Life After Work - Will I Be "OK"?

 When I was 5 years old, I discovered baseball cards.  The older kids in the neighborhood collected them and since I wanted to be like them, I had to collect them too.  Not coincidentally, that’s when I started playing baseball as well.  Every Sunday after church my dad would take my brother and I to Hood’s Pharmacy in Urbana, IL.  He would give us a each a quarter so we could buy five 5-cent packs of cards – complete with gum.  Of course I was too young to know any of the players, so I aways had to ask my dad if I got any good players amongst by 25 cards.  I remember asking him if some guy named Mickey Mantle was any good.  He confirmed that he was.  I was glad because I thought he looked really cool on his 1965 card.  I’ve collected cards ever since.  And I was lucky, because my mom never threw my cards out when I got older.  Now, if I had only left some packs unopened. The picture below is a 5-cent pack from 1960 that rece...

  I’m going to warn everyone that not only am I going to go on a bit of a rant this week, but the topic I’m going to rant about isn’t really going to be about retirement.   Now that you’re forewarned, I’m going to start with a question.   When did it become OK for businesses to quit answering the phone?   Or for that matter, force us to talk to a chatbot rather than an actual person?   Last week I realized I had to reschedule a dentist appointment.   I called and worked my way through the numerous prompts only to find my call going to voicemail.   The recording said I would be called back by the end of the day.   I wasn’t.   So, the next day I tried again with the exact same result.   Still no call back.   Since my dentist’s office is just 3 blocks away, I realized I would save time if I just walked over and handled this face to face with the receptionist.   But what if their office was across town?   Would I still be wait...

  About 35 years ago I began regularly asking audiences at my speaking engagements whether or not they expected to receive Social Security benefits when they retired.   Even back then, I would see about 1/3 of the crowd raise their hand to vote “no”.   But I noticed something interesting when conducting this very informal and unscientific poll.   Virtually every raised hand belonged to someone below the age of 50.   The older people in the audience seemed to consistently believe they were going to squeeze by before Social Security ran out of money.   Interestingly, these percentages have not changed much over time.   According to a 2023 survey conducted by the Nationwide Retirement Institute® (of Nationwide Life Insurance Co.), more than 40% of those surveyed below the age of 42 believe they will never receive Social Security Benefits.   That compares to just 12% for those 59 years old or older. 1      However, three of four o...

  The Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled “ Five Financial Blind Spots that Burden Grieving Spouses.” ( Five Financial Blind Spots That Burden Grieving Spouses - WSJ   These blind spots included unexpected debt and/or expenses, potentially higher tax brackets, challenges due to a lack of credit history and being locked out of financial accounts if that account(s) is only in the deceased spouses name.   The article correctly suggests that spouses have regular financial discussions so that both spouses understand their financial situation.   It goes on to recommend that “… If a spouse won’t commit to learning the details, it’s especially important for the other spouse to keep detailed records for the survivor….”   I’m going to take that advice one step further.   If you only do one thing I suggest in these blogs, it’s that you go to Everplans.com and open an account.   And no, Everplans is not paying me to say this.   Although...

  Last week my retirement reached the 6-month mark.   My wife loves to do “check-ins,” so she asked me how I’m doing.   Since a lot of people struggle with the transition to retirement, it was actually a very valid and thought-provoking question.   After a brief pause I could truthfully say I thought I had handled my first six months pretty well.   According to a recent article in Rethinking65 ( Mapping Out the First 90 Days of Retirement, Financial Planning Articles for Financial Advisors & Wealth Managers ,) “the average retiree needs to fill 40% of their waking time.”   While that was one of my biggest initial concerns, it has really not proven to be a problem.   It’s amazing how much time is taken up when you commit to playing softball 3 mornings per week.   And this weekly blog gives me a much-needed regular task.   In addition, my wife and I are working on a new Roundtable with Saltzman Associates ( Summary - Business Owner Transiti...

      Every week Barron’s does a column called “Income Investing”.   As a retiree, income is important to me, therefore I always check to see what they suggest as a possible income solution.   The problem is that like I mentioned in week 13 ( Retirement "Income" or Retirement "Paychecks"? - (week 13) , Wall Street’s definition of “income” is very different from mine.   I’ve incorporated lifetime guaranteed income into my retirement plan that I plan to turn on when I reach the age of 68.   This “income” will be provided by Social Security and 3 different annuities.   Each will deposit money into my checking account that will become the source to cover my essential expenses and most of my discretionary expenses as well.   Until age 68, these expenses will be covered by an inherited IRA that the tax codes says I must liquidate anyway.   In contrast, Wall Street defines income investing as any security that pays out money.   Thi...