Blog
Weekly articles about how to live a secure, fulfilling retirement.
Retirement lessons from the world’s richest person
Jeff Bezos became the richest person in the world last week. In a little over 20 years, the founder of Amazon.com went from no money (or very little) to more money than anyone. Warren Buffett once called him “the most remarkable business person of our age.” That’s...
If something happens to you
Note: For help accomplishing the things discussed in this article, you might be interested in my book and organization kit If Something Happens to Me. It’s been a rough couple of months in the U.S. Devastating hurricanes. Wildfires. Nuclear tensions with North...
A simple trick to make your money last (The secret: Dynamic spending rules)
A few weeks ago, I gave you six ways to make your nest egg last. It’s an important topic, so here’s a seventh: Dynamic Spending. There’s a growing body of research that shows it can significantly extend the life of your portfolio. What is it and how does it work?...
You don’t find yourself. You create yourself.
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” - George Bernard Shaw. When I was in college a friend of mine dropped out and said, “I’m going to move to Colorado for a year and try to find myself.” This totally made sense at the time. None...
Do I really want this or do I just think I want it?
There are so many things that sound great in theory, but aren’t always great in practice. Take retirement for example. No work. Loads of free time. Travel. Those all sound great (and most of the time they are), but I’ve had retirees complain about every single one...
Six ways to make your nest egg last
"Will my money last?” That’s the biggest concern for most retirees. What can you do to stretch your retirement dollars for as long as possible? A recent article in the Journal of Financial Planning (JFP) analyzed six factors and the role each played in portfolio...
4 Unexpected emotions in retirement
I’ve helped many people transition into retirement over the years and when I ask a new retiree how things are going, the response is generally positive. That said, retirement is a huge transition and there are always unexpected feelings or emotions that crop up. ...
Don’t throw good life after bad
In business, a sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and can’t be recovered. Economists tell us that we shouldn’t factor these costs in when making a rational decision about how to proceed. Since we’re human and hate losses, however, we often use these...
The best tool for retirement health expenses
There is a lot of uncertainty with healthcare lately, but two trends will likely continue: It will continue to get more expensive and you will continue to be responsible for more and more of the costs. Even with Medicare, it is estimated that the typical retiree will...
My 5 favorite travel tools
The family and I have been traveling in Iceland for the last few weeks. We had an amazing time (more in a future post), but I was again reminded that whoever said “The joy is in the journey” never spent much time flying coach. If you do any amount of traveling, you...
Systems and Habits
Quick review I’m doing a 3-part series on how to overcome obstacles and achieve the real, significant and lasting change necessary to live the life you want, both now and in retirement. It’s a 3-part series, because we’re covering 3 big ideas. Idea #1 was...
You will probably retire sooner than you think
Hi all. Life got busy and Part 3 of my series on simplifying your life and executing on the things that are most important to you is taking a bit longer than expected. I know. Ironic isn’t it? Anyway, that post will be up soon. Meanwhile I wanted to give you a few...