Keen On Retirement

Finding the right financial advisor is not easy because it's a decision that most people only do once or twice in their life. Unlike buying a car, which you might do dozens of times throughout your lifetime, finding the right financial advisor is not something you can get "experienced" at doing. Today's episode will give you some excellent tools to shorten that learning curve and help you find a financial advisor who is the right fit for you. Even if you are a current client of Keen Wealth Advisors, what you'll learn today may reinforce your decision to work with us and encourage you to refer other people to us. If you come across people who are trying to find a financial advisor, please refer them to this podcast and show notes page. It may save them a lot of time by arming them with the questions and characteristics they should look for in a financial advisor.  

Today, we're going to discuss what we learned by attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are considered two of the most successful investors of all-time and each year, they answer questions in front of tens of thousands of people at the Berkshire Hathaway annual stockholder's meeting. At Keen Wealth Advisors, we believe it's critically important to be life long learners. Things change so quickly in our world that as an advisor, we intentionally invest part of our time attending conferences and being around other people from whom we can learn. Recently, Matt Wilson from our office drove to Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway stockholder's meeting while I was in California meeting with a group of 60 experts in their respective fields sharing best practices. You, our clients, benefit because we take what we learn and reinvest it right back into our processes to help our clients make smarter decisions about their money and their life.

Are you maximizing your Return on Life? If you could categorize your life satisfaction into 10 dimensions and then start making intentional decisions to become happier and more fulfilled in each area, would that be worth spending some time on? Last episode we introduced the concept of Return on Life (ROL) and today we’re going to discuss the 10 dimensions of the Return on Life index. By understanding what these 10 components are, rating your satisfaction in each area, then making a decision on what you’ll do to “get happier” in that area, you’ll live a much more fulfilling life. This is Part II of our conversation with author and retirement expert Mitch Anthony. Often times people get so busy just keeping up with the day-to-day stuff of life that they let life happen to them as opposed to living their life by design. Today’s conversation is an opportunity for you to consciously think about what’s working and what’s not working in your life so you can make a change for the better and maximize your Return on Li

Most financial people talk about return on investment. Today, we’re going to talk about “return on life” with author and retirement expert Mitch Anthony. Mitch describes return on life in a couple ways. First, it’s about getting the best life you can with the money you have and second, it’s about managing your money in a way that improves your life. This is Part I of a two-part show on how to significantly increase your “return on life.” Imagine a picture of a sailboat whose sail is made out of a dollar. Mitch says money is simply a utility that we skillfully manipulate in order to navigate. As you picture that sailboat, it’s important to realize that money is not the shore we’re headed toward. It’s not the sea we sail upon. And it’s not the vessel upon which we sail. It’s simply a utility we use to help us live our most meaningful life. Our guest Mitch Anthony is the founder of the Financial Life Planning Institute, the author of multiple books, widely published in financial periodicals, an international spe

Should retirees "work" in retirement doing something they love? How does that affect your Social Security income? Is paying off your mortgage before you retire a good idea or are you better off with the extra cash cushion? What should you do when you inherit an IRA from your spouse? Those are just a few of the questions we'll answer in today's podcast. You asked them and we're answering. There are two aspects to retirement planning. First--and this is the one that often gets the most attention--is the numbers. It's about how to ensure you have enough money to retire and that you make financially sound money decisions. But the second aspect is what most current and future retirees really want--how to enjoy life without worrying about money. We cover both topics in today's episode. As a leadoff, we start the episode talking about a recent book by our friend Steve Moeller titled, Endorphinomics: The Science of Human Flourishing. And Bill gets put on the spot as Steve asks him questions about a concept from the b

Is retirement a concept that has outlived its usefulness? Does retirement kill more people than hard work ever did? Is retirement a one-way trip to insignificance? Some people think the answer is "yes" to all three of these questions. Today, we'll explore these questions and a few more as we take a look at what other people are saying about retirement and whether we think they're correct...or just misguided.

I've been a wealth advisor for more than 20 years and I've seen many people absolutely love and thrive during their retirement years. They planned well, they knew what to expect, and even when life threw them a curve ball, they found effective ways to deal with it. But I've also seen folks who for one reason or another, never quite experienced the retirement they hoped for and are failing at retirement in certain areas. And I'm not just talking about money here. Many of the reasons why people experience an unhappy retirement have little to do with the size of their savings. Failure is not something we like to talk about. However, we know that if people don't plan appropriately for retirement, they are going to fail. As part of our educational program here at KeenOnRetirement, we want to make sure that you are an informed retiree or prospective retiree and that you are aware of the common things that cause people to fail in their final decades.

Do you remember back in the late 1990s when the stock market was soaring and technology stocks reached astronomical valuations? Or how about the mid-2000s when real estate prices soared and people were making money flipping houses? Those are just a couple examples of how emotions and psychology led people to bid up prices way beyond a reasonable value. In recent years, a new field of study called "behavioral finance" has arisen to study how psychology plays an important role in how we make investment decisions. In an ideal world, we would all make calm, cool, rational decisions about our money. But in reality, our "humanness" sometimes gets the best of us and we make behavioral mistakes. The best investors are not only good at math, they also understand the "psychology" of investing and are able to manage the emotions and biases that affect all of us. In today's episode, we talk about several common behavioral biases and discuss how you can overcome them. It's an important conversation that could help you avo

Thanks to Ibbotson Associates, a Morningstar company, we have reliable data on the historical returns of several major asset classes dating back to 1926. Going back that far covers the Great Depression as well as numerous bull and bear markets, the stock market crash of 1987, the Great Recession of 2007 - 2009, and the ensuing bull market that is still in place today. In today's show, we discuss financial market history and the lessons we can learn from studying the historical returns of common types of investments. Even though past performance is no guarantee of future results, having a good understanding of the past helps give us perspective to what's happening today. And speaking of what's happening today, the stock market is off to a rough start in 2016. Concerns about declines in corporate earnings, slowing growth in China, volatile oil prices, and potential increases in interest rates have all been weighing on the markets. Today's show is particularly timely because we take a long-term perspective and s

"Fear sells" is perhaps one way to describe why financial media plays upon human emotions to draw more readers. Unfortunately, investors who are drawn to scary headlines sometimes make bad investment decisions because they let their emotions get in the way. One way to overcome the "noisy headline" problem is to better understand the cyclical nature of the economy and the financial markets. To help explain the business and stock market cycles, Bill Keen invited his Keen Wealth Advisors associate Matt Wilson to join us on today's show. Matt is a Managing Director of Keen Wealth Advisors, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and has been with Bill for nearly 15 years. Join us as we learn how to separate the news from the noise so we can become better investors.

When it comes to your money, certain decisions are triggered simply because of your age. For example, age 62 is the earliest you can start receiving Social Security payments, other than receiving a widow’s benefit. Other important ages for financial planning include 55, 59-1/2, 60, 62, 65, 66, 67, 70, and 70-1/2. Join us as we explore the age-related decisions you need to make to ensure you end up with the highest amount of after-tax savings and income as possible.

By the time people reach their early to mid-60s, they can expect to live another 20 - 30 years. What will you do to make sure those retirement years are filled with the right mix of family, fun, meaning, and vitality? You've no doubt heard stories of people who retire and suddenly find themselves less happy than their pre-retirement days. It doesn't have to be that way. With some basic planning and introspection, your retirement years can be the most fulfilling of your life. Today, Bill shares some insight and stories about how to live "happily ever after" in those years we call retirement.

Do I have enough money to retire? That's one of the most popular questions people ask financial advisors and usually it's a pretty straightforward calculation. Unfortunately, having enough money to retire is only one piece of the retirement puzzle. Often times people forget the emotional aspect of retirement and how a lack of preparation in this area can derail what was otherwise a sound financial decision to retire. Today, Bill tackles this retirement question head on and addresses the issues potential retirees need to consider to ensure their retirement years are fulfilling and meaningful.

Historically, the phrase “financial plan” conjured up images of a 200 page book filled with charts and spreadsheets. While they contained valuable information, often times they were reviewed once then put on the shelf to collect dust. Today, new technology and a better understanding of how people consume information have combined to make the financial planning process a practical and effective way to  plan for your future. Listen as Bill Keen discusses what “financial planning” looks like today and how having a plan and updating it regularly could be your ticket to financial freedom.  

In our inaugural episode, you'll learn why we're doing this podcast, what some of our upcoming topics will be, and you'll learn the backstory of wealth advisor Bill Keen and the life experiences that shaped him. Throughout the podcast, we’ll take you through the financial planning process to help ensure you make smart decisions about your money and your life. Whether you’re on your way to retirement or already there, these shows will educate you, entertain you, and guide you to living the life you dream about.