The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: the problem with financial experts.

Today, I am talking about the question you should always ask yourself whenever you are going to listen to someone in the media - TV, print, YouTube, etc. Whenever you are going to take advice from someone who doesn’t know you, it’s critical that you’re not a passive absorber and consumer of the information. Many in the media are very adept at stirring up your emotions, especially fear, and getting you to react. 

Remember: someone is always trying to get you to buy something. Even if it’s just buying your time by getting you to watch their program tomorrow night and the night after that. I stopped watching TV financial news years ago, because the writers and hosts are very talented, and I found myself getting dragged down into fear, anger, and paranoia. And I wasn’t even watching political news. This was standard financial markets stuff. 

So you’ll want to always be alert, especially when watching TV. Frankly, I would avoid TV as much as possible, because it’s so much easier to just take what you hear as gospel, not questioning it. On the other hand, when you read something, you are taking a more active role. 

But regardless of the form of media where someone is disseminating financial advice, you should always be a little skeptical and always ask: what is this person trying to sell me? If I take their advice, how will it benefit them? The more connected they are to the benefit of you taking their advice (i.e. buying an annuity that they’re offering with their newsletter subscription or free report), the more skeptical you’ll want to be about their motives for providing the best advice, especially when they don’t know you. 

That’s it for today! Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: the problem with financial experts.

Today, I’m talking about the problem with taking advice from big financial institution bigwigs. These experts are often showcased on national TV programs and they carry titles like chief investment officer. They’re bright and articulate, but the problem with this type of advice from people who work at large financial institutions is that it is often so generic and so watered down that it ceases to have any value. 

Big financial companies tend to have very grumpy compliance officers and attorneys who are waiting to pounce as soon as the bigwig in question slips up and says something off the cuff. 

I used to work for these big financial institutions. For the first decade of my career I had to get compliance approval every time I sneezed. These companies need to keep their name in front of you, so they are eager to weigh in on CNBC or be quoted in the Wall Street Journal, and they are usually worth listening to...if they would only share their ACTUAL opinion on something, not parrot the talking points that their compliance department told them to say. 

So I think if you can’t pin these bigwigs down on anything and they stay in the middle lane, saying things like “Well on the one hand, you could...and on the other hand you could…”, then I don’t think it’s worth it to take their advice. 

That’s it for today, but before you go I need your help. I’m planning an upcoming weekly theme on the podcast of “ask me anything”! What’s weighing most heavily on your mind right now as you approach retirement? Submit your question to me, I’ll pick 5 of my favorites, and answer them on the podcast. Just send me an email to [email protected]. That’s [email protected], and even if I don’t pick your question to answer on the podcast, I’ll do my best to reply and send you an answer.

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: the problem with financial experts. 

I’m talking about some of the challenges of taking advice from TV personalities, chief investment strategists at large financial institutions, the newspaper article you read this morning, the radio show host who tells you to buy gold, and other so-called experts. 

Financial advice is so prevalent...heck, you’re listening to it right now. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are constantly exposed to financial advice. That advice isn’t always bad, but there’s most often an ulterior motive - the dispenser of that advice is usually trying to sell you something - whether it’s ratings or keeping you coming back tomorrow night to watch your favorite financial news program, or some type of financial product or service, the advice you receive should always be taken with a grain of salt. 

Even if the dispenser of that advice isn’t doing anything nefarious, their biases will naturally creep into their advice. 

So this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast, I’m going to dive deeply into the problems with some of the biggest offenders of giving bad financial advice, and I’ll share with you some great places to look for financial advice instead. 

That’s it for today. But before you go, I want to share with you a weekly theme I have planned and I need your help. It’s “ask me anything” week. Submit your question about retirement to me, and if I pick your question, I’ll read it and answer it on the podcast.                                                             

• What’s weighing most heavily on your mind as you approach retirement? 
• What obstacles are keeping you from where you want to be?
• Even if you just want my crystal ball predictions on inflation, the stock market, or interest rates, I’ll put my magic merlin hat on and answer your burning questions 

Just send me an email: [email protected]. That’s [email protected].

