Blog
Weekly articles about how to live a secure, fulfilling retirement.
Repurpose your life insurance to pay for long-term care
Have you ever bought anything that totally made sense at the time, but now you don’t really want (or need) it? The treadmill that now doubles as a clothes rack. The timeshare you bought after a high-pressure sales pitch. The Franklin Mint plate collection. For some...
How rising interest rates will affect your portfolio
Quick note on a sale we’re having: You may have noticed that I recently opened a store at Intentional Retirement. Almost everything I do at the site is free, but I do have a few things for sale (and several new products on the way). To celebrate the opening, I’m...
Channeling my inner Bear Grylls
Before today’s post, 2 quick reminders: 1) Later on this morning we’re having a free Teleseminar on the ins and outs of long-term care insurance. My guest will be one of the foremost experts on LTC in the country. You’re all invited. Find call in details here....
A Brief Guide to Retirement Bliss
If you’ve spent any time here at IR, you know that I have a bit of a different take on retirement than most. Where others see something based on age or assets, I see something based on control. Where others see a life stage, I see a lifestyle philosophy. After all,...
Free long term care conference call
“Should I buy long term care insurance?” I get asked that question at least once a week. As you prepare for retirement, I’m guessing that question has crossed your mind a time or two as well. Well, you’re in luck. I do my best to provide useful resources for my...
One year to live
“You don’t have to find out you’re dying to start living.” ~Zach Sobiech It’s been a busy “News” week, and I wanted to point out a story to you just in case it got lost in the shuffle. Last May, Zach Sobiech’s doctors told him he only had a year to live. He was...
How retired are you?
How retired are you? For most people, that question has one of two answers: They are either retired (100%) or not retired (0%). They associate retirement with a particular age (65+) or work status (not working) and if they can’t check those boxes, then they’re not...
Retirement Planning Toolkit
When you signed up for updates at Intentional Retirement, you received a detailed Retirement Countdown Checklist. That sign-up bonus has been the same since I started the site, so I decided to change it up a bit. Rather than giving just one resource, I decided to...
Learning Challenge Update: How I did and what’s next.
Speed Reading Update The most recent skill I’ve been working to add to my “Lifestyle Résumé” is speed reading. Last month I tested my reading and comprehension and then studied ways to improve both. Over the last several weeks, I took what I learned and put it into...
Keep calm and retire on
The markets have done great lately, but there will inevitably come a time when fear returns and indexes drop. After all, that is the nature of markets. While we can't control the ups and downs, we can control things like how much we're saving, how our assets...
Two surefire ways to retire sooner
“When can I retire?” I get that question a lot. If you’re curious about the answer, look no further than your retirement budget. The more money you want to spend during retirement, the more you’ll need to save before you get there and the longer you’ll likely need...
4 ways to maximize your Social Security benefits
[Note: As most of you know, I’m a financial adviser. I use a program called Social Security Timing to help clients determine the best Social Security strategy for their situation. I’ll run that report for free for the first 20 of my readers (that’s you!) who request...