#90 - How to Answer The Question, "When Can I Retire?"

Hello friends, Roger here. Today’s podcast is going to be a bit unusual, but not too unusual. I’m going to be answering listener questions about the question I’ve been dealing with all month long, “When I Can I Retire?” We’ve got questions about taxes, balancing portfolios, average expenses for the various stages of retirement, and a little bit of a rebuke to me about my comments from a few weeks ago when I was talking about buying a brand new automobile. You’ll find lots of good stuff in this episode, so let’s get started!

How are taxes figured into my retirement number?

One of the questions I got over the past few weeks had to do with figuring taxes so that the “retirement number” can be nailed down nice and pretty. But the problem I have with the question is that I’m not so sure that figuring a “retirement number” is the best way to go about it. In fact, I don’t know that you really CAN calculate any retirement number. There are just too many variables. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t give an answer about taxes, which was the gist of the question in the first place. So listen in to hear who I advise to consider the tax liabilities you might have during your retirement years on this episode of The Retirement Answer Man.

An investment company has advised me to balance my portfolio? Is this a good time to be buying bonds?

That’s the question a listener asked after chatting with someone from their investment company. The company was concerned that the investor’s portfolio had too much equities and not enough bonds to achieve a 75% equity to 25% bond balance. But is this a good time to be buying bonds? Well, it’s not quite that simple to answer unless you first understand and accept the principles behind portfolio theory, which I do… but I also believe from my experience that there’s an art to it as much as their is a science. So... the answer is, maybe. You can hear my response in its entirety (and I do say more than just “maybe”) as you listen to this episode.

What are you thinking, Roger? Wanting to buy a brand new car!???

OK, I deserve this one. A listener heard me mention a couple of weeks back that I was considering buying a brand new Jeep Cherokee (they’re really nice). He wrote me an email to chide me for making such a rash and thoughtless comment, after all, the depreciating value of a brand new vehicle can be demonstrably shown to be a bad investment. Agreed. This listener’s rebuke is well founded and I deserved his rant. However, I just want to say… a guy can dream a bit, can’t he? You can hear my full response in today’s episode.

Are you signed up for my upcoming webinar yet?

Coming up on October 28th and October 29th I’m hosting a real, live, in-person webinar to walk you through the 4 steps you need to consider when answering the question, “When can I retire?” It’s not a complex question to answer IF you have a wise approach, and I’m going to do my best to give you that in these free webinars. You can be a part of these webinars, which will include Q & A, by going to www.RogerWhitney.com/4steps and registering. And even if you can’t be there at the exact time of the webinars, go ahead and register. I’ll offer a 7-day replay for those of you who sign up but don’t attend.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

[0:24] Roger’s introduction to today’s episode.
[1:52] Still time to register for the upcoming webinar!

LISTENER QUESTION SEGMENT

[4:32] Question #1: How are taxes figured into the retirement number?
[9:46] Question #2: Is this the time to be buying bonds?
[19:52] Question #3: What are the average expenses for people in the go-go, slow-go, and no-go stages of retirement?
[22:30] Question #4: What are you THINKING by considering buying a brand new car, Roger?