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche...and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

The theme for this week was: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

Otherwise known as the  4 L’s of retirement, longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy, provide a useful framework for prioritizing your retirement goals, your income needs and how you will spend your time and money in retirement. 

Hopefully after listening to the tips this week, you’re better equipped to plan for your spending in retirement, and you have a greater understanding for the proper attention that each of these categories will require in the retirement planning process. 

If you missed any of these episodes, you can find them on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

And if you want a free worksheet based on the 4 L’s of retirement, just send me an email and I’ll send you the pdf worksheet - [email protected]. That’s [email protected].  

This simple, one-page worksheet will help you brainstorm your own retirement goals and priorities as they relate to longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy, and allow you to see how they all fit together on one page to form a cohesive strategy. 

Tomorrow, come on back, because we’re starting a brand new theme: The problem with financial experts. There’s a problem with the experts that are interviewed on your favorite business programs, the chief investment officer at the big bank financial institution, and the YouTube creator who is peddling a course or a newsletter subscription. I’ll explain what I mean and why you want to be cautious about so-called financial experts (even me!) in next week’s podcast. 

And if you haven’t checked out my YouTube channel - True North Retirement - head over to YouTube and subscribe. I post new videos on Sundays, and each video is aimed at helping you live a fulfilled and financially secure retirement... if you’re enjoying the podcast, I know you’ll love the YouTube videos as well.

Thank you so much for listening this week! My name is Ashley Micciche and I hope you have a blessed Sunday.

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>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

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>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire, retirement lifestyle

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

What are these 4 things? They’re known as the 4 L’s of retirement and the concept was developed by retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau.

The 4 Ls of retirement are longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. So far this week, I’ve talked about each of these 4 factors individually. Today, we’re bringing it all together to look at how they are all different parts of the same body. Each is critical on its own, but these 4 factors for retirement success also work together to form the whole picture of your retirement needs and goals.

Thinking about your own retirement with the 4 L’s in mind allows you to build a foundation that guides you toward prioritizing these 4 goals in your life. 

If you want a free worksheet based on the 4 L’s of retirement, just send me an email and I’ll send you the worksheet - [email protected]. That’s [email protected]. 

This simple, one-page worksheet will help you brainstorm your own retirement goals and priorities as they relate to longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy, and allow you to see how they all fit together to form a cohesive strategy. 

Link to worksheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FUv1csK_Hu5-6UxhTZcM0UvgJ7NKYABd/view?usp=sharing 

That’s it for today. Tomorrow, we’re going to recap the week and I’m going to give you a little preview of next week’s theme. 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire, retirement lifestyle

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

What are these 4 things? They’re known as the 4 L’s of retirement and the concept was developed by retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau.

The 4 Ls of retirement are longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. Today, we’re wrapping up with legacy. 

Legacy is all about what happens with your money after you’re gone. The wealthier you are, the more this goal tends to work it’s way into your plan for retirement because you’re more likely to have discretionary assets to give, but legacy is something that everyone should think about as they plan for retirement. 

If you plan well, you’ll likely have money left over when you pass from this world, which means you’ll want to decide who will get what and what additional impact you want to have on your community, church, and other charities that you care about. 

I have yet to have a client spend his or her last dollar on the day he or she kicked the bucket, so you’ll want to think about the legacy you’ll want to leave behind, and importantly, I challenge you to give while you’re still living. Giving in a significant way while you’re still living can help you to have a healthier relationship with your money, and not hold on so tightly to your assets and wealth. And you’ll get to see the impact of your legacy by giving in a meaningful way while you’re still alive. 

Maybe you want to work into your retirement spending goals, a monthly or annual contribution to charities. It’s important that you think about this and plan for your legacy and giving goals in advance, so you can give in a  tax efficient way. Haphazard giving is usually stupid giving when it comes to tax planning, and there are easy ways to minimize your taxes with your giving. Just one example is giving directly from your IRA to satisfy your required minimum distributions in retirement, or setting up a donor-advised fund. Both of these simple strategies can have major tax-saving benefits.

