Preparing for retirement requires more than just saving money—it demands a comprehensive strategy that addresses both your financial readiness and personal preparedness. In this special 90-minute episode of The Financial Hour, Kentucky retirement planning advisors Tom Dupree and Mike Johnson provide essential guidance on retirement readiness and dividend investing strategies for pre-retirees aged 50-65.

Before getting into investment portfolios and withdrawal strategies, successful retirement planning starts with honest self-assessment. As Mike Johnson explains, “You need to look and really do an assessment. What is your physical and mental state? Are you physically beaten down by your job? If that’s the case, then if it’s time, it’s time.”

Critical insight: “So many of us wrap our identity into what we do. ‘I am my name, but I am this.’ That’s how we identify, especially when you’ve been doing something 40 years.”

Your age significantly impacts how and when you can access retirement funds without penalties:

notes Johnson.

Unlike bonds that provide fixed interest payments, dividend-paying stocks offer inflation-adjusted income potential. This approach provides crucial advantages for Kentucky retirees seeking personalized investment management.

Illinois Tool Works Case Study: This industrial conglomerate has raised dividends for over six decades at an average 7% annual growth rate—significantly outpacing typical 2.5% inflation rates.

Company Allocation Strategy:

“When a company declares a dividend, it declares a dollar amount per share. So if you have 100 shares and it’s paying a dollar a share, your quarterly payments are gonna be $100 a year. The yield is the dividend in relation to the share price.”

Key advantage: When stock prices decline, your dividend income typically remains stable, unlike forced liquidation scenarios with growth-only investments.

Market timing destroys long-term returns. Consider these sobering statistics from the podcast:

“If you miss the best market days, over a 30-year period, missing just 10 days out of 10,950 total days takes your return from 8.4% to 5.6%,” Johnson emphasizes.

Unlike large national firms, Dupree Financial Group provides direct communication with decision-makers. “Over the past two or three weeks, we’ve talked to 15 different companies through their investor relations departments,” allowing for granular analysis of portfolio holdings.

The firm’s investment philosophy centers on understanding underlying businesses rather than chasing market trends:

Target date funds represent “autopilot to the nth degree” with significant drawbacks:

“Speculation goes both ways. You’re speculating that the market’s gonna go down. It’s essentially making your own opinion when information is incomplete. In a form, it’s gambling.”

Successful retirement planning requires controlling manageable factors:

What You Can Control:

What You Cannot Control:

Ready to develop a personalized retirement strategy tailored to your Kentucky lifestyle? Dupree Financial Group offers complimentary portfolio analysis to help pre-retirees understand exactly what they own and why.

Schedule your consultation:

About The Financial Hour: Hosted by Tom Dupree Jr., founder of Dupree Financial Group, this weekly program provides Kentucky residents with practical investment guidance and retirement planning strategies. Based in Lexington, the firm specializes in personalized portfolio management with direct access to decision-makers.

The post Kentucky Retirement Planning: Your Complete Guide to Dividend Investing and Retirement Readiness appeared first on Dupree Financial.