If 2020 has taught us anything it is that the future is not always certain. This has brought about feelings of insecurity and anxiety in some people. That’s why this week, I share an article from Harvard Business Review which describes how people can use micro-planning and biomimicry to combat feelings of uncertainty brought on by this post-pandemic world.
After the retirement headlines, I’ll answer two listener questions. John asks about maxing out his HSA after 50 and Val is trying to decide between a pension and a lump sum payment. Don’t miss out on the latest episode of Retirement Starts Today; press play now!
Did Covid-19 toss your 5-year plan out the window? Many of us have had our future plans shaken up due to the effects of the pandemic. The lack of control that the long-term insecurity creates can bring about feelings of unease.
One way to take back control of your life is by harnessing the power of adaptability through micro-planning. Micro-planning is a way to take a larger plan and break it down into yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily check-in practices.
In tumultuous times, micro-planning is more manageable than big-picture planning, and it offers the sense of power and stability that we need. The idea behind micro-planning is based on biomimicry, a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human challenges. Biomimicry uses nature as a model to imitate or use as inspiration for designs or processes with the goal of solving human problems.
Prolonged stress can cause us to function at less than optimal levels, so it is important to mitigate stress when we can. These six elements of micro-planning can help us manage this stress, function at higher levels, and give us a sense that we are taking back control of our lives.
What have you been doing to help you feel more in control during the pandemic? Try implementing these steps to take command of your future. Make sure to press play to hear the details of how you can use micro-planning to improve your life.
Subscribe to Retirement Starts Today on
Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podbean, Player FM, iHeart, or Spotify
Are you signed up for the My Social Security account from the Social Security Administration? In this episode, we’ll review a Kitces.com article written by Jeffrey Levine about this important resource. We’ll review the history of My Social Security, how to sign up for it, how its benefit calculations account for inflation, and how Americans can interpret its information in order to understand their social security benefits. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to review a very important topic. Press play to listen.
From 1990 to 2011, the Social Security Administration mailed paper copies of Social Security statements to most American workers. These statements summarized their personalized retirement and disability benefits. However, budget cuts in 2011 paused these mailings, and now workers under age 60 no longer receive mailed statements at all. The only workers to receive Social Security statements by mail are those who were both 60 or older in 2017 and had not yet registered for an online SSA account.
The primary way Americans can access their annual Social Security statements is online via their My Social Security account. To set up a My Social Security account users will be required to provide some basic information on an online form. This information includes first and last name as shown on their Social Security card, Social Security number, date of birth, home address, and email address.
After filling out the form, individuals will be required to complete an identity verification process. They can either verify their identity using their smartphone to photo-capture their state-issued ID card, or they can type in their information into the online form. The second method of verification uses financial information such as credit card information, Social Security benefit amount information, a Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement, or a Schedule SE from their most recent Form 1040.
Once you have set up your My Social Security account and can see your Social Security statements you should do a few things.
In the Social Security statements, there are three pages of important information, but most people are concerned with the information on pages two and three. Page two has a summary of your estimated retirement, disability, family survivors, and Medicare benefits. Page three of the statement lists earnings on file for each year from the time an individual began working. Listen in to hear why you should carefully check the income information from the past years.
Have you set up your My Social Security account yet? This is a great first step to get you on your way to creating your retirement plan. Make sure to listen to the listener questions segment to hear ways to create income in retirement.
Subscribe to Retirement Starts Today on
Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podbean, Player FM, iHeart, or Spotify
Despite the economic downturn, 2020 turned out to be a fantastic year for charitable giving. In this episode, we’ll look at how people chose to give and you’ll learn about the efficiency of giving through donor-advised funds (DAFs).
In the listener questions segment, you’ll learn how to survive a bear market in retirement. We’ll investigate the length of the average bear market and see how you can prepare for the worst in your retirement years.
You would think that with the economic downturn of the last year that people would tighten their bootstraps and cease giving to charities, but it turned out that the opposite was true. The two largest brokerage firms, Schwab and Fidelity, recorded increases in charitable donations.
Donations were made in response to the Covid pandemic and the social justice protests that marked the year. The biggest recipients of these charitable gifts were organizations that provide food and other necessities
Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable both use donor-advised funds as a vehicle for charitable giving. Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have become popular since they are simple and make for an easy way to give strategically. These charitable investment accounts allow a donor to make a charitable contribution, receive a tax deduction, and then distribute the money over time. Have you thought of changing the way that you make charitable contributions?
DAFs have become more popular in recent years due to changes in tax laws. The new standard deduction for charitable giving increased to $24,800 for a married couple. By creating a DAF, donors can contribute a lump sum every few years and then administer the funds to the charities they choose over time. Many advisors recommend donor-advised funds as a receptacle for their clients to strategically deduct charitable contributions. Listen in to hear a real-world example of how a DAF can be used.
We must all pay our taxes, but we never want to overpay -- no one wants to leave the taxman a tip. If you are charitably minded, a donor-advised fund is an excellent way to implement a multi-year tax strategy and take advantage of the standard deduction. Think about how lump sum giving every few years could change your tax situation. It pays to plan your taxes ahead in retirement.
Subscribe to Retirement Starts Today on
Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podbean, Player FM, iHeart, or Spotify
If you’ve been working from home over the past year you may wonder why you feel even more exhausted than normal. This could be due to Zoom Fatigue.
In this episode, we’ll explore an article from CNBC that references a Stanford study about this phenomenon. In the listener questions segment, I’ll answer questions about RMDs and Roth conversions. Let’s get to the bottom of your exhaustion--press play now.
Over the past year, many of us have been using Zoom and other video conferencing applications to replace in-person meetings. The constant video conferencing has led to increased fatigue at the end of the day and a researcher with Stanford University wondered why. Jeremy Bailenson researched this issue and recently published a paper about how video conferencing affects people on a psychological level.
Jeremy concluded that there are four different contributors to Zoom Fatigue:
To alleviate these issues, Bailenson has the following tips:
Zoom fatigue is a new version of burnout that is important to mitigate. You want to retire when you are ready rather than because you are feeling burnt out due to video conferencing. Try using these tips to help you combat the exhaustion you feel after video conferencing.
Subscribe to Retirement Starts Today on
Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podbean, Player FM, iHeart, or Spotify