Use the Correct Process for Financial Success

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financial process

Are You Among the 99% Following a Faulty Retirement Plan?

The following is an excerpt from Momma’s Secret Recipe for Retirement Success, by Dan Ahmad, Jim Files, and Jack Canfield. Get your copy here!

Many retirees do not have their assets allocated properly to give themselves the highest probability that they can receive a high level of consistent income, will never run out of money for as long as they live, and will never suffer a big stock market loss like 2008 again.

In a previous blog, we described in detail the differences between Stage One of Retirement Planning – Asset Accumulation, and Stage Two of Retirement Planning – Income Distribution and Asset Preservation.

When you meet with your financial advisor, even after you’ve retired, the conversation will often be focused on your portfolio. Your advisor may talk about:

  • The growth of your portfolio (even though it actually hasn’t probably grown much).
  • How the market is doing “so well” and you need to ride the wave.
  • How you are diversified by having your 20-30 mutual funds.
  • Adding bonds to the portfolio, if you are worried about risk.
  • How you are in it for the long-term and no matter what, you should “ride out all market volatility.”
  • How they have the best money managers.
  • How they will get you high rates of return.
  • Maybe they will throw in some technical terms like alpha, beta, Sharpe ratio, and standard deviation.
  • How it’s best to defer IRA distributions as long as possible, until age 70 1⁄2, to minimize income taxes.

The advisor might say you are now invested moderately, or conservatively, but they probably don’t define what this means in potential losses. So, your advisor says “moderate” or “conservative,” and you are thinking “low risk,” even though your current portfolio could lose -30%, -40%, or even -50% or more. In many situations, the risk is caused by the portfolio’s primary focus on growth.

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Adjusting Your Retirement Mindset

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retirement mindset
How to Manage Common Challenges in this Phase of Life

At Peak Financial Freedom Group, we work with people every day who are preparing for retirement. We talk about when they’d like to retire, any goals they have, and what they envision their retirement lifestyle looking like. We review things like assets and liabilities, and we discuss cash flow. We use conservative risk-reduction strategies to help them protect their investments and provide the opportunity for growth. In short, we help our clients start working toward achieving the financial freedom they desire so they can enjoy a retirement free of money fears.

Alongside all this financial preparation, though, we have found that it’s also important to prepare your mindset for retirement. It represents a significant life change – and a massive psychological shift, too. That’s why you shouldn’t go into this phase of life unprepared from any standpoint. So, let’s discuss a few common mindset issues, and what near-retirees and recent retirees can do to overcome them.

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Why Money Brings Up Such Powerful Emotions

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money and emotions
Tips to Tame the Fear and Anxiety You May Feel About Your Finances

The following content has been adapted from Chapter 24 of Momma’s Secret Recipe for Retirement Success, by Dan Ahmad & Jim Files.

For many people, money is scary. It produces anxiety and many other powerful emotions, too. Oftentimes, the root of fear or anxiety is that you don’t truly understand your finances. You may even blame yourself for your “lack of financial intelligence.” However, we believe that for the overwhelming majority of retirees, the confusion and lack of understanding have nothing to do with personal shortcomings. If you feel confused and don’t understand your money, it’s because you don’t have an actual plan in writing.

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What is a ‘Safe’ Income Withdrawal Rate?

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income withdrawal rate
It’s Crucial to Ensure You Won’t Run Out of Money in Retirement

What does the phrase “safe income withdrawal rate” mean to you? Most people would answer, “the amount of income you can withdraw from your assets without the fear of running out of income during your lifetime.” This seems cut and dried. But you have to look at what the word “safe” means to different people.

“Safe” to some people might actually mean “safer than something else,” such as you stating that you are “driving safe” because you are going 80 miles per hour while everyone else on the road is driving 90 miles per hour, but the posted speed limit is 65 miles per hour. And then, “safe” to other people might mean the chance of anything negative happening is 0%. In planning for retirement, safe better mean safe, something you can count on for sure. Safe better not mean “kind of safe.”

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What is the Only Thing Worse Than a Stock Market Loss?

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investment portfolio
High Fees Can Devastate Your Portfolio and Your Chances for Long-Term Success

Stock market losses can devastate a portfolio and your chance for long-term success, but today we’re going to talk about something that could be even more devastating than a stock market loss. You probably think, “What could that be?” because stock market losses can ruin your retirement. The answer is … high fees!

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The Golden Rule of 5% to 10%

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the golden rule
Protecting Yourself Against Big Portfolio Losses

Because of how painful portfolio losses can be to retirees, we created The Golden Rule Of 5% To 10%. The Golden Rule Of 5% To 10% states you should not have your assets positioned to lose more than -5% to a maximum -10% of your total portfolio, even if the stock market crashes and loses -50% or more.

If you are like many retirees, right now you may be very nervous, anxious, and worried about your money simply because you are afraid of suffering through the next big stock market crash. You are not sure how much you could lose, but you know at this time in your life, a big loss could be devastating. If your money is currently unprotected in the stock market, you should be nervous because none of us like uncertainty. Following The Golden Rule Of 5% To 10% may help decrease your worries.

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Adjusting to Retirement: 8 Helpful Tips

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adjusting to retirement
Many Retirees Find This New Phase of Life More Challenging Than They Bargained For

Many new retirees are shocked to find that, though they have dreamed for decades about how they would enjoy their golden years, adjusting to retirement is actually quite difficult at first. On the surface, it would seem like leaving the stress and busyness of work behind and embracing a daily schedule of leisure would be ideal, but many retirees find it hard to navigate this “new normal.” That’s because retirement can often mean a loss of identity, and most people don’t prepare for this psychological challenge. Whether you identified as a lawyer, banker, chef, teacher, or small business owner, it’s easy to begin to question who you are now that you’ve retired.

Other issues can trip up new retirees, as well. While you may have more time for hobbies and the people you love, you may also have less money and feel less purpose in life. This can lead to anxiety and depression and, in fact, a study in the Journal of Population Aging recently found that retirees are twice as likely as working people to suffer from these mental health issues.

So, what is a new retiree to do? Below we’ll discuss eight helpful tips for adjusting to retirement that will help you navigate the challenges you may not have been expecting.

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How to Keep Your Relationship Healthy in Retirement

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retirement
Six Tips for Keeping the Spark Alive During this Chapter of Life

When you and your partner have spent your whole lives working, it’s natural for retirement to change the dynamic of your relationship. Just as with the financial aspects of your retirement, it’s important to plan ahead to keep your relationship healthy in this phase of life, too. You might have a fantastic financial advisor and all the money in the world, but if you haven’t taken into consideration how retirement will impact your relationship – and vice versa – then you’re missing a crucial part of retirement planning.

Below we’ll share six retirement and relationship tips to help you fully enjoy this phase of life with your spouse or partner and thrive together in your dream retirement.

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The Two Stages of Money in Retirement

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stages of retirement planning
Are You Still Accumulating Assets or is it Time to Shift Your Focus to Asset Preservation?

At Peak Financial Freedom Group, we believe there are a distinct set of seven rules to live by in order to create retirement security. Today, we’re sharing the first lesson, which is that there are two stages in retirement planning when it comes to money. We detail all seven rules in our book, Momma’s Secret Recipe for Retirement Success.

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