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Do You Want a WorryFree Retirement®?

By December 22, 2021No Comments

The Many C’s to a WorryFree Retirement®!

In this three-part series, Tony addresses six different ways (all beginning with the letter C) that Savers can worry less about their money and enjoy a WorryFree Retirement®!

The first thing is the Saver needs to Clarify. What is your vision? What are you expecting for the future? The second thing that you need to do is Consider. What do you want and what do you currently have? The third thought is Concession. To get something, the Saver may have to give something up. Fourth you need to Create. This can be a written GamePlan like we create for our clients or some kind of action to follow through with your financial goals. The fifth thing you need is Control. If all your assets are in the stock market, you will not have control. This can cause the Saver to worry about their future. Lastly, Savers need Confidence. You need to be certain and safe in your future.

For now, let’s dive into the first two C’s to a WorryFree Retirement®. Just as our process starts with Clarifying your Vision for retirement… that’s right where we’ll start here:

 

CLARIFY:

• Setting Goals
o As the old saying goes, ‘You can’t get there from here…’ Planning for retirement might feel like that sometimes, but in any case, how do you get to your destination if you never identify where you want to go? Setting realistic, reasonable goals for what you’d like to do in retirement is a great opportunity to see how you’re doing and what changes you might need to make.
• Write it Down
o A Dominican University (California) study suggests that you are 42% more likely to achieve goals that are written down. Jot down a few goals to do today, then a few goals for the next week, next month, year, etc.
• Be Realistic
o Everyone wants to retire a millionaire without any debt, but that might just not be feasible for you… be realistic and try to see clearly what your reality in retirement might look like.
• Reasonable Timeline
o You may think your money is your most important asset in retirement; however, it’s actually your time. Take your goals and time to achieve them seriously – putting too harsh of timelines on yourself will cause too much stress and not enough enjoyment of your money.
• Have Accountability
o Whether you discuss your finances with your spouse or a financial advisor on a regular basis, it’s always important to ‘Monitor your Progress’ – the final (and ongoing) step in our WorryFree Retirement®.

CONSIDER:

The second step is to Consider your future. There are many possible outcomes to the ever-changing stock market. It is important to be realistic and to consider what may happen.

Currently, one of the biggest worries that Savers face is the impact of inflation on their retirement savings. Here are some tips from Tony to help Savers consider inflation:

- ‘Front Door, Back Door’
o Imagine on a hot day, you just cranked the AC on, but the back door is hanging wide open. As hard as your AC is trying to pump cold air throughout the house to keep you comfortable, that air is just racing out the back door.
o If you do not have enough income coming in to keep up with the expenses (and interest on any loans), your money is just racing out the back door.
- Dollar in Your Pocket
o A dollar in your pocket is worth less tomorrow. If you have cash sitting idle in the bank or a safe – it may not be at risk in the stock market, but inflation is certainly having an impact on that money.
- Been There, Done That
o Inflation is not a new phenomenon. We’ve seen this before.
- Three Halves of Life®
o The reality is the older you get, the less you spend money. Tony has seen this play out having met with over 15,000 Savers… but that doesn’t mean you should just sit back without a GamePlan.
- Can’t Take It With You
o Why not find a way to use and enjoy this money while you can. Tony Walker Financial helps clients plan for gifting strategies.
o Learn how to give it now to your kids and grandkids while they can use it instead of holding onto it until you die.
- Understand Net vs. Gross
o Gross is what you make in the year without deductions.
o Net is how much you make after all the deductions.
o Many Savers have fallen to believe that they’ll need the same income in retirement that they had while working. Not so! Your take home money on your pay stub is the net of all 401k contributions, FICA, health insurance, etc.

Click the button below to hear Tony address the first two C's to a WorryFree Retirement®!

 

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