Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

It’s not hard to figure out what’s going on here. Retirement experts need to please their editors and sell magazines, articles, and books. They need to cozy up to their advertisers so they can sell body lotion, cyber investments and ED treatments.

They can do that easily when they know how to play the game. All they need are eyeballs, lots of eyeballs. The more eyeballs they can attract, the more “World’s best mattresses” Mannie the Mattress Man can sell. And ultimately, Manny is the man who pays their salary.

So, they take the same tired advice that everyone else is pitching and dress it up with fancy new adjectives. They insert a picture of an attractive woman and write a catchy title like, “You better do this or you’ll die,” so they can get you to click on it since you don’t want to die.

But the advice is misleading, incomplete, and sometimes flat-out wrong. In Monday’s article you need a reverse mortgage, and on Friday you’re a moron if you got one. The truth is “it depends,” but that message won’t sell a cheap crockpot.

1. “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” — Mark Twain

Mark Twain was a great author but a lousy life coach. There just aren’t that many enjoyable jobs out there. 85% of workers hate their jobs, so don’t expect to stumble across a cubicle-in-the-haystack that you’ll enjoy so much it won’t feel like work.

You’re better off accepting the reality that most jobs aren’t there to make you happy, they’re there to create and sell products and services. For you, they’re a way to earn income to fund your life.

Experts say that you should look for a job that pays well, has a supportive culture and an ethical platform that aligns with your own. Continuing education and training are the keys to career flexibility and job satisfaction. You should cultivate friends and activities that don’t relate to work, and you should save as much of your income as you can because: Money is freedom.

Finally, plan for your future. Plan your retirement so you have enough money, activities and ideas of what your retirement days will be like. And hobbies…

2. “You need three hobbies to retire.”

This cliché walks the earth like a zombie and just won’t die. You see it everywhere and because of its ubiquity, it’s become a retirement legend.

But it’s not the full story. Not even close. The problem everyone is trying to solve with this pithy aphorism is boredom. Boredom can be solved by hobbies but they’re not the only solution, nor is “three” a magic number.

Don’t get me wrong, hobbies are great. One or ten will help you fill your days, but remember the endgame is to have your days filled with meaningful activities and events, not an unwavering allegiance to model airplane building, quilting, or geocaching.

You can volunteer, take a walk, watch a movie, start a business, or babysit your grandkids (they won’t think it’s a hobby). You can learn to enjoy quiet times and solitude.

You don’t have to fill every minute with constructive hobbies, you only have to avoid perpetual boredom. Another option to keep busy is to do all those things you’ve been putting off. Or not…

3. “Oh, don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time for that when you’re retired.”

When you retire you’ll have all kinds of time on your hands. That’s what your friends tell you, and if you repeat it often enough you might think it, too. At the very least it’s a convenient excuse to get out of repulsive chores. If you play your cards right it can work to your advantage for years before your retirement:

“Honey, can you polish the silver?”

The ones we never use? “Sure, dear. I’ll do that when I retire. I’ll have plenty of time then.”

You might have plenty of time then, but the idea of polishing silver will be equally as dreadful in retirement as it is when you’re gainfully employed. Cleaning the attic, cataloging all those old photos, organizing the garage — there’s nothing about retirement that makes those chores more appealing.

So you won’t do them then either. ‘Nuff said.

One thing you should do though is prepare for your death. Put together a Last Will and Testament, a Durable Power of Attorney, and Medical Directives. Do you love your children? This is how you show it.

Otherwise, don’t worry about the attic and the photos. And hire someone to polish the silver, it’s not expensive. You have my permission to not do the things you don’t want to do.

But when it comes to finances, no ignoring is allowed!

4. “Just put your money on autopilot.”

Plenty of investment advisors would love to take your money and manage it for a tidy fee, usually around 1% of your wealth annually. They’ll say “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it, just sit back and enjoy your retirement.”

Since the three largest risks you face in retirement are financial risks, you need to be in the driver’s seat. I’d recommend you start a hobby of watching and participating in your investments. Advisors are fine (the fiduciary ones) and many have the talents to properly balance safety with growth, but if there’s a mistake guess who loses? (Hint: They still get their fee.)

Watch them carefully and ask a lot of questions. “Why are you picking that security?” “Show me how you’re diversifying.” “What is your benchmark so I know what return I can expect?” And if they don’t meet the benchmark then go look for someone else who can. All advisors are not equal.

Remember, your financial well-being in retirement relies on the totality of your wealth, which includes other assets like your home.

5. “Don’t retire until you pay off your mortgage.”

If that was a law, a lot of people couldn’t retire until they were dead. Ten million homeowners retire while still carrying a mortgage, so if you do, you’ll be a member of a very large club, and you shouldn’t feel bad about it.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a mortgage, or any type of debt for that matter. The issue isn’t the debt, it’s the ability to pay it off.

If you have a solid financial plan with the capability to pay it off and some extra wiggle room, you’ll be fine. In fact, paying it off could be the wrong financial move. Last year, mortgage rates were about 2.5% and the stock market grew by about 27%. If you had pulled $100,000 out of the market to pay off your home, that move would have cost you about $25,000.

Here is the one rule that should be a law:

Debt reduces your financial flexibility so if you carry debt, be sure to have plenty of extra wiggle room in your finances.

Debt is an important retirement consideration, as are your savings and investments. Don’t forget to think long and hard about your income, too.

6. “Don’t take Social Security benefits until you’re 70.”

If you delay benefits until you’re 70 years old, you’ll get the biggest possible check. Then if you die at age 71 you chose poorly.

The idea isn’t to maximize your paycheck, it’s to maximize your total income over your lifetime. To do that you need to estimate your lifespan. How long did your parents and grandparents live? That’s a good place to start.

The breakeven is somewhere around age 83 (lots of factors affect that). That means if you die somewhere in the 80 to 85 range, it won’t matter so much when you elect to receive benefits because your lifetime income will be about the same. So if you expect to die before your early 80s you should take Social Security early. If you expect to die in your late 80s or beyond you should delay as long as you can.

It’s that simple. Don’t overthink it.

Now, if you desperately need the money to live, then take it early, it’s perfectly fine and quite common. Fully one-third of all retirees take benefits at age 62. Fewer than 10% take it after their full retirement age (typically age 67).

No matter when you take it though, you better build it into at least some type of rudimentary plan. Otherwise, your retirement will randomly work itself out, and you won’t like that.

7. “Go ahead and retire whenever you want, it will work itself out.”

This has to be the worst advice I’ve ever heard!

I’ve seen it from immature and cavalier non-retirees who are trying to make a buck selling snake oil promises that people who hate their jobs are going to eat right up. All they’re doing is spouting out extremist ideas to capture eyeballs. There’s too much of that crap going on right now already, so ignore it! Please. Don’t do that.

Plan your retirement and go all-in with your eyes wide open, and question everything. As they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Summary

• Save and invest early and often
• Live below your means
• Understand how debt affects your life and retirement
• Create your own future by planning and participating
• Be healthy, be ethical and be a friend to others in need

“Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you’re being miserable.”

— Clare Booth Luce