That’s it for today. But in case you missed this week’s earlier episodes, I’m planning an upcoming weekly theme on the podcast of “ask me anything”! Questions about your retirement, inflation, can you afford to retire this year, should you pay off your house before retirement...whatever is weighing on your mind about your money right now, submit your question to me, I’ll pick 5 of my favorites, and answer them on the podcast. Just send me an email to [email protected].

Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire, retirement lifestyle

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

What are these 4 things? They’re known as the 4 L’s of retirement and the concept was developed by retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau.

The 4 Ls of retirement are longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. Today, we’re focusing on liquidity. 

Liquidity is all about maintaining an emergency fund and extra savings that are set aside for emergencies and other curve balls that will inevitably come your way in retirement. This could include supporting elderly parents when you didn’t plan on doing so, a house fire, flood, or lawsuit, or absorbing the impact of an unexpected death or disability. 

According to the creator of the concept of the 4 L’s, Dr. Wade Pfau, “Such assets [for emergencies] must not be earmarked for other goals, as unexpected contingencies relate to anything falling outside of the planned retirement budget.”

So while most of planning for retirement is about planning for what you expect to happen, the plan can go sideways pretty quickly when the unexpected happens, which is why it’s so important to maintain cash, so you can cover most of those inevitable unexpected events that will come up during your 20-30+ year retirement. 

There are no guarantees in life. And that’s the hardest part of planning for retirement, but that doesn’t mean it’s futile. It just means you’ll need to have enough of a cushion, that’s liquid enough to provide for those emergencies. 

The other challenging part about this is we don’t know anything about how much we’ll need to unexpected expenditures. You might have $50,000 or $500,000 of unexpected expenses in retirement. 

With all that in mind, how much should you have set aside in cash to cover your liquidity needs in retirement. Too much in cash can drag down the overall returns of your portfolio, but too little in cash can cause you to sell assets, perhaps at the worst time. 

Ideally, my recommendation to clients is to have enough cash on hand to cover their basic needs for 6 months. So if your basic spending needs are $3,000 a month, you’ll need $18,000 in cash on hand. In addition to that, I recommend another 12 months of your portfolio withdrawals  in cash to cover those big emergencies and allow you to stop your portfolio withdrawals if the stock market and your portfolio take a nose dive. Notice I said portfolio withdrawals, not your total monthly expenses. So if you withdraw $2,000 a month from your portfolio, you’ll need another $24,000 cash on hand. 

That’s it for today, but before you go, I’m planning an upcoming weekly theme on the podcast of “ask me anything”! What’s weighing most heavily on your mind right now as you approach retirement? Submit your question to me, I’ll pick 5 of my favorites, and answer them on the podcast. Just send me an email to [email protected]. That’s [email protected], and even if I don’t pick your question to answer on the podcast, I’ll do my best to reply and send you an answer anyway.

Thanks for listening! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

---------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire, retirement lifestyle

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

What are these 4 things? They’re known as the 4 L’s of retirement and the concept was developed by retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau.

The 4 Ls of retirement are longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. Today, we’re focusing on lifestyle. 

Now that we’ve addressed your basic needs with the longevity and understanding the importance of sustaining your essential expenses in retirement, and you are confident that you won’t run out of money to cover your basic needs in retirement, we get to the fun part!

Lifestyle goals in retirement are all about how you want to live your life, and they tend to be more discretionary in nature. 

What are your travel plans? If you live in the northern half of the U.S. like me, you may be dreaming of spending the winter months of retirement somewhere warm and sunny. Or maybe you just want to be able to visit the places and new experiences that come with a travel budget of $10,000 a year. 

Travel is probably the most common non-essential lifestyle spending goal I see among my clients, but the list of lifestyle spending (aka discretionary spending) goals in retirement is quite long and varied. Some other common examples are:

Buying a new car every few years, paying for a large one-time expense like a wedding or a home remodel, buying a 2nd home, a boat, or an RV, starting a business, setting up and funding college savings accounts for grandchildren, helping a child with their first home purchase, or funding hobbies like a golf club membership or dues for your speed knitting league. 

What you’ll want to do with each of these discretionary spending goals is add it to your overall spending plan and see if it pencils out. 

