006: Knowing Your Budget and How Much You Spend is Critical in Retirement!

Retirement Equals Freedom

“If you don’t have a good sense of humor, you’re better off dead.” ~Roger Rabbit.

Has anything truer ever been said? Not according to The Dave, who helps kick off this episode of Retirement = Freedom with several pearls of wisdom before he and Host Josh Bretl, CPA and Founder of FSR Wealth Strategies, get down to business.

When it comes to getting your retirement planning act together, there are two key questions that Josh puts to all his clients right out of the gate:

1. How long are you going to live?
2. How much do you spend?

These are personal, sensitive questions and the answers are at once straightforward (“I don’t know”) and complex (“How many puddin’ cakes a month can we afford?). No one wants to think about their mortality and anyway who can predict?

We can’t, says Josh, which is why it’s probably smart to err on the side of preparing for a very long life! Longevity rates are increasing at a brisk pace and you’ll likely motor along years beyond what you might now imagine.

The subject of spending is a whole other animal. No one wants to get naked and admit things (like their disproportionate monthly spending on laser tag, ahem, Dave). But the truth is that, when it comes to working with a financial planning professional like Josh, it’s a judgment-free zone: “We don’t care what you spend money on, but we do care how much you spend.”

Spending choices are entirely at your discretion. No shame and no blame. But wherever you are on your retirement planning journey, it’s important to get honest and get a strategy. Josh and Dave will follow up on this episode with more conversation about ideas for allocating resources in retirement. So stay tuned and in the meantime enjoy a cup of Cometeer Coffee!