Stock Market Insights: 'We don't know where to start.'

BY DR. RICHARD L. BAKER, AIF® Founder & Senior Wealth Advisor at Steadfast Wealth Management

Matt and Judy sat down in my office and began to tell me about their lives. Matt had worked thirty years at two different companies. Judy had been a teacher. They had just reached retirement age and felt clueless about where to begin planning financially for the years ahead. They looked at me and said, “We don’t know where to start.”

My newest book, “How Do I Retire?” (Amazon.com) is the information that I shared with Matt and Judy and with others who come to me and ask what they need to do to begin the retirement process. I want you to have a great retirement.

I want you to have everything you need to get the retirement you’ve been dreaming about. I have been able to help my clients become well prepared for what happens when they stop working.

Retirement is different these days. As Alan Gotthardt notes in The Eternity Portfolio:

“At one time in America, life was simple for those who lived to be retirees. He worked thirty-five to forty years for one company, and that company agreed to pay you a nice pension starting at age sixty-five and lasting the rest of your life. The average life expectancy for people at that time was somewhere in the early seventies, so investing and inflation were not really much of a concern for the five to ten years on average retirement.” Inflation is a major concern now.

For our parents, retirement meant switching from a paycheck to a pension check, setting up Social Security benefits, and maybe selling their small farm to supplement their retirement income.

The America that Gotthardt describes no longer exists. By retirement, most American workers have been employed by seven or eight companies, have no pension, and have participated in several different 401(k) plans. People are living much longer now than before, which means their days in retirement are lasting longer than expected.

My new book answers the question, “How do I retire?” And it guides you through the steps as you get closer to retirement. It helps you evaluate your monthly income needs in retirement; maximize your Social Security benefits and investment returns; discover all of your income sources; understand the different investment options; and transfer your wealth to the next generation. Finally, this book helps you understand the key points of a financial plan so you can meet your retirement goals.

I was able to help Matt and Judy assess their retirement goals and work out a plan to reach those goals. We worked out a foundation that I hope will give them a long and successful retirement. I want you to be just as prepared as they are.

I want you to love your retirement. Have a blessed week! https://www.steadfastwealth. net/richard-baker 2760 East Sunshine St. Springfield, MO 65804