A 2021 Society of Actuaries study on retirement risk looked at retiree vulnerability to unexpected financial shocks. Forty percent of retirees reported experiencing some form of financial shock.
They reported that 11% of retirees reported financial shock that reduced their assets by more than 25%. Thirty-two percent of retirees said they could not spend $10,000 without it affecting their retirement security. 
I think about financial “what ifs” all the time. I try to anticipate where money might come from to handle even something major like long-term care.

I’ve always been a man of habits and routines, but it seems that these days, as a 72 year old retiree, I adhere to them even more. I’m not yet on the level of Dustin Hoffman’s Rainman with Judge Wapner, but I’m getting there.
Maybe it’s because I have more control over my schedule now and so can more faithfully indulge these habits. Or maybe the calcification of my brain and the well known tendency of old folks to dislike change have combined to make me ever more dedicated to them.

Pre-Covid, when I wasn’t traveling, a friend and I delivered lunches for Meals on Wheels. We worked twice a month, for over ten years. Sometimes the list of recipients stayed the same for months, at other times we’d see two or three replacements in quick succession.
A couple of guys each had a room in a shared house. A couple of women lived in apartment buildings. Some people lived in what was obviously low income/subsidized housing.

I turned 73 this summer and received a modest buyout of my share of a group practice earlier this year. Should I take my required RMD now or take two prior to next April fifteenth?

I TOOK MY REQUIRED minimum distribution, or RMD, at the end of July. I was planning on taking it at the end of the year, but my allocation to stocks was more than five percentage points above my target of 40%. I thought selling some of my stocks would be a good way to rebalance my portfolio and fund my RMD, so I sold a portion of my overweight in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (symbol: VTI).

Despite what you might expect from the title, this is not an article about volunteer work. Rather, it’s a perspective on my current situation as a so-called paid employee. You see, tomorrow I turn 62. My Social Security benefits, which until now have been only a theoretical future payout, are now fully accessible to me with a few clicks of a mouse. Once I elect to take my Social Security benefit, my wife will be eligible to begin receiving hers as well.

Newly retired one here and working my way through safe withdrawal rates, the 4% rule etc. I subscibed to Monarch to monitor expenses. My question:  how many of you out there monitor every I and O on a spreadsheet (looking at you engineers) vs just seeing what’s left in the spending account each month, quarter, year etc?

I implore the much more astute for information concerning Social Security benefits, mainly, what is the duration, maturity, credit rating and so forth, please? My bond knowledge is limited to knowing which actor starred as James Bond, Sean or Timothy and the like.
I have read here that Social Security retirement money should be a part of the fixed income allocation, etc. