Retirement Planning Post-Covid Shutdowns

How does your retirement plan look now?

While many people have been financially shaken up by the government shutdown reaction to the Covid-19 virus, we all have to look forward to our future.

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From an economic standpoint, most of my clients were not financially impacted by the shutdown. Most were able to work from home and probably saved money on travel, clothes, and dining out.

If you’re like me you took some time to reflect on what might be the next move for you. Can you work from home forever?

Will you ever be required to go back to the office?  Some employers will never rent the same size (or any office space in some cases) office space again. This saves corporate America a boatload of money. The same goes with having Zoom meetings take the place of travel meetings, which saves on airfare, hotel, and dining out-related entertainment.

While these changes have slowly been happening the past several years, a huge steroid shot (Covid-19 response) was given to the “no need to travel or be in the home office” paradigm.

What does this mean to your future work or retirement plan?

SEE ATTACHMENT BELOW for Retirement CHECKLIST

For me, it’s become much more acceptable to have screen share meetings rather than in-person meetings. Will any of my clients care if I move/work to Florida for 6 months of the year?  I don’t think so. This means I can work forever, from anywhere, hooray!

The benefit of computer shared meeting acceptance has my wife and I actively looking for a new home several years sooner than we were a year ago.

Will you be able to move should you want to and keep your existing job as a perk from being able to work remotely?

What does your retirement planning (I prefer Financial Independence Plan) checklist look like today?

Here’s a framework to get you started:

1. Take inventory of what you own today – Unfortunately, most people do not have a great grasp of their net worth
   1. Home value (mortgage) – What would you net if you sold?
   2. Cash, checking, savings, and money market accounts – liquid peace of mind money
   3. Old 401k’s (need to be rolled to IRA) – are they growing as you need them to?
   4. IRA’s
   5. Taxable investment accounts – it’s nice to have money outside of retirement accounts
   6. Health Savings Accounts – Link Triple Tax-Advantaged Health Savings Account’s (HSA’s) Are Amazing!
   7. Investment Real Estate – Link Why I Love Single-Family Rental Investments!
   8. Life Insurance policies – do you have any permanent life insurance or will it all go away at retirement?
   9. Will and/or trusts – are these documents updated?
   10. Personal Property
2. How Much & Where are you saving for Financial Independence? Could you save more?
   1. 401k saving
   2. Are you saving outside of 401k? I sure hope so – AUTOMATE IT – have $$ pulled directly from checking and invested monthly
3. What might your retirement look like?
   1. Will you live in the same home?
   2. Downsize in the same area or move?
   3. What are the factors in where you will move?
      1. Family
      2. Weather
      3. Taxes – Link Want a Second Home to Avoid Illinois Income Tax?
      4. Cost of Living

4. Have you considered what you can afford (potential retirement monthly budget)?
5. Which account(s) should you pull money from when it’s time?
6. Will you have to help out parents or children financially?
7. When should you draw on Social Security?  Link How to Maximize Social Security
8. How should your money be allocated given your needs & wants?

There are many more items to consider in making your Financial Independence Plan.

Let’s work together to update your planning.

If you would like to revisit these or other area’s please let me know.

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