If you are nearing retirement you may be hyper-aware of the corona disruption. With all this extra time on your hands, you may want to spend more time planning your retirement. But don’t overthink this. Listen to this episode to hear my take on 6 years of Retirement Answer Man plus hear the answers to several listener questions. 

6 lessons from 6 years of Retirement Answer Man

Thanks for 6 years of Retirement Answer Man! Last week I entitled the episode 6 Retirement Lessons from 6 Years of Retirement Answer Man and then I forgot to mention the lessons or the fact that 6 years have gone by. So here are 6 of my takeaways after 6 years of producing the show.

1. It’s all about the money. Many think of retirement as being a math problem, but it’s not. There are too many unknowns for retirement to be as easy as a math problem. Retirement is the problem that cannot be solved that easily. 
2. Going from accumulation to decumulation is hard. After saving your whole life, switching gears is a challenge. Not only are you no longer earning, but so much else in your life is changing as well. Your social networks, your purpose, your relationship are just some of the things that change alongside transitioning from being an earner to living off your savings. 
3. Your attitude is critical to your success. Attitude is everything. You can have the attitude: what does this make possible? Or, why is this happening to me? Don’t let the circumstance determine the attitude, let the attitude interpret the circumstance. 
4. The traditional system of retirement planning is broken. This system is based on sales of products and investment portfolios. Financial planning is evolving though
5. Little actions are critical. What can you do next? Create the momentum to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risk. Agile financial planning is a journey. 
6. Trust that everything will be ok. Take action, but understand that your path will be revealed. 

What retirement lessons have you learned on your journey? Let me know!

How to time the bottom of the market

One listener writes in with a question about timing the bottom of the market. He had the foresight to pull out when the virus hit China. But now he wants to get back in near the bottom. He is worried that he might miss the upswing. 

Planning the bottom of the market is pretty challenging. I am not a market timer. I prefer to have a process and strategy where I develop my tactics. Without a process, our choices are fueled by emotion rather than logic. Do you have an investment process? Listen in to this episode to hear more listener questions

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

• [2:45] 6 lessons from 6 years of Retirement Answer Man

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [13:43] Recommendations on buying gold
• [19:12] How to time the bottom
• [23:40] How to build a fixed income source for your pie cake

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [28:02] What are you going to learn over the next 7 days?

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center