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In this episode, Taylor Schulte, and Benjamin Brandt join the show to talk about our co-founding of the Retirement Podcast Network while riff on some of the biggest retirement pain points people face.
If you’ve been listening to The Long-Term Investor for a while, you’re probably used to me saying “this show is a proud member of the Retirement Podcast Network,” so I wanted to share a behind the scenes look and how and why we started it.
These are my notes from our conversation…
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Origin of Retirement Podcast Network [00:34]
The Retirement Podcast Network serves as a hub for listeners seeking trustworthy advice on navigating the complexities of retirement.
Taylor shares the genesis of the Retirement Podcast Network, aimed at offering a reliable source of retirement planning information through high-quality podcasts. As avid listeners of podcasts ourselves, we recognized how hard it was to find and discover new, high-quality shows.
We also wanted to provide listeners with a trustworthy place to get accurate information on important issues as well as different perspectives on the various topics.
Our profession has long done a disservice to consumers where we try to be everything to everybody, that basically we serve anyone with money. That’s why we feel it is important that the Retirement Podcast Network members have real life experience working with a diverse group of people. No two people are exactly the same, so none of us wants to be giving out generic advice—instead, we speak to our specific experience working with real-life people.
We also all perform differently on our shows. I use that word “perform” intentionally because we know that everyone learns differently, so it’s important to us that we engage listeners in different ways too.
Retirement Planning Beyond Investing [05:09]
The multifaceted nature of retirement planning extends so far beyond traditional investment strategies. Retirement planning encompasses lifestyle considerations, healthcare needs, and legacy planning, requiring a comprehensive approach to financial management.
When we’re accumulating wealth, investing just becomes, “I want a positive return over time.” But once we retire, I think it becomes something entirely different because the accumulation of your retirement assets represents untapped potential. Essentially, those are all memories you’re going to make in the future.
And maybe you didn’t have time to make them while you were working. So you saved up money in advance, and that’s going to be your future cash flows.
Retirement is different because there are really two ways to mess up retirement planning. Traditionally our profession focuses in one the first one, which is running out of money.
But the other way we mess up retirement planning is equally important, even though it doesn’t get as much attention. That’s dying with regret.
The person that’s able to save up a few million dollars might be considered successful retirement saver, but spending that money requires an entirely different skill set. Plus, there are some giant pain points that start showing up.
Hey, I’ve done a really good job saving money, accumulating wealth. It seemed to be pretty simple for me, just make money, save money, invest in low-cost index funds.” And now all of a do I do about healthcare in retirement? What do I do about taxes in retirement? How do I turn this nest egg into an income stream that I won’t outlive in retirement?
Quite simply, the period leading up to retirement as well as the first few years of retirement are a more complex stage of people that simply have done a good job accumulating over their careers. And most of our listeners don’t want to screw it up. It’s that sentiment that drove our initial content focus on the website.
These hubs serve as centralized resources for listeners seeking guidance on specific retirement topics, ranging from income strategies to long-term care planning.
Retirement Income Strategies [08:18]
The first way most people answer the questions “Can I retire?” or “Do I have enough to retire?” is through a Monte Carlo analysis that generates a probability of success. This is an important exercise, but it’s only a part of the process.
You’ve got this healthy nest egg—what does it mean in terms of monthly income for the rest of your life? That’s one of the biggest pain points we all see among people approaching retire: “How do I actually turn this into an income stream or a retirement paycheck?”
There’s no shortage of retirement withdrawal strategies or retirement income strategies, so we wanted to provide a resource for people to learn about these different income and withdrawal strategies.
See EP.141: Evaluating Retirement Withdrawal Strategies with Christine Benz
The mistake a lot of people make with income and withdrawal strategies is they get fixed to a certain rate before even dreaming up what they want retirement to look like. For example, designing your retirement lifestyle around a 4% withdrawal rate because it’s a common rule of thumb you’ll hear from talking heads.
Instead of choosing a withdrawal strategy of any kind, you should be thinking about how they want their life to look, regardless of their financial situation. From there, you can choose a strategy that more closely aligns with that vision. In our experience, this approach makes for a far more fulfilling retirement.
Strategic Roth Conversions [12:10]
Passionate retirement savers of all ages love their Roth IRAs. That’s one of the reasons that Roth conversions are such a big topic in the personal finance and retirement space. It’s also a reason that we made it one of our initial content hubs at www.retirementpodcastnetwork.com.
During the conversation, we elaborate on the concept of Roth conversions, highlighting their potential benefits in optimizing tax efficiency during retirement. By strategically converting traditional retirement account assets to Roth accounts, individuals can mitigate future tax burdens and enhance their financial flexibility.
While all three of us agree that Roth conversions are great, we all also believe that Roth conversions are a way to optimize an already healthy plan. They aren’t a silver bullet and more often than not people aren’t doing them in an optimal fashion. We hope that the Roth Conversions content hub helps address some of the mistakes while highlighting prudent strategies to consider.
Long-Term Care Planning [15:36]
Taylor discusses the significance of long-term care planning in retirement, addressing the potential impact of healthcare expenses on one’s financial well-being. Long-term care insurance and alternative funding strategies play a critical role in safeguarding against unforeseen medical costs in retirement.
Yeah, again, just thinking about the big pain points for retirees at this stage of life. It’s like health care and retirement, what am I going to do and what happens if something unexpected occurs?
We all plan on living a healthy life. And a lot of our clients want to take care of themselves, but long-term care events happen and they’re capable of absolutely destroying a health retirement plan.
How do you prepare for a long-term care event? Should you buy insurance? The landscape can be confusing and how to approach these questions will be different for everyone. That’s why we made long-term care the third content hub.
Future Content Hubs at Retirement Podcast Network [18:58]
To conclude the episode, we do some live brainstorming for future content hubs, focusing on emerging retirement planning trends and evolving consumer needs.
One conclusion from our discussion was content that untangles the complexities of investing in retirement and emphasizing the importance of aligning investment strategies with long-term financial goals. Factors such as risk tolerance, time horizon, and income needs influence investment decisions in retirement, necessitating a tailored approach to portfolio management.
The other idea to come out of our conversation was a content hub dedicated to lifestyle considerations in retirement, encompassing leisure activities, travel experiences, and personal fulfillment. Retirees often grapple with how to allocate their time and resources in retirement, making lifestyle planning an integral aspect of retirement preparation.
Resources:
- Taylor Schulte and Benjamin Brandt
- Retirement Podcast Network
- EP.141: Evaluating Retirement Withdrawal Strategies with Christine Benz
- Roth Conversions Content Hub
- Long-term Care Content Hub
The Long Term Investor audio is edited by the team at The Podcast Consultant
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