What Newer Retirees Aren’t Talking About
There’s one thing I can report that I’m NOT hearing from newer retires: that it’s awful. That’s right. Not a single time have I heard someone say they’re loathing their ability to be a person of the retired class. Instead, newer retirees share stories of travel, time spent with family, projects they’ve considered getting around to doing on the house, …
Health and Safety Message
Back in May, our goal was to get back to conducting in-person meetings here at the office starting June 1st. At the time, Salt Lake County was entering the Yellow phase of the pandemic and the restrictions were starting to ease a bit. Fast forward to mid-July and we are seeing case counts on the rise, discussions of closing certain …
The Metric System
Carpenters and bakers know the pain, but have simply embraced it. “Because we’ve always done it this way” means we should keep doing it this way, or so the story goes. In the 1970s there was a movement to eradicate this pain, but it just didn’t stick. The metric system, they said, just wasn’t going to provide enough benefits to …
Briefcase Study: If a Tree Falls In the Woods
If a Tree Falls In the Woods, and Other Election Year Thoughts During a recent meeting, and then at another meeting, and another…the question came up: “With an election coming up, what should we be doing about our investments?” Here we are, in the midst of a presidential election season, and we’re all searching for answers. People are asking themselves, …
Back to the Basics: Two Ways To Estimate Retirement Expenses; One Fast, One Slow
Retirement Planning done well should feel like a state of flow. Money flows in, money flows out; the rate of this flow is determined by your chosen lifestyle. Ideally, your lifestyle conforms naturally to your desires and needs, as they shift with your health and interests. Thus your accumulated assets should provide you with enough income (flow in) to match …
Retiring At A Time Like This?
Anytime a person utters the phrase, “This time it’s different” I get a little skeptical. I’ll bet you do too. It seems that being alive for at least a few decades leads us to believe that we’ve seen it all before, there’s nothing new under the sun. This is likely why kids are so fun to be around, because it’s …
Rent A Dumpster, Change Your Life
A good friend woke up one day with the fire in his belly to get his financial life moving forward in a big way. Paying off old debts, setting aside savings, and making some tax-wise moves hit his radar screen in a big way. He was, and is, urgent about it. I couldn’t be happier for him and his young …
Income Backwardization
As I’ll often do, I recently carved out time to review the latest in retirement income planning research (Some people golf, others travel, this is what I do for fun!). In my quest, I stumbled upon a summary titled, ‘39 Modern Retirement Income Planning Techniques’ by Wade Pfau. Since this is so fascinating to me, I thought I’d fully explain …
Forecasting the Weather and Pending Economic Collapse
Imagine for a moment that you’re tasked with instructing others how to select a wardrobe. Given the regularity of the seasons, you could do pretty well suggesting a mix of warm clothes for winter and cool clothes for summer. However, naming the exact day when a 70-degree day interrupts the 40-degree days of early spring would prove very difficult. If …
Breakthrough in a Box
When an Amazon box arrives at the front door, it’s an exciting moment. Is it…for me? Boy, I sure hope so (having forgotten what I may have ordered in the first place). Generally, the thing in that box is the result of a decision process that was either minutes long or one that took months of research. Either way, taking …
