Steering Clear of Retirement Stress

Plan With The Tax Man

Psychologists have determined that retirement is one of the most stressful events that some people will experience in life. In this episode, we’ll look at the ways to proactively deal with the stress surrounding the retirement process.

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Transcript:

Marc Killian:

Psychologists have determined that retirement is one of the most stressful events that some people will experience in life. On this episode, we'll look at the ways to proactively deal with the stress surrounding the retirement process here on Plan With The Tax Man.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Tony Mauro and myself here to talk about steering clear of retirement stress here on this episode with Tony. We're going to see if we can help you guys figure out a couple of key places hopefully to help reduce some of that stress.

Tony, what's going on my friend? How are you?

Tony Mauro:

Yeah, I'm doing good. We were just talking before we came on, it's actually cold and snowy here today. Of course, we're still in the tax season, so bad weather has not quite left us.

Marc Killian:

Yeah. It's trying. Spring is trying to completely pop up.

Tony Mauro:

Trying, yeah. We've had good weather, so I can't complain.

Marc Killian:

You guys were just warm not too long ago at the time we're taping this too.

Tony Mauro:

We were, yeah.

Marc Killian:

It's been all around the map. Yeah, for sure.

Well, but you know what? It can be a little stressful though, if we want to tie that into our conversation, Tony, right? So it's like, "Oh, good days, good days. Oh, bad days." And then it's like, "Man, I just really want some good days." You get a little stressed kind of waiting for it hopefully to show up and stay around.

So let's kind of transition that into some of this retirement stress that we were talking about and that I was teeing up, and kick it off with just understanding the fact that this is a significant gear change. I mean, often we get so focused on the X's and O's of, is my money good, Tony, for retirement, that we kind of forget about some of the little things like, "Oh yeah, my whole life is about to change."

Tony Mauro:

It is. And we've been conditioned to work our whole lives. And at least the people I see are not used to it and sometimes have a trouble adjusting outside of all the money stuff. I mean, that's part of it that causes them stress.

But we're so used to, at least in America I think, compared to other countries, we're always stressed. We're always running to the next thing and work life, personal life. I mean, you name it. You talk to people and they're stressed out.

Retirement's supposed to be, let's move away from that a little bit. So these are just going to be some good topics to talk about today.

Marc Killian:

Yeah. And so if you're thinking about that gear change, I mean, first and foremost, yeah, it's great because you're no longer on the clock, but there's still some stress that comes with it.

Tony Mauro:

There is. I mean, even though for most of the retirees, you're not working, there still is... I think the first thing that hits my clients is, "Now I have no purpose." And they get stressed out about that right off the bat.

And then little things start creeping in, such as anything from grandkids and things like that, to if they pick up a part-time job, being able to make sure they make that. Just to the normal everyday life things. What I think we need to do really is sit down and plan our days a little bit, just like we were when we were working, to alleviate some of that stress, and make sure that you understand that you still do have a purpose and you are still going out and doing things, even if you're not working,

Marc Killian:

Right. Because I mean, on the one hand you go, "Yeah, no clock, no meetings, no annoying coworkers, this all sounds fantastic." But sometimes humans don't do that great with change. And then you start kind of stressing and going, "Okay, so what do I do with my time? Or how do I run here? Or what am I going to do there?" Blah, blah, blah. So it can just add a layer of stress that you maybe weren't totally thinking about.

Because I think we're also creatures of habits, so sometimes even though those other things from the work life that I just mentioned can be annoying, they do provide us with some structure, and sometimes humans really kind of crave structure, even if they don't think they do. So just something to be aware of.

Second one is embracing the opportunity now to face some new challenges. Well, okay. So we are here, so let's take a look at some things that we might want to do.

Tony Mauro:

That's right. And a lot of people, they've always had things that they... You talk to them about it, "Well, I'm going to do this when I'm retired and that when I'm retired." But some of that stuff is challenging. And I think you should definitely sit down with your advisor and kind of go over some of those things as what do you really want to do? And take that and embrace it.

And the good news is, I think the way at least I'm looking forward to feeling is, whatever that challenge is, it's not work where you have to go out. I mean, because we have been trained since when to go out and trade our money for time and of course our jobs. You don't have to worry about that stress anymore. It's whatever this challenge is, well, even if you struggle with it, whether it be a hobby or work or something, it's okay, because it's just part of life.

And I think retirees I see that do take on challenges, I think they fare better with their mental state, their personal health, and their physical state as well, rather than just not doing anything.

Marc Killian:

No, I definitely agree with you there. So having those challenges and being open to some new challenges, even though sometimes, again, change can be hard. But it's going to help keep you engaged and active.

And so now think about going into retirement, being a little stressed or whatever, but you got to keep those options open. Because it's not like life is always just going to go, "Oh, you're retired and everything's going to be totally perfectly smooth." So you got to be willing to roll with the punches too.

Tony Mauro:

I think you do. I think that a lot of times these challenges and some of the stuff we want to do, you get into it, I know I have, it's like, "Wow, this is not what I really thought it would be." Unlike when you're at maybe a job that you have to say, "Well, I got to keep working because I got to pay my bills." You can just say, "Hey, look, pivot. This wasn't what I thought. Let's move on to something else." It could be as little as basically... I mean, I don't plan on ever relocating permanently, but if I get somewhere and I don't like the weather or something or whatnot, well, I'm just not going to go back there the next year. Or if I'm doing some volunteer work and it's just not fulfilling, I'm going to change it.

