I have read so many good quotes lately that I am not sure where the one above came from, but it certainly speaks volumes.
Twice a month, beginning in mid-February, I've been attending Zoom meetings with other financial planning colleagues from around the country.
Of all the many challenges couples face in life, whether married or living together - deciding how as a couple you’re going to manage your money tends to be the most confounding.
Some couples choose to keep their money absolutely separate. This is mine, that’s yours, and never the twain shall meet, or something similar. Of course, this option which seems very straight forward, clear and easy, comes with its own set of problems not usually envisioned when initially making this choice. The main problem being, you’re not working as a team when it comes to coordinating your cash flow, investing and tax planning strategies. As a consequence, you’re missing the opportunity to optimize your finances. You would never run a business this way, so why would you manage your cash flow this way?
Imagine you’ve just met a person that not only has a black belt in karate, but a third degree black belt to boot and is a well respected and nationally acclaimed sensei (teacher). You’re in awe of the practice and discipline required to achieve this level of martial arts mastery.
If you’re like most people near or currently in retirement, you’ve spent most of your adult life managing your personal finances to the best of your ability. You’ve witnessed your share of stock market crashes, often referred to euphemistically as “market corrections”, you’ve saved and hopefully invested well, and you’ve done what’s needed to have a nest egg large enough to never have to worry about running out of money during retirement.
If you’re among the millions of boomers beginning to plan for retirement, you’re most likely feeling a range of emotions that may range from euphoria to downright fear. Nonetheless, as you begin to prepare for this next phase of your life, step one is assessing where you stand financially right at this moment.
Yet on the road to assessing your financial readiness for retirement, unexpected events could occur that rock your world and change your life in ways probably unimaginable to most people. The story below actually happened. Names have been changed but events that occurred are unfortunately real.
This description is taken from Wikipedia:
A couple of weeks back, I received a call from a client couple, (who I’ll call ‘Z’) who have been happily retired for a few years. During our conversation, they let me know they needed to take out some extra money for a one-time expense that their regular retirement income won’t quite cover. However, this isn’t the first time; in fact, it seems for client couple Z there’s a different one-time request more years than not.
If you’re a single boomer and find yourself happily or begrudgingly back in the dating scene, it’s only a matter of time before the right person comes along and captures your heart as well as your imagination.
For the next 19 years, close to 10,000 boomers will turn 65 everyday and the majority will also be heading into retirement.
