Keen on Retirement

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, more than half of U.S. adults aged 55 and above are now retired. Obviously that figure includes seniors in the more traditional age range of 65-70 years old. But what about folks at the lower end of that statistic?

Some of these retirements might be temporary responses to pandemic safety concerns, burnout, or a transition to a new career. Others will be full early retirements for folks who want to get a jump start on their not-quite Golden Years.

Whatever the plan may be, retirement before age 59 1/2 can pose some significant cash flow challenges for folks who need early access to their IRAs and 401(k)s. On today's show, we discuss how incorporating IRS code 72(t) into a financial plan can help.

Health care is one of the most important aspects of planning for an early retirement. Medicare eligibility doesn't kick in until you reach age 65. Pre-65 retirees who don't have access to employer-subsidized health insurance could be facing some substantial costs for a number of years until they are eligible for Medicare.

On today's show, we discuss the various health care options for pre-65 retirees and how those options can affect the rest of your long-term retirement planning.

As divided as Americans may be about a whole bunch of issues, it's heartening to see that we do still agree on the importance of giving back. According to recent reports, as America faced some of its toughest challenges ever in 2020, charitable giving rose 5.1% to a record $471.44 billion.

That number is really remarkable when you think about how hard the pandemic hit so many individuals and businesses in their wallets. Add in the stress and uncertainty we were all dealing with and it's clear Americans really went out of their way to help important causes and communities in need.

That big boost in giving could also be a positive long-term trend, as many experts had worried that recent changes to tax laws might disincentivize charitable giving. As we discuss on today's show, effective giving plans for the year ahead should account for those changes while weighing some important options for doing the most good.

We're barely a week into the New Year, but I'll bet plenty of folks are already struggling with the resolutions they felt so excited about back in December. In fact, many people have given up already! According to some studies, 25% of resolutions fail after just a week. After 6 months, less than half of resolutions are still active.

A common theme in my reading on this topic is that most resolutions fail because they aren't specific or meaningful enough. On today's show, we discuss why 2022 should be the year you stop making resolutions and start making action plans to hit your top goals -- especially financial ones.

For the second year in a row, we decided that it would be prudent to hold our Holiday Market Outlook virtually. And while we're disappointed that we can't share the fellowship of our breakfast event with you, please know how grateful the Keen Wealth team is for the privilege of serving as your financial advisor. It's a very big deal to us when a client entrusts us with their life savings, and we take that responsibility very seriously.

While we can't serve breakfast this year, we can present another favorite holiday tradition: the annual Market Outlook Presentation from Matt Wilson, President and Chief Investment Officer at Keen Wealth Advisors. Some of the topics that Matt covers include:

• Forecast for 2022
• Inflation vs. Reflation
• Markets and the Wall of Worry
• The importance of the consumer

Stay tuned after Matt's presentation for some holiday cheer from The Dickens Carolers.

As my team at Keen Wealth Advisors starts looking ahead to 2022, there are things we know, and things we don't know.

On the one hand, year-end announcements from the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have allowed us to start making some more detailed projections as we prepare for the year ahead.

But with a new COVID-19 variant circulating, inflation on the rise, and legislation still under debate in Washington that could affect taxes and retirement accounts, we have to maintain flexibility as well. As we discuss on today's show, history tells us that financial planning requires a delicate balance between making the most out of the present and laying the groundwork for success in the future.

When "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini died in 2013, he left behind an estate worth $70 million. The musician Prince died in 2016, and earlier this year, the IRS valued his estate at over $160 million. Michael Jackson was worth $500 million when he died in 2009. Aretha Franklin's estate was worth as much as $80 million when she died in 2018.

And despite the ample resources available to each of these superstars, errors in estate planning basics prevented a smooth and orderly transfer of wealth to their intended heirs.

On today's show, we discuss how to prevent your own estate from getting tangled in red tape and bad blood.

Pop quiz: What do Black Tuesday 1929 and Black Monday 1987 have in common?

They both happened in October.

That's probably a big reason why October has a reputation for being the worst month for investing. But as we discuss on today's show, digging into the numbers and taking in the broader historical perspective reveals some more important lessons for investors who get spooked by volatility. We also bring that same long-term perspective to a couple questions our Keen Wealth clients have been asking recently.

Do budget deficits matter to the health of the U.S. government and economy?

That's been a hot topic of conversation among economists, especially as debate raged about the most effective way for the government to support folks during the pandemic. And it's been a topic that's popped up on a few of our Keen on Retirement episodes and blogs as well.

But while ideas like modern monetary theory are ... well, just theories right now, the battles in Congress over the federal debt ceiling and President Biden's Build Back Better Plan are going to have some real-world consequences before the end of the year. So, on today's show, we address some of the questions that we have received about federal debt, inflation, market volatility, and long-term retirement planning.

One reason we advise our clients not to overreact to election results is that the plans candidates propose on the campaign trail often look very different once they've worked through the U.S. lawmaking process. President Biden's agenda has struggled with that very reality in recent weeks. As Congress continues to debate and negotiate the Build Back Better Plan, perhaps the central topic of discussion has been balancing ambitious spending with changes to tax codes that would be necessary to pay for that spending.

We wanted to devote today's show to answering some of the questions that our clients have been asking about the Build Back Better Plan and their own tax planning. Rather than leaning one way or the other politically, our discussion stays centered on the numbers and potential rule changes that could affect retirees -- particularly high earners.