So the good news is you have options. You got to keep them open. Keep an open mind. Because it's pretty easy to stress yourself out over stuff that probably isn't really, I don't want to say that important, but it's not the end of the world.

Marc Killian:

Well, and you think about keeping the options open. So if we're talking about getting into some of the finance, some people, the dream is to move down to Florida, for example. But then after a little while you go, "Well, this actually kind of sucks." It's too hot, it's too busy, it's too sticky, it's too whatever. And so then you may want to move someplace else or whatever.

And so you just got to keep those options open, and also be talking with your advisor on that stuff so that you're making sure that you're being careful when it comes to whatever it might be that's going to change during those golden years. So just got to be flexible in there.

And also keep a sense of perspective. If we're keeping our options open, let's also keep things in perspective. It's easy to watch a commercial and think a bunch of commercials and everything's going to be great, or your neighbor's got it made. But you got to be realistic about the fact that life is life.

Tony Mauro:

Life is life. And we all dream of retiring and being healthy and being able to do all the things we wanted to do, and sometimes that doesn't happen. But more times than not, most of the retirees are still fairly healthy, the ones that I see.

And I think it's kind of a weird thought to think that us living as long as we're living now wasn't always the case. I mean, 150 years ago, nobody was living this long. Retirement wasn't even kind of real. You just worked till the end and that was it. Generally you died.

And now we've got so many millions of baby boomers. And I read a stat the other day, I can't remember it, but how many are going to be retired by the year 2040. It's just a big, big number.

Marc Killian:

Oh, yeah. I just literally saw one that said something about 4 million were on the docket to apply for something in the month of April this year of 2024 just alone. I was like, holy moly. And that doesn't mean that they're going to, but I guess based on age of turning either... I can't remember if it was either turning eligible for early or full retirement age. But either way, it was being eligible for social security.

Tony Mauro:

Yeah. And so I think if you're fortunate enough to have your health, and the whole reason for this even conversation is to get with your advisor and then of course, plan some of this stuff out so that you can enjoy the later years in your life as long as you can.

I mean, I always kid with clients and I tell them, "Don't you wish life was kind of reversed?" In other words, you got to do all the fun stuff you want to do in retirement when you're young when your body can maybe handle it, maybe when you're healthier, versus at the end. And you work at 40 some years to what, maybe enjoy 10, 15, 20. Again, perspective is everything. And I think you got to try, in my mind, enjoy what you can while you can.

Marc Killian:

Yeah. And when it comes down to it, your going to have to have some help. Because again, we wind up focusing so much on the X's and the O's, which again, the dollars and the cents, that we don't sometimes start thinking about some of the other pieces that are going to go into it.

And often, Tony, the biggest piece, and we'll just finish up with this, is just the fact that it is that big gear shift. People often just go, "Well, now how do I turn all the stuff that I've done into checks and whatnot because I'm not getting a paycheck anymore? So how do I turn it into that? How do I make sure that I'm going to be okay?" Because money is the biggest cause of stress that humans deal with pretty much all the time. I mean, it's kind of the number one problem for just about everything is how you feel about money or how things are going to go. So having a good financial professional maybe will hopefully eliminate some of those worries.

Tony Mauro:

I would say so for sure. I mean, as a retiree, you want a good financial planner or advisor in your corner that can help you do just that. And it really is trying to set up your monthly income stream, whatever that is for you, so that it's stress-free, it comes the same time every month, you know what it is. And get in and visit with your planner two to four times a year and make sure everything's still on track.

And make adjustments as you see fit, as you're out there trying to enjoy life. Because last thing you want, like you've mentioned, is to be worrying about money. We've worried about money for all our lives, and in retirement, this is the last thing I think you want to be worried about.

And I think you need to keep your finances fairly simple. And simple by meaning, try to get everything on auto-pay, and then the money coming in on auto deposit, so that you don't have to spend tons of time managing this stuff, and it flows pretty seamlessly.

Marc Killian:

And that's really the ending piece, is taking the time to get it started. Because often that's where we struggle. Once you get it moving, you go, "Oh, this is actually pretty good. This is not so bad." But you wind up having that kind of... I mean, well, honestly, if we're talking about stress, sometimes there's just stress in thinking about having to deal with the finances or dealing with the retirement. "Oh man, I really need to go see somebody, but I don't think I'm going to be in good shape," or, "I'm afraid of what they're going to tell me," or whatever. And that causes stress.

So sometimes you just got to bite the bullet, have the conversation, especially when often you can get these... Most financial advisors do complementary reviews for that reason. So you can go through the process, find out if what they do is a good fit for you and if you're a good fit for them. And to maybe take a little bit of that stress off the table when you start working together.

So as always, if you need some help steering clear of retirement stress, well, a plan, a strategy, is a great way to do that. And that's what Tony and his team do at Tax Doctor, Inc. So get on the calendar and plan with the tax man at yourplanningpros.com. That's yourplanningpros.com.

We are taping, this is April, Tony's right in the middle of taxes. So I'm not going to keep you. I'm going to let you go so you can get back to it.

Tony Mauro:

A couple of weeks left.

Marc Killian:

A couple of weeks left for tax season, but you hang in there. And we'll see you guys next time here on the podcast with Tony Mauro. Again, visit him at your planningpros.com.

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