Happy New Year - and welcome to the first edition of the Retirement Rebootcast!
That’s the slightly tongue-in-cheek name I’ve given to this special limited-edition podcast series focused on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The official publication date is January 10th, and I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the program over the coming weeks to discuss some of the key ideas explored in the book’s chapters.
I wrote Retirement Reboot with a very particular group of readers in mind: people getting close to retirement who are not financially prepared. In other words, people who have not been able to save much -or anything - for retirement. They’re headed toward a retirement living only on Social Security, which typically replaces about 40% of their working income. Meanwhile, the rule of thumb is that most of us will need to replace at least 70% of our wage income when we retire.
The book offers a series of strategies for improving on that math. The key chapters discuss the importance of making a plan, timing your retirement and how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare. I also discuss strategies for building savings, even late in the game, and tapping home equity. From there, I go on to discuss managing your career late in the game, the value of professional advice, how to manage long-term care risk and how to approach the idea of aging in place.
For this first episode, I wanted to provide an overview of the key themes of the book. So, I decided to turn the tables - and invite another journalist on the show to interview me.
Chris Farrell is the senior economics contributor for the national radio program Marketplace. He seemed like the ideal choice to do the interview - since he wrote the forward to the book. Listen to our conversation by clicking the player icon at the top of the newsletter. Or, subscribe to the program on Apple Podcasts or Spotify - just search for “Retirement Revised.”
The Retirement Rebootcast will have six episodes, released weekly through January and early February. Next week, we’ll consider the importance of making a plan for retirement. My guests will be Steve Chen, founder of New Retirement, and Steve Vernon, an actuary, author and retirement educator.
Retirement Reboot in the news
WealthManagement.com published an excerpt from one of my favorite chapters in Retirement Reboot - Toward a new social insurance era. The chapter traces the history of social insurance in America, arguing that we have strayed too far from the roots of these signature policy achievements for the United States. And Mitch Tuchman of Rebalance reviewed the book for Marketwatch, writing: "Any complete retirement planning bookshelf needs a copy of Retirement Reboot. If you’re just beginning your journey, it’s a great place to start.”
Join me for an interactive workshop on retirement planning
I’ll be discussing my new book during an interactive, online workshop on January 24th. I hope you’ll join me!
The 90-minute workshop, hosted by Bookends University, will offer practical strategies for improving your retirement prospects, even if your savings are meager and retirement is looming! It will draw from material in Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track.
We’ll walk through core decisions to make now to improve retirement outcomes, including
Timing Your Retirement
Optimizing Social Security
Navigating Medicare
Tapping Home Equity
Building Savings
Financing long-term care needs
Tuition for the event is $45, which includes a copy of Retirement Reboot. Bookends University is sponsored by Bookends & Beginnings, my favorite independent bookstore. You can pick up your copy at the store if you’re local, or have it mailed to you.
Welcome to the Retirement Rebootcast