out on any potentially advantageous moves. 

But this New Year also means a new president, a new congress, new laws, new facts and figures, and lots of new legislative proposals. 

On today's show, we disc...

What might be even better than having a Happy New Year?

Having a purposeful 2025. 

Longevity experts who study "blue zones" where folks live the longest have popularized the Japanese concept of "ikigai," meaning roughly, "having a purpose in life." Their research shows that seniors who are motivated to get out of bed in the morning don't just live longer, they also feel more fulfilled and have healthier habits that nourish their mi...

Reviewing your estate plan is an important part of the year-end review sessions that we hold at Keen Wealth. At least annually, folks should make sure that their plan is still in sync with how they want to be cared for, how they want their assets distributed, and who they trust to settle their estate and preserve their legacy. 

But an estate plan check-up is also a good opportunity to review your feelings around what your money mea...

"Sam" is 58 and he retired at the end of the first quarter of 2024. His wife, "Alice," is 65 and still working as a paid caretaker for the couple's son with special needs. Sam has $400,000 in a Roth IRA, $2 million in a traditional IRA and they have $400,000 in a joint taxable account. In 2024, Sam earned $75,000 and Alice earned $20,000.

And, like so many couples in their age range, Sam and Alice want to know if their nest egg is ...

If there's one thing we know that the financial markets like, it's certainty.

And since the 2024 presidential election was settled overnight -- rather than the weeks it took to count votes in 2020 -- the markets have reacted to the certainty of our new political reality with very strong returns.

But as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, there are still many lingering questions about how the economic vision he laid ...

With the presidential election less than a week away, I know many folks are feeling like the present is on pause while we’re waiting on some important answers about the future. 

Matt Wilson, Keen Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer and President, analyzed the latest data surrounding the election, the health of the economy, and the early outlook for 2025 in his recent 2024 Q4 Market Update Webinar. Today we’re going to discuss some fo...

If I were to make a list of the most common money worries that I've helped seniors deal with in my 30-plus years as a financial advisor, running out of money in retirement would probably be number one. Even folks who have been following a comprehensive financial plan and building wealth for decades can struggle with the idea of cashing their final paychecks and living off their nest eggs.

S...

Between the 24/7 news cycle and the two-year election cycle of our government system, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like our country is in a permanent state of campaigning. And that means some folks who do follow politics and their investments closely are often hearing our leaders talk about tax policy every time they turn on the news.

However, it's very important to distinguish b...

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was driving on Southwest Trafficway, heading to my office on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. When I walked inside the world had changed. My colleagues were huddled around TVs watching the horrific, surreal footage from the terrorist attacks in New York.

About a month later I was in New York for business meetings and I saw the destruction first-...