Expectations vs. Reality in Retirement - Adviser Investments

Expectations vs. Reality in Retirement

You may have seen the telling survey featured in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week in a lengthy article titled “How Much Can You Spend in Retirement?”

Image Source: The Wall Street Journal.

The author discusses six key concepts for retirees to ponder when considering their spending in retirement:

  • Health status
  • Retirement timing
  • Filing for Social Security
  • Risk tolerance
  • Lifestyle expectations
  • Bequest desires

We thought the article made an astute point: Retirement income calculators are often too heavy-handed in their approach. Free online tools can be used as a high-level barometer, but they often fall short when it comes to your individual situation.

If anything, the information in this piece magnifies the importance of working with a financial planner before pulling the trigger on retirement (or any significant financial decision, really). The factors that go into the decision will determine how successfully your plan sustains an ideal quality of life in retirement—and these factors are highly personal. A good plan must consider all the topics listed above. In our experience, there is an enormous benefit to working with a professional who has deep knowledge of each of these elements.

Just look at the graphic above to see why. Clearly, the average American has not been great at gauging their retirement income. Most people frankly aren’t even that good at predicting when they will retire—doing so considerably sooner than expected.

That’s where we can help. We can assist you in setting realistic expectations and help you reassess when reality doesn’t go according to plan.

As part of our financial planning process, we take a comprehensive approach to every financial need and expectation for your retirement. We will continually customize your plan so that it fits your specific (and evolving) situation—after all, life in retirement looks different for everyone.

This material is distributed for informational purposes only. The investment ideas and opinions contained herein should not be viewed as recommendations or personal investment advice or considered an offer to buy or sell specific securities. Data and statistics contained in this report are obtained from what we believe to be reliable sources; however, their accuracy, completeness or reliability cannot be guaranteed.

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Andrew BusaRetirementRetirement Savings