These are the retirement LIES!
L - Longevity
I - Inflation
E - Economic Uncertainty
S - Spending
You have to be prepared for these before you retire.
LONGEVITY
You have to expect that you will live longer than you think. Too many people make short-sighted decisions when they retire.
Maybe it’s because they are no longer receiving a paycheck, so they want some form of income right away.
Maybe they think they don’t need their money to grow any longer or they simply don’t want to risk losing any money after they retire.
The problem is they will suffer down the road from making those short-term decisions, because they will affect them for the rest of their lives.
INFLATION
The rapidly rising cost of living sparked by the pandemic has instilled a sense of panic among most retirees. You can’t bury your head in the sand.
Sure, retirees need to have money (NOT exposed to the markets) to provide ongoing income that can increase over time, BUT they need the right amount of money positioned to grow for down the road.
People who took their Social Security benefits early are missing out on the built-in increases from age 62 to 70, and their lifestyle is going to suffer for it before long.
If people started their Social Security more than a year ago or are past their full retirement age, they can no longer get a do-over (more on that another day).
ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
Whatever the most recent year was always seems to have the worst news for your money, no, your survival!
The war in Ukraine started in 2022 - oil and gas prices took off - inflation was raging - people lost anywhere from 15% to 30% of their money in the markets!
BUT - If you look back over the last 20 years (or your entire life!), almost every year has had at least 2 or 3 events that could be reasons to panic and put all of your money in your mattress.
The important thing is to realize these are going to continue and there is no way to predict them - but you absolutely need to expect them and have a way to deal with them!
SPENDING
Believe it or not (but you should), almost everyone spends 30% more than what they think (after paying income taxes). That’s right - 30%!
How can that be?
You need to know how much you CAN spend when you retire (allowing for inflation) and compare that to your current, after-tax income. Are your numbers close enough?
Your maximum annual spending amount should be the driver for making most of your investment decisions in retirement.
THE GOOD NEWS - by using conservative assumptions, the initial maximum amount will probably be the most important figure for making decisions throughout retirement.