"Why won't someone give me a straight answer?" This is the comment I get most from listeners trying to find answers to their most pressing retirement planning questions. In 2015, I'm stepping up my game to help you find your answers so you can work towards your ideal retirement.

Announcing Retirement Plan Live

Want to find the answers to the most common retirement planning questions?

* Can I retire?

* Will I run out of money?

* What lifestyle can I expect during retirement?

* What risks could blow up my plan?

Starting January 7th, you'll get the chance to listen in as I work with a fellow listener, "Carl" , to answer these very questions as we create his retirement plan.

You'll listen in as I walk Carl through each stage of the planning process culminating with a LIVE webinar in which I present the results of Carl's plan.

Who is Carl? Carl is a listener to the show. He reached out to me earlier this year with a fantastic idea. He said, "What if you work with me to create a retirement plan and recorded the whole process so listeners can hear how it works?" "BRILLIANT," I said, "I don't think it's ever been done." So, we did it.

Carl and I have never met and have only interacted for this project. Each week, we'll play our meeting for each stage of the planning process. On January 30th, we'll have a LIVE webinar where you can watch and listen as I present the results of Carl's plan. Frankly, I haven't done the analysis, yet, so even I don't know the results.

This is your chance to get a demonstration of the retirement planning process and hopefully see how your most important retirement questions can be answered.

Want to Create Your Plan Along with "Carl?"

Sign up for weekly e-mail updates and launch yourself towards a great retirement. Each week during the month of January you'll receive a worksheet along with an instructional video to walk you through each step of the process.

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How to Launch Yourself to a Great Retirement with Stacking Benjamins

My favorite financial podcast (besides my own ;-) ) is Joe Saul-Sehy's Stacking Benjamins. It's informative, fun and often times just goofy.  To quote his site, "In a world of hard-hitting, deep-thought financial stories, SB’s goal is lighter, more relaxed entertainment about money."

In this episode, Joe and I discuss his recent white paper, "Why You Shouldn’t Follow Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman or the Motley Fool."

Joe doesn't argue that you shouldn't follow a money guru, just that it's important you follow the right one. The right one depends on what stage you're at in your money journey.

He says there are three stages of your financial journey and an appropriate guru for each stage.

* Stage One        (Launch) Getting off the ground

* Stage Two        (Orbit) Achieving financial freedom

* Stage Three    (You could die) Build serious wealth. Create an awesome legacy.

To get a copy of his free white paper click here.

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The Retirement Answer Man Episode #44

What’d you say, Johnny? It’s Christmas time? Ho ho ho ho ho! Ha ha ha!

Welcome to the Christmas Eve Edition of the Retirement Answer Man. I am Roger Whitney, your host, and this is the show dedicated to helping you find that balance between living well today while you still plan for that idea retirement.

I’m so glad you joined me today.