Fritz Gilbert says the adage that "Retirement is a marathon, not a sprint" is backwards. He cites an average age where health starts to decline is 64, so sprinting in those first few years when the average retiree is 61-63 makes sense.

We will dig into that idea, then follow it up with a listener who can't get her husband to think about anything but saving money.

Resource:

• Article by Fritz Gilbert: Retirement is a Sprint, Not a Marathon

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Retirement Starts Today: Your Non-financial Guide to an Even Better Retirement

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The fear of running out of money in retirement turns out to be mostly backwards. For super-savers, the data says the opposite usually happens. A piece from Danielle Labotka at Morningstar makes the case that for a lot of retirees: Being too cautious with your spending is actually the bigger risk.

In our listener question segment: Anonymous wants to give money to her kids with warm hands, not cold. How much you can safely give today without putting your own retirement at risk?

And then we'll wrap up with our Retire To Something segment: Dabbling in a little of everything.

Resources:

• Article by Danielle Labotka at Morningstar: Is Your Cautious Retirement Spending Doing More Harm Than Good?
• Book by Bill Perkins: Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

Connect with Benjamin Brandt:

• Subscribe to the This Week in Retirement: http://thisweekinretirement.com
• Get the Retire-Ready Toolkit: http://retirementstartstodayradio.com
• Work with Benjamin: https://retirementstartstoday.com/start

Get the book!
Retirement Starts Today: Your Non-financial Guide to an Even Better Retirement

Follow Retirement Starts Today in:
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or iHeart

Every year, thousands of retirees pay an extra penalty to the IRS — and almost none of them see it coming.

What catches them off guard isn't a penalty for owing too much. You can do everything right — claim Social Security at the right age, run picture-perfect Roth conversions, manage your withdrawals down to the dollar — and still get a letter from the IRS charging you extra.

I reworked a framework from an article by Sheryl Rowling at Morningstar into four clean, completely legal ways to avoid getting tax penalties.

After that, we've got a listener question: A retiree writes in and says, "I don't want to think about money. My plan is tested, I have enough — so what's a simple checklist I can use to stay on track?"

And to close the show, our Retire To Something segment where Clif traded his to-do list for a garden plot — and found community, leadership, and a whole lot of homegrown vegetables in the process.

Resource:
Article by Sheryl Rowling at Morningstar: 5 Ways to Avoid Tax Penalties

Connect with Benjamin Brandt:

• Subscribe to the This Week in Retirement: http://thisweekinretirement.com
• Get the Retire-Ready Toolkit: http://retirementstartstodayradio.com
• Work with Benjamin: https://retirementstartstoday.com/start

Get the book!
Retirement Starts Today: Your Non-financial Guide to an Even Better Retirement

Follow Retirement Starts Today in:
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or iHeart