It’s easier to plan for the regular lifestyle goals like monthly dues for a membership, but it’s much more challenging to plan for a large one-time expense like a home remodel. Can you afford to withdraw $100,000 for a major home remodel 5 years into retirement? Maybe, maybe not? It depends on the size of your portfolio, how much you’re withdrawing from your portfolio for your other income needs that year, and frankly, the unpredictable ups and downs of the stock market...because even if you plan to take a withdrawal for a large one-time purchase, you may either need to set aside the amount you need in cash gradually, or you may need to delay that remodel if your portfolio takes a hit because of a drop in the stock market. You don’t want to make the problem much worse by piling on to that loss with a large withdrawal. 

So think about your lifestyle retirement goals as the goals that help you enjoy retirement and add that spice and fun to life that we all desire. What do you want to do in your retirement years? How do you want to spend your time and money? And most importantly, can your income sources and your retirement portfolio support those lifestyle goals. 

That’s it for today! Thanks for listening.My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire, retirement lifestyle

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

What are these 4 things? They’re known as the 4 L’s of retirement and the concept was developed by retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau.

The 4 Ls of retirement are longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. Today, we’re focusing on longevity. 

Longevity goals are all about making sure that your basic needs are covered in retirement, so you don’t run out of money or become a financial burden to others. It’s possible and even likely, that you’ll spend 30+ years in retirement, so you need to make your money last.

Thinking about your retirement in terms of longevity addresses that concern. Do you have enough in assets to cover your basic needs for 30+ years in retirement. Will you be able to pay for housing, health care, and basic living expenses with your retirement nest egg? 

Will your portfolio and other sources of income adequately address your longevity needs and your basic living needs in retirement? 

It’s also very important to consider how your portfolio and how it’s invested will be able to go the distance for you in retirement. It’s critical that you can keep up with inflation, which will take a significant toll over a 30+ year retirement. And that usually means having an investment strategy that can continue to grow for you while providing for your basic living needs. 

If you’re most concerned with providing for your basic needs in retirement and not running out of money, then the longevity goal will likely take priority in your plan for retirement and your spending decisions. 

That’s it for today, but before you go I need your help. I’m planning an upcoming weekly theme on the podcast of “ask me anything”! What’s weighing most heavily on your mind right now as you approach retirement? Submit your question to me, I’ll pick 5 of my favorites, and answer them on the podcast. Just send me an email to [email protected]. That’s [email protected], and even if I don’t pick your question to answer on the podcast, I’ll do my best to reply and send you an answer.

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies, how long will money last in retirement, do I have enough to retire

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is Get These 4 Things Right For A Successful Retirement. 

If you’re searching for how to set yourself up for a successful retirement, it’s important to understand and give pride of place to these 4 factors: longevity, lifestyle, liquidity, and legacy. This concept, known as the 4 L’s of retirement, was developed by the well-known industry author and retirement researcher, Dr. Wade Pfau. 

The purpose of the 4 L’s is to help you understand how these interrelated factors influence your decisions about how you spend your money, your time, and how you invest your money in retirement.

My hope is that you’ll come away from this week’s podcast episodes better able to think about your own retirement goals as they relate to these 4 things you’ll want to pay attention to as you approach and transition into retirement. 

So I’ll devote each day this week to breaking down one of these retirement success factors, and at the end of the week, I’ll share with you how you can bring it all together with a free worksheet from Wade Pfau and his team. 

That’s it for today. But before you go, I want to share with you a weekly theme I have planned and I need your help. It’s “ask me anything” week. Submit your question about retirement to me, and if I pick your question, I’ll read it and answer it on the podcast.                                                             

• What’s weighing most heavily on your mind as you approach retirement? 
• What obstacles are keeping you from where you want to be?
• Even if you just want my crystal ball predictions on inflation, the stock market, or interest rates, I’ll put my magic merlin hat on and answer your burning questions 

Just send me an email: [email protected]. That’s [email protected].

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche...and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, retirement income planning, retirement income sources, retirement income, retirement income withdrawal, retirement spending strategies