facebook twitter instagram linkedin google youtube vimeo tumblr yelp rss email podcast phone blog search brokercheck brokercheck Play Pause
Stop! Telltale signs you may be failing at retirement Thumbnail

Stop! Telltale signs you may be failing at retirement

A significant number of retirees are failing at retirement to some degree and in today's episode, we discuss what failing means and how you can avoid it. Fortunately, we can identify some of the more common ways people fail at retirement and help you steer clear of them.

Listen to the Episode

Simply "click" or "tap" on the "play" icon in the image below to listen to the episode. If you'd like to subscribe to the podcast using an Apple product (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) click here to learn how. If you use an Android phone, we recommend using the Podcast Addict App, which can be downloaded here.

Episode Overview

I've been a wealth advisor for more than 20 years and I've seen many people absolutely love and thrive during their retirement years. They planned well, they knew what to expect, and even when life threw them a curve ball, they found effective ways to deal with it. But I've also seen folks who for one reason or another, never quite experienced the retirement they hoped for and are failing at retirement in certain areas. And I'm not just talking about money here. Many of the reasons why people experience an unhappy retirement have little to do with the size of their savings.

Failure is not something we like to talk about. However, we know that if people don't plan appropriately for retirement, they are going to fail. As part of our educational program here at KeenOnRetirement, we want to make sure that you are an informed retiree or prospective retiree and that you are aware of the common things that cause people to fail in their final decades.

Download the Transcript Here


Five Quotes From Bill Keen in This Episode

  1. You can avoid failing at retirement by learning from successful retirees. One thing that's so powerful about having a community of folks that we work with at Keen Wealth Advisors is that we see our clients sharing stories and experiences with each other. They learn from each other. And one reason why we do this podcast series is so we can share what's happening. We share things that are working and things that aren't working. By doing so, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You can learn from other people's mistakes and save yourself some grief.
  2. Failure #1: Not being able to say "no." I have seen people retire and very quickly get themselves over-committed. In fact, they end up almost as stressed out as they were when they were having to go to work every day. It's important to protect your time and learn how to say no--especially at first--until you get into the rhythm of what retirement looks like for you.
  3. Failure #2: Spending too much or too little in retirement. I don't like to talk about things in terms of having a budget because it sounds restrictive, so we call it a 'spending plan' as opposed to a budget. Now, I see both sides of the spectrum--some folks want to spend more than their plan will allow, while others are afraid to spend anything. In both cases, we discuss the spending plan they can afford and then jointly figure out what makes sense to spend going forward.
  4. Failure #3: Supporting adult children and enabling their "failure to launch" behavior. We all love our children and want to help them. But I've seen situations where a sincere desire to help has turned into a destructive cycle for both the parents and the child. We've had frank and respectful conversations with clients in these situations where we let them know how supporting children well into adulthood could jeopardize their retirement.
  5. Failure #4: Taking too much, or too little risk in your investment portfolio. Figuring out how much risk or volatility you can handle (or need to be able to handle to meet your growth and income goals) in retirement is a delicate balance. Often times prospective clients come to us when they're in their early to mid-fifties and we discover that much of their money is tied up in one stock or is otherwise poorly diversified. We have to be careful so clients don't have "too many eggs in one basket" as the old saying goes, while at the same time figuring out how to meet the client's growth and income needs.

Bill Keen on making it to your retirement destination...

As an advisor, we have to help people find that middle ground, help people find that balance where their money is appropriately invested so they can make it to their destination.

Please share this page and the podcast with your friends and colleagues via Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. You can use the share buttons. Thanks!

Got a question or comment? Email it to me and we'll get back to you. 


About Bill

Bill Keen is a CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR℠ and independent financial advisor with more than 25 years of industry experience. As the founder and CEO of Keen Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisory firm, he specializes in providing personalized retirement planning designed to help people thrive before and during their retirement years. With a passion for educating others, Bill regularly blogs about retirement planning, hosts the podcast Keen on Retirement, and has contributed to U.S. News and World Report, Reuters, Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch, Yahoo Finance, and other publications. Based in Overland Park, Kansas, Bill and his team work with clients throughout the greater Kansas City area and across the nation. To learn more, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit www.keenwealthadvisors.com.

KWMG, LLC’s dba Keen Wealth Advisors (“company”) is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor located in Overland Park, KS. The company and its representatives may only conduct business in those states where registered or where excluded/exempt or from licensure. For registration information please contact the SEC or the state securities regulators for the states where the company is notice filed. A copy of the company ADV is available upon request. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where the company and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by the company unless a client service agreement is in place. This information is not intended to be investment advice or construed as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy and is for illustrative purposes only. Clients and prospective clients must consider all relevant risk factors involved with each strategy, including costs or fees, and their own personal financial situations before trading.

The views outlined in the book, Keen on Retirement Engineering the Second Half of Your Life, are those of the author and should not be construed as individualized or personalized investment advice. Any economic and/or performance information cited is historical and not indicative of future results. Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted.

The Amazon Best Seller ranking listed on marketing materials is specifically referring to Best Seller rankings for the Kindle Top 100 Paid Lists under the subcategories of: Budgeting and Financial Risk Management, based on data as of September 5, 2019. Amazon rankings although relevant on how a product is selling overall doesn’t necessarily indicate how well an item is selling among other similar items or similar item categories. Amazon may choose the most popular categories or subcategories within which an item has a high ranking to determine its best seller rankings. These rankings are updated hourly and as a result, should be expected to fluctuate as such. Keen Wealth Advisors and Amazon are not affiliated entities. For further details on Amazon rankings please visit https://www.keenwealthadvisors.com/important-disclosures.


Schedule a Complimentary 15 Minute Strategy Call

Schedule a Time