Retire Hoppy Podcast

Show Notes This episode was recorded live at FinCon 2019 from the Washington DC Hilton September 2019. The show features 8 short interviews with: Dragon Guy and Dragon Gal from Dragons on FIRE Joanne from MoneyGodmotherBlog Steven from RxforFIRE Claudia from MsEngineeredWealth Becky from TwentyFree Dryden from SacredMoneyStudios Kathe Kline from RockYourRetirement Bob Wheeler from TheMoneyNerve Hop Stop There is no beer tasting with this episode.

Show Notes Our guests are Doc G and Paul Thompson from the What’s Up Next Podcast Our topic is: Can Anyone Achieve Financial Independence We discuss: How Doc G and Paul teamed up Whether there is a minimum level of income in order to achieve FI Doc G provides examples of people who have done so with very little income and observes that many wealthy people do not achieve FI According to Doc G and Paul, mindset is the most important factor for FI Having a positive mindset is empowering The...

Show Notes Retirement Segment We are introducing a new podcast called FIREwalkers in lieu of doing season 3 of Retire Hoppy Click RetireHoppy.com/firewalkers for more information The idea for FIREwalkers came from our desire to improve financial literacy and our belief that the FIRE movement is a great fit I became aware of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement shortly after I joined Twitter in November 2017 We attended FinCon 2019 in September which reinforced our...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Our guest is Jacob Merrill, 65, married with 2 kids Has an engineering degree and moved to Phoenix for a job Plans to retire within the next couple of years As retirement gets closer he is doing more research into getting ready for retirement Uses a financial planner for part of his portfolio His planner was especially helpful in managing his parent’s finances One of his retirement role models is his grandmother. She lived below her means and got rid of most of...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Summary of Retire Hoppy podcast episode 32 Rick’s career was selling broadcast (TV and radio) advertising Worked about 40 years There were many signs that the industry was undergoing massive restructuring. His job went away in July Nov 2016 and he moved to Scottsdale in Nov from Chicago Lots of Chicago influences in Phoenix Started investing early with IRA contributions. Eventually they broadened his investments into more funds Was pleased with their financial...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Recorded on location at Craft 64 in Old Town Scottsdale Scott Hagen is one of 4 co-owners. He is originally from Scottsdale. The building is an adobe house built in 1937. It’s one of the original buildings on Main St. Prior to starting up Craft 64, Scott had a 20 year career in negotiating government contracts for Honeywell, Northrop Grumman and Electronic Data Systems in Phoenix and Washington DC. After receiving an inheritance, Scott, recently divorced,...

Show Notes Retirement Segment I’ve produced an article and video presentation on the 6 Stages of Retirement. It is the most popular subject I have ever produced. At the time of this posting, theYouTube video has over 8,300 views. The 6 Stages were developed in 1975 by Gerontology Professor Richard Atley. Pre-retirement Retirement Disenchantment Reorientation Retirement Routine Termination of Retirement We didn't discuss pre-retirement because I have covered both the financial and...

Show Notes Retirement Segment 2018 was the worst December since the Great Depression. The DOW was down -5.6% and the S&P 500 -6.2%. For reference the DOW lost -34% and S&P 500 -37% during the 2008 financial meltdown. Additional factors that increase investor anxiety Most market volatility since 2008 Recency bias – the tendency to think what’s been happening will continue Loss aversion – people prefer avoiding losses vs. acquiring equivalent gains For more on investment biases check out: Our...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Jackie is the author of Money Letters 2 My Daughter, working professional and a parent. She is a financial literacy advocate. She makes presentations and holds workshops for all ages. Financial literacy means learning about money and how it affects it your life. Jackie was raised by a single father so she learned how to stretch and dollar and how to value material things (she had to share a lot). She began collecting $2 bills when she was in high school which...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Michelle Pannor Silver is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto She became interested in retirement during the time that she helped her father retire due to his dementia, i.e. she closed his office. She began to consider retirement in terms of age, mandated and what does retirement mean. She is the author of Retirement and Its Discontents:Why We Won’t Stop Working Even if We Can. In her book she interviews high achieving groups such as doctors, CEOs,...

