Life After Work - Will I Be "OK"?

  I’ve commented in previous blog posts that roughly one out of every three retirees report that they are not happier in retirement.   This statistic comes from a 2024 MassMutual study ( 2024_massmutual_retirement_happiness_study.pdf ).   To be fair, that does not mean that all of those people are less happy in retirement.   In fact, the majority of them report that they are just as happy in retirement as they were prior to retirement.   The study found that only 8% of retirees were less happy.   But here’s the thing, I’ve yet to meet any of those people.   Over the last several years, a lot of my contemporaries have retired.   As I approached my own retirement, I would ask all of these people how they like it.   I’ve continued to ask that question since I retired.   At a recent retirement party for a very dear former colleague, I chatted with many that had recently retired.   I asked all of them how they are finding retirement. ...

  I enjoy going to the grocery store.   To me, it’s like a treasure hunt.   Not only do I have a list of items I have to find, but you never know what else you will come across that you didn’t know you needed, but you must buy.   However, these trips aren’t as fun as they used to be.   Not only is the price of everything higher, but the packaging seems to keep getting smaller.   Since when was a half -gallon only fifty-two ounces?    And since we are trying to increase our longevity by purchasing organic when possible, the cost is even higher.     I used to get out of the grocery store for less than $100, but now I’m consistently pushing $200.     So, you can imagine my interest in an article entitled “Strategies for Staying a Step Ahead of Inflation” in the May 10 Barron’s Retirement column.   Every retirement plan needs a moat to protect against inflation reducing your purchasing power, so I was curious to see wha...

    Before considering potential solutions to shore up the Social Security system, it’s important to understand how we got to this point.   Up until 2010, more tax money went into the Social Security system than was paid out in benefits.   The extra money went into the Social Security Trust fund and was used to buy “special-issue” U.S. Treasury Securities.   These are U.S. government bonds that are issued solely for Social Securities reserves. This is the only investment Social Security is allowed to own.   In short, Social Security lent the money to the U.S. government which then used the proceeds to help pay for general expenditures.   This is why some people claim that the U.S. government spent all of the excess reserves.   On one hand, they did.   On the other hand, they replaced the money with IOUs that paid interest each year to Social Security.   Regardless of how you view this situation, the fact of the matter is that the bill ...

  We continue to get closer to the date at which the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted.   Yet Congress continues to do nothing to solve this problem.   Under current law, once the trust fund is depleted in 2034, benefits must be cut across the board.   This cut is expected to be 24%.   I covered potential solutions as well as made my prediction of how Congress will most likely deal with this problem in an earlier blog ( How They Will Likely Fix Social Security by Scott Stolz, CFP, RICP (week 29) .   A column in this week’s Barron’s offered a new potential solution which I expect will get legs because it will initially impact few taxpayers.   In fact, the title of the article is “Social Security is Broken.   Benefit Cuts for the Rich Are the Fix.” ( Social Security Is Broken. Benefit Cuts for the Rich Are the Fix. - Barron's ).   Who doesn’t like the idea of a problem like this being solved by taxing those that have more money than t...

    There’s plenty of advice online on how to find a financial advisor that fits your needs.   And quite frankly, all of it is rather good.   You should most certainly understand what services any financial advisor does and does not provide, how he or she is compensated, and what credentials he or she has.   Understanding the advisor’s process and investment philosophy is also important.   The Financial Planning Association will most certainly tell you that you should select only Certified Financial Planners (CFP®).   Registered Investment Advisory Firms will tell you that you should only choose an advisor that always serves as a Fiduciary (someone that must put your interests first).   One such firm constantly runs commercials that claim “we do better when you do better” and “we never sell commissionable products.”   While I fully agree that any advisor should always put your interest first, just because an advisor does not receive a c...

  This week I’m going to take a break from writing about financial stuff.   If you read this blog on a regular basis, you’ll probably appreciate a break as well.   Sunday’s Flyover Florida polled its readers on whether or not they have plans to go to a concert this year.   Today’s edition reported the following results: Will you attend a concert this year? 1.       No: 44% 2.       Maybe: 30% 3.       Multiple: 17% 4.       One: 9% I have to say, those results surprised me.   Since Covid, tickets for almost any concert or sporting event have gone through the roof.   My economics background tells me that this is about too many people chasing too few tickets, thereby driving up the price.   But with only 1 out of 4 respondents saying they were planning to go to one or more concerts this year, that doesn’t seem like excessive demand.   Me, ...