The Retirement Income Connection Blog

Habitual and Behavioral Considerations when Switching from Accumulation to Deaccumulation

Habitual and Behavioral Considerations when Switching from Accumulation to Deaccumulation
Posted on September 20, 2023

For many, the transition from accumulation to decumulation and income phase of the financial journey can be challenging. The difficulties connected with this transition are often based on behavioral and habitual patterns of behavior that can impede the ability to make the shift successfully.

In this blog post, we will explore the reasons why many people struggle with the switch from accumulation to deaccumulation and review the behavioral and habitual patterns that play such a significant role.

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Stump the Guru

Stump the Guru
Posted on April 28, 2023

During my weekly podcast MoneyMattersUSA® with Fred Saide, the final segment is called Stump the Guru. Listeners can sign up on the website https://moneymattersusa.net dropdown named Stump the Guru or they can call in on our toll free number.800-593-8188. One of the listeners had a question that is on my mind right now for a couple of reasons. For one the bond market is signaling a recession while the equity market has not priced in a recession yet. My other consideration is the 60-40 portfolio viable at this time in a period of ‘stagflation.’

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Couples Retiring on the Same Page

Couples Retiring on the Same Page
Posted on March 3, 2023

What does a good retirement look like to you? Does it resemble the retirement that your spouse or partner has in mind? It is at least roughly similar.

The Social Security Administration currently projects an average retirement of 22 years for a man and 25 years for a woman (assuming retirement at age 65). So, sharing the same vision of retirement (or at least respecting the difference in each other’s visions) seems crucial to retirement happiness.1

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Your Year-End Financial Checklist

Secure Act 2.0 Quick Overview
Posted on February 2, 2023

In the final days of 2022, Congress passed a new set of retirement rules designed to make it easier to contribute to retirement plans and access those funds earmarked for retirement.

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Your Year-End Financial Checklist

Your Year-End Financial Checklist
Posted on December 16, 2022

The end of the year can help remind us of last-minute things we need to address and the goals we want to pursue. Here are some aspects of your financial life to consider as this year leads into the next.

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Should We Reconsider What “Retirement” Means?

Should We Reconsider What “Retirement” Means?
Posted on October 19, 2022

An executive transition into a consulting role at age 62 and stops working altogether at 65; then, he becomes a buyer for a church network at 69. A corporate IT professional concludes her career at age 58; she serves as a city council member in her sixties, then opens an art studio at 70.

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Entrepreneur with Financial Arrow Going Up

Managing Probate When Setting Up Your Estate
Posted on October 3, 2022

The probate process can be expensive for some estates. Settling an estate through probate can cost you both time and money. It could take up to a year or more for the estate to be settled, plus attorney’s fees, appraiser’s fees, and court costs may eat up as much as 5% of a decedent’s assets. Probating an estate valued at $400,000 could cost as much as $20,000.1

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Entrepreneur with Financial Arrow Going Up

Annual Financial To-Do List
Posted on September 19, 2022

What financial, business, or life priorities do you need to address for balance of 2022 and for 2023? Now is an excellent time to think about the investing, saving, or budgeting methods you could employ toward specific objectives, from building your retirement fund to managing your taxes. You have plenty of choices. Your main choice is to control your money and make it do what you want it to do?

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Smiling Senior

5 Retirement Concerns Too Often Overlooked
Posted on September 1, 2022

Retirement is undeniably a major life and financial transition. Even so, baby boomers can run the risk of growing nonchalant about some of the financial challenges that retirement poses, for not all are immediately obvious. In looking forward to their “second acts,” boomers may overlook a few matters that a thorough retirement strategy needs to address.

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Adriondack Chairs on Lake

Required Minimum Distributions 101
Posted on August 3, 2022

If you are approaching your seventies, get ready for required minimum distributions. You may soon have to take RMDs, as they are called, from one or more of your retirement accounts.

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Father and Son

What Happens When There Are No Beneficiaries
Posted on July 20, 2022

Some accounts have no designated beneficiary. Rarely, the same thing occurs with insurance policies. This is usually an oversight. In exceptional circumstances, it is a choice. What happens to these accounts and policies when the original owner dies?

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Start Road

The Behavior Gap and Your Financial Health
Posted on June 6, 2022

“It turns out my job was not to find great investments but to help create great investors,” writes Carl Richards, author of “The Behavior Gap.” From increasing our budget mindfulness to taking a steadier approach to investing, Richards has drawn attention to how our unexamined behaviors and emotions can be to our detriment when it comes to living a happy and financially sound life. In many cases, we make poor financial decisions when experiencing panic or anxiety due to personal or widespread events. 1

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Senior Couple Kissing

The Retirement Reality Check
Posted on May 11, 2022

Decades ago, there was a book entitled What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School. Perhaps someday, another book will appear to discuss certain aspects of the retirement experience that go unrecognized - the “fine print”, if you will. Here are some little things that can be frequently overlooked.

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Couple Looking at IPad

An Estate Planning Checklist
Posted on April 29, 2022

Create a will if you do not yet have one. A valid will may save your heirs from some expensive headaches linked to probate and ambiguity. A solid will drafted with the guidance of an estate planning attorney will likely cost you a bit more than a “will-in-a-box,” but may prove worth the expense.

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Bar Graph

How Market Cycles Can Impact Retirements
Posted on April 8, 2022

A thoughtful retirement strategy may help you pursue your many retirement goals. That strategy must consider many factors, and here are just a few: your income needs, the order of your withdrawals from taxable and tax-advantaged retirement accounts, the income tax implications of those withdrawals, and sequence of return risk.

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Couple Riding Bicycles

Retirement Preparation Mistakes
Posted on March 21, 2022

Much is out there about the classic financial mistakes that plague startā€ups, family businesses, corporations, and charities. Aside from these blunders, some classic financial missteps plague retirees.

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Senior Couple

Getting (Mentally) Ready to Retire
Posted on March 4, 2022

A successful retirement is not merely measured in financial terms. Even those who retire with small fortunes can face boredom or depression and the fear of drawing down their savings too fast. How can new retirees try to calm these worries?

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Couple Walking

Wise Decisions with Retirement in Mind
Posted on January 20, 2022

Some retirees succeed at realizing the life they want; others don’t. Fate aside, it isn’t merely a matter of investment decisions that makes the difference. There are certain dos and don’ts – some less apparent than others – that tend to encourage retirement happiness and comfort.

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Gavel

The Need for Power of Attorney
Posted on December 23, 2021

The point of the POA. A power of attorney (POA) is a legal instrument that delegates an individual’s legal authority to another person. If an individual is incapacitated, the POA assigns a trusted party to make decisions on his or her behalf.

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