How do you thrive rather than survive in retirement?

Eboni Davis: “The habits you created to survive will no longer serve you when it’s time to thrive. Get out of survival mode. New habits, new life.”

As you probably know, I am a Financial Planner! I help to ensure a healthy retirement for my clients by creating financial plans that enable my clients to not just survive but to thrive in retirement! But planning for retirement should not be at the expense of living life today, of course within reason. Is there a way to balance the two? Okay, that is a topic for another week.

After presenting financial plans to clients, one of the biggest problems I noticed is that my clients do not know where the cash goes from month to month. In the financial plans, I am showing a significant amount of excess cash from month to month. But that is not what is showing in my clients’ checking accounts… If bills are paid monthly with excess cash in the bank at the end of the month, no matter the amount, and contributions are being made to their retirement accounts, why is there a need to track how and where the money is spent?

Oh, what I could do with the excess cash reflected in their financial plans to ensure their healthy retirement if only that excess cash existed!!..

The real question is, do you want to be surviving or thriving in retirement? Even if I am showing that their current spending and savings habits will ensure they survive in retirement, will that be true down the road? And isn’t the objective of financial planning to be thriving in retirement and not just surviving? Bear in mind there are a lot of pressures on your retirement savings these days, including market volatility, high inflation, and higher tax rates, to name a few.

Even the risk of limited funds from Social Security and a dried-up Medicare program can put quite a drain on your retirement savings. Because if you are not receiving as much in Social Security and Medicare benefits from the government, you are paying out of your retirement savings.

Retirement specialists recommend that 20% of earnings needs to be contributed to your retirement accounts annually to thrive in retirement. That is a hefty sum for many, and yes, there are ways to overcome that limit. There’s no better time to start a new habit to ensure you thrive in retirement!

---

DISCLAIMERS:

All information provided by Hartmann CFO, LLC and Healthy in Retirement is intended for informational purposes only. The views expressed are personal opinions and should not be construed as financial or tax advice for your specific situation. Please make sure to do your own research or find a trusted financial professional, tax adviser or attorney before making any financial decision on your own.

Neither Hartmann CFO, LLC, Healthy in Retirement nor its owners make any representations as to the accuracy or suitability of the claims made here. Nor does Hartmann CFO, LLC, Healthy in Retirement, or its owners assume any liability regarding financial results based on the use of information provided here.