Retirement Genius

To achieve a well-balanced retirement, people need to work on their financial security, health & long-term care security, and lifestyle as early as possible. Bringing these three things together is what's needed to build a solid foundation for a well-balanced retirement, so you can Retire Like a Genius. Chris wraps up the season finale by breaking down the three major areas that challenge people as they age: Finances, Health, and Lifestyle.

Everyone wants to be able to retire at some point and live a happy, healthy, and financially secure life beyond their work years. But not enough people are planning to achieve this goal, and people need to remember that hope is not a plan. In the season finale of Retirement Genius, Chris and Joe discuss overcoming the challenges of aging, along with more information about why high inflation is leading to the biggest raise in Social Security in more than 40 years.

Life Settlements can help people liquidate their existing life insurance policies instead of surrendering or lapsing them and in the second part of this episode, Chris is joined by Rob Haynie, the Managing Director of Life Insurance Settlements. For nearly 30 years, Rob has been a major influence on the evolution of the life settlement industry and has been recognized as one of the Most Influential People in Life Settlements by The Life Settlement Review.

Last year, more than 9 million individual life insurance policies lapsed or were surrendered. But many policyholders don't understand that Life Settlements can be a unique financial option that allows the owner of a policy to sell their policy for cash instead of letting it lapse or surrender. In this episode, Chris explains why Life Settlements have grown in popularity over the years and why they've become a viable option for people who are aging and/or experiencing declining health to access capital.

In the conclusion of our conversation revolving around the Impact of Climate Change on Retirement, Chris is joined by Dr. Robin Cooper, the co-founder of Climate Psychiatry Alliance.  Robin talks about her efforts to address climate change impacts on mental health and health.

As people plan for retirement, they now need to consider a factor previous generations didn’t need to worry about: climate change. Climate change is going to affect retirees’ decisions on where to live, how to stay healthy, and how to avoid financial problems brought on by extreme weather events. This week on Retirement Genius, Chris discusses how the rise of heat waves, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, and flooding, are all recipes for disaster in the lives of seniors not well suited to cope with these conditions.

In the conclusion of our conversation revolving around building a recession-proof retirement, Chris is joined by Anna Wong, the Chief US Economist for Bloomberg LP and former principal economist at the Federal Reserve.

Anyone planning to retire this year is facing some serious economic challenges that they must consider, but it is important to remember that economies are cyclical and when dark clouds gather-- they will eventually pass. And this week on the Retirement Genius podcast, Chris rolls out a 10 Point Plan to Build a Recession-Proof Retirement:

1. Don’t panic sell.

2. Maintain an investment mix that keeps enough cash to cover 2 years of a retirement budget.

3. Look at investing in Bonds and Treasuries for higher yields over the next couple of years.

4. Pay down debt, especially credit cards or anything tied to an adjustable rate.

5. Time to re-evaluate and prioritize how you spend your money and get on a budget.

6. Hold off buying real estate or refinancing a mortgage.

7. Evaluate your entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.

8. Provide security for the future by looking at insurance today.

9. Guarantee a lifetime income or funds for long-term care with annuities.

10. Look to assets as a possible source of income.

In the conclusion of our episode highlighting the unique challenges facing women in retirement, Chris runs down the five things women need to know and is joined by Certified Financial Planner, Renee Martone-Cecil from Ameriprise Financial Services.

As we've said in previous episodes of Retirement Genius, saving for retirement remains one of the most important financial goals for both men and women. But while saving for retirement is a huge venture for everyone, women face unique obstacles that need to be taken into account in their long-term planning. In part one, Chris breaks down the challenges facing women in retirement including benefits & entitlements, insurance, assets, and income.