Show Notes Retirement Segment I wanted to interview John after I came across him on Twitter. I was intrigued by all the things that he was doing: website (Retired Now What), blog, YouTube and podcasting. Maybe that’s not so amazing except that John is in his 80s which does make him different in my opinion. John took an early retirement package from IBM Burlington VT in 1981 at age 51. He worked as an electrical engineer and in management. Based on his financial analysis, John figured he...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Gina is a Blogger who wants to help people save by employing a frugal lifestyle Gina got into debt when she entered college – credit card and student She got interested in budgeting and saving when she found a house with an awesome kitchen. She cut back from $250 of work lunches. When she started to see her savings grow she realized she was no longer stressed and decided to share the changes she made with her friends which led to her blog TheFrugalConvert. A...

Show Notes Retirement Segment A large world-wide study describes happiness as tracing a U over the course of one’s life. The theory is that we are happy when we begin our careers and get our lives off the ground. However, when we reach middle age, the realities, disappointments and stress catches up with us and our level of happiness goes down. However, when we reach pre-retirement (typically sometime in our 50s) our happiness begins to rise. That’s because we’ve put our disappointments...

Show Notes Retirement Segment This episode marks the start of season 2. We have completed one full year of the Retire Hoppy podcast! New tag line for Retire Hoppy: Inform, inspire and entertain The foundation for our program is an article from NewRetirement.com: 50 Tips for Happy, Healthy and Wealthy Retirement Roy and I discuss our own top 5 Roy starts with #21 Spend your savings safely Ted’s number 1 is #1 Have a sense of purpose or meaning Research shows that people who have a sense of...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Dave is the creator of RetireFabulously Dave’s first book is Design Your Dream Retirement. His latest book (Dec 2017) is Smooth Sailing into Retirement: How to Navigate the Transition from Work to Leisure. It covers the 6 months prior to retiring and into the first year of retirement. It guides us through the changes that you’ll experience. You can find out more about Dave's books, including how to purchase them, on his website. We get into his chapter about...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Founder of Beer Cap Country Andrew left his full time job as a software engineer in October. His wife is a teacher and she is getting an entire year off. They are traveling to Europe and Asia starting in August. Andrew sets SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Related and Time-bound. He sets them for his business and in personal life including financial. It’s important to write down your goals because it helps make a plan and by writing it down you’re...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Celebrating the early retirement of Fritz Gilbert of The Retirement Manifesto Fritz recounts the speech he gave at his retirement dinner Fritz worked for the same company for 33 years 6 Lessons Learned in 33 Years in Corporate America Save early, save aggressive, at least 20% Find someone to love unconditionally, no one is perfect, be quick to forgive and prioritize relationships Realize the ability you have to direct your own life – pursue autonomy Never stop...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Bill is from Ohio and spends his winters in Arizona which is referred to as being a snow bird. He retired 5 years ago from his business as a museum exhibit business owner. Bill and his partner started succession planning 8 years ahead of his planned retirement. Bill didn’t really think ahead to envision his retirement. For him retirement was about having time to choose what he wanted to do. Bill bought a condo in Arizona the day he retired and “went to work”...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Matt started his blog Method to Your Money in Oct 2017 His wife challenged him to learn more about finance His blog tag line is methods and mindsets to inspire your finances Given how much information is available on finances, Matt wondered why people weren’t doing the right things when it comes to managing their finances. He believes that psychology, including behavioral economics, may answer that question. Matt spoke with a lot of people many of whom suggested...

Show Notes Retirement Segment Report from Center for Retirement Research at Boston College entitled: Financial Fragility Likely for Future Retirees Good news for current retirees Personal investment portfolios have rebounded Home prices are up Part time work is available Pensions are funded Fragile future Report applies to people born in the mid-60s to early 802 Eligibility age for Social Security is increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later Early benefits (at age 62) will be reduced...