Retirement Has Two Doors. Which One Will You Choose?

Retirement has only two possible outcomes

Retirement has two doors. One leads to a chance of success. One leads to certain failure. Which door will you choose?

1. Door number one, your money outlives you. Behind that door lies:

Dignity
Independence
Legacies

2. Door number two, you outlive your money. Behind that door lies:

Dependence on family or the state,
Death of any family legacy,
Poverty
Destitution.

Every retiree will get one outcome or the other. Your choice.

The only difference between the two outcomes is a plan

A goal of retiring - without a plan - is simply a plan to run out of money.

With a plan you have a chance for door number one.

Without a plan you are almost certainly guaranteed door number two.

The real risk

Our mission is to make sure you never lose your purchasing power in retirement.

Notice we said purchasing power instead of saying money. The biggest misconception that we see when talking to clients and prospective clients about retirement planning is this:

They worry about losing their “money” in retirement and when they say money they mean a specific dollar amount.

We're also worried about you losing your “money” in retirement. However, when we say money we mean purchasing power.

Those are two completely different definitions of money.

Money is NOT a principal dollar amount.

Money is currency that gives you purchasing power.

And to maintain your purchasing power in retirement you must invest your money strategically with a plan.

Your money must grow at rate higher than inflation for the next 20-30 years or without realizing it you will be losing your money.

Your favorite box of cereal might cost $4 today. That same box of cereal will cost $8 in 20 years.

Are you certain that your retirement money today will buy your favorite box of cereal 20 years from now?

The real risk in retirement is the erosion of your purchasing power due to inflation.

What's your plan to double your income during a 20-30 year retirement?

Rising living costs on a fixed income equal door number two

Real safety in retirement is an income that rises more than your living costs do.

Bonds don't do that nor were they designed to do that.

The constantly rising dividends and capital values of America's best companies do that and have historically done that for 100 years.

It's counterintuitive but factually true.

At 80/20 Financial Services we invest your money and our own money in the best companies in the United States and the world based on a plan.

We don't base our investment philosophy on the latest fads nor do we change our philosophy based on the latest fears.

We act on our plan.

We DO NOT react to financial news.

You need a plan

At 80/20 Financial Services, we are retirement planners and we specialize in working with electric cooperative employees.

We can help you answer questions like:

Should you take your cooperative's monthly pension or lump sum offer?
Do you have enough money between your R&S and/or 401k to retire?
Could you possibly retire at age 55?
Is your cooperative 401k invested correctly for your retirement goals?
Should you be investing in a Traditional 401k or a Roth 401k?
Are you contributing too much or too little to your 401k?
Should you quasi-retire from your cooperative?
Should you accept an early retirement offer from your cooperative?
When should you claim Social Security benefits?
How can you lower your tax bill in retirement?
How do you invest your retirement money so that you increase your income in retirement?
How do you create an income stream in retirement that is similar to when you were working?

Your cooperative/NRECA may offer great retirement benefits.

What they don't offer you is a plan on how to maximize those benefits based on your unique retirement goals.

That's what we do.

For more articles about retirement planning and investing, click here. You may also sign up to receive our weekly retirement blog here.

Thanks for reading!

Brian Coleman-Owner/Advisor

80/20 Financial Services is an Independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) registered in the state of Missouri (CRD# 300772). Being independent allows us to work exclusively for YOU. 80/20 Financial Services is the legal name of our Registered Investment Advisory Firm (RIA). Electric Cooperative Retirement Planning is what we do. Our specialty is retirement planning for electric cooperative employees within 5 years of retirement or already retired

Photo by James Balensiefen on Unsplash