The year is coming to an end (Hallelujah!) and now is when we often take stock on our achievements and the goals that we fell short from. Now we know Covid-19 changed our plans in 2020, but this short-term disruption shouldn’t change your long-term planning. So, if you want to do something that can help improve your finances that doesn’t require too much of your time as long as you put in the early effort – get ahead on planning your taxes.

When we were growing up, we heard about Santa’s Naughty or Nice list. Santa would write your name deciding if you’ve been Naughty or Nice. And admit it. Your behavior improved as the calendar got closer to Christmas. So today, [ADVISOR] is our Retirement Santa. What retirement scenarios could fall under Naughty or Nice? Let’s find out…

Interest rates are near record low levels. They’re so low, it may seem like you might as well just stuff your money under your mattress or stash it away in a cardboard box since it’s hardly earning anything. But a Missouri man learned the hard way that there’s another risk with stashing cash around your home – mice (literally) ate some of his savings. His bank was ultimately able to reassemble the bills so he could be reimbursed by the U. S. Mint for about $1,000.

Victor and Guy get questions each and every week about all things retirement. Let’s open our Common Sense Retirement Show mailbag and go over some common retirement questions.

Blogger Financial Samurai raised some eyebrows when he laid out some stark numbers about retirement. He wrote that in order to retire, you need to multiply your desired annual expenses by 200. So … if you do the math … planning for $40,000 per year would mean you need to accumulate $8 million for retirement. $8 million! That sounds pretty crazy. Do we really need to aim that high?

If we are forced unexpectedly into early retirement or just choose to retire sooner than planned, we might be focused on whether we’ve saved enough. But what about issues like taxes? How can taxes impact how long our money lasts in retirement?

We’re faced with questions every day. What’s for dinner? When’s the meeting? How was your day? These are questions that are – or should be – easy to answer, but when you’re starting to consider retirement, the questions can get a lot more complicated.

As with many other aspects of financial planning, when it comes to your health coverage in retirement, it’s NOT a good idea to set it and forget it. And now is the time to take a look at your Medicare coverage for next year. 

When you plan for retirement, you need to consider all the risks your money may face… Because if you don’t take steps to help protect your money from risk, your retirement could be at risk.