Two of our recent client meetings were with folks who retired much earlier than they had anticipated.

So, I started to go down a rabbit hole of research and thought this would be a great episode to encourage you all to STOP planning for a “normal” retirement age in your assumptions!

Even if you do end up working until 65 or 70, you should not build that into your calculations when planning for retirement.  Instead, whatever you think your expected retirement date is, push it forward 5 years.  So if you want to work until 60, push it to 55.  If you want to work until 70, push it to 65.  

The point is, that you cannot control what you cannot control.  

It then got me thinking about assumptions for retirement planning. And how the inputs/assumptions we, as financial planners, put into the calculations make a huge difference.

So, what I thought I would do for the next several episodes is go through each of those inputs (retirement age, retirement spending, inflation, longevity, investment returns, and taxes) to coach you through some of those important considerations before making certain assumptions.  Also, to point out mistakes that I’ve seen in my career practicing retirement planning.  

I hope you enjoy this episode, the FIRST-ever time we are publishing a video recording! (*Welcome to 2024 😁)

Thanks for tuning in.

-Kevin Lao

Links:

USA Today Article - Most Americans Retire Earlier Than Expected

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