Getting to your Retirement Exit

Why My Retirement Social Media Status-Is Complicated I remember when someone told me I should start a blog; my answer was I really do not have time.  I told them that there were enough bloggers out there, and I think most of them do a good job.   Their response to me was you are different.  When it comes to explaining stuff, you precisely say definitely what the problem is, and everyone exactly gets it.  I said thank you, and still never gave starting a blog another thought.  As I sat down with more clients, I started to realize that there is too much information available.   Nevertheless, the more information available the more overwhelming for the average retiree becomes.   I think retirement and retirement planning can be very tough to understand as it is, but add something like the open letter that was written to our current Vice President, Mr. Mike Pence, from the board of trustees of the social security administration and now you are at another level of complexity.  The

The Number 1 Reason Why I Hate Your 401K Part II I remember sitting in a classroom about 17 years ago, and the instructor passed around a magazine for us to look at.  On the cover was a person by the name of Ted Benna, and if you research or look him up you will see that he is called “The God Father of the 401k” or something of that nature.  I wanted to add some context to the readers who are yet to listen to Part I of the Reason Why I Hate Your 401K, which is available as a podcast here , and I recommend as an introduction to this Part II blog.  In celebration of our 10th podcast for “The Retirement Exit”, I decided that this subject was too complex to share on my podcast so this blog is Part II.  Part I (podcast) will share two other important reasons, but Part II (blog) is the biggest reason why I hate your 401k. I share in that podcast why I hate your 401k, and why I no longer hate my retirement plan.  This blog will take into account that my listeners have heard the podcast

I have been getting a lot of requests to put up a blog post to prepare everyday retirees for an upcoming market correction.  First of all let’s describe or identify a market correction.  A market correction is essentially an overall market drop of about 10%.  A market correction is not to be confused with a bear market, which is about a 20% drop in the markets.  First, let’s discuss when the last official market correction was on the books.  The last correction was the summer of 2015, and it started with China’s market in June.  China had a stock market crash that continued into July and August, then around the middle or August the Dow Jones Index (a collection of key stocks that measure the market as a whole)  The Dow Jones Stock Index basically measure the pillars or historical fortune 500 giants of the United States fell about 10%.  The Dow Jones fell 588 points during a two-day period, 1,300 points from August 18–21. Then on Monday, August 24, the world stock markets were down s

Are Tax Free Bonds really Tax Free?  Yes, Unless. I remember about 15 years ago when I first starting studying to take the Stock brokers General License exam.  It was pretty intense, it is a 6 hour exam, that you have to take blindfolded with one arm tied behind your back, with no computer, pen or paper in front of you.  No I am just kidding, everything after 6 hour exam is not true, but it sure felt like it at the time.  It was one of the most difficult exams I had ever taken in my life at the time.  Stocks or equities, which is considered ownership in a company and Bonds, which is debt that one can purchase in exchange for payments, made up most of the 6 hour exam. To keep this blog very simple and at a high level, Bonds come in primarily two flavors, General Obligation (GO) and Revenue Bonds.  Let’s do a quick review of both so we can find out if Tax Free Bonds really are Tax Free.  To accelerate this explanation, anything to do with Revenue will not be Tax Free so that means

Some people say that one of the biggest decisions a retiree can make is deciding on when is the right time to draw social security.  In my opinion, this is in fact, the most important decision you would make going into retirement.  In my podcast entitled “The Shift” from Accumulation to Distribution , I mentioned that the decision should be planned out well in advance because the stakes are higher once you go into the distribution phase. I want to give you a few reasons why getting it wrong could cost you more than you think.  One reason why you need to absolutely get it right is because if you take it to early, then you miss out on one important benefit, Medicare as it is not available until age 65. So if you retire at age 61, where will your medical insurance come from?  Trying go it alone with private insurance for 4 years can get quite expensive.  Another reason you might not want to take social security to early is that you can leave a lot of money on the table.   Take the

RETIREMENT MISTAKES WERE ALMOST MADE (2 min read) I remembered sitting down with Alma like it was yesterday.  We went through all of her 401k statements and the additional money she had saved for retirement.  I went back to my office and begun to input the numbers into my retirement planning software. The numbers were not favorable, because Alma did not want her lifestyle to change at all.  I picked up the phone and dialed her cell number and I asked her the following question. “Are you sure you are not willing to change anything concerning your lifestyle going into retirement?”  She said “I would like to keep everything as is, with no changes” I told her that would be difficult to do unless we changed some of her plans heading into retirement. Ideally, no one would like to change their lifestyle going into retirement, but unless you make the same amount of monthly income and have all of your medical and dental take care of, then this would be difficult I told Alma.  Not impossi

How Playing House Became Real. I never thought this day would come.  Waking up in the hospital bed with one kidney gone and the other kidney in disarray, how could life had been so unfair was the question that first came to mind.  Heavily medicated, I heard the doctor tell my wife, “If his other kidney does not wake up in the next 8-10 hours, then he will be on dialysis for the rest of his life,” and my wife began to cry over my bed. It was 2011, and playing house had just gotten real.  All I remembered at that time was did I pay the life insurance premium?  Would my wife and kids be okay?  Did I prepare my family financially to run the house in my absence?  The only check box I could make at the time was I had paid the insurance premium, but I could not say I had answered all the other questions.  My name is Jenny Jones and I am a Financial Advisor/Survivor.  You may be asking what a Financial  Advisor/Survivor is.  It is a person who is licensed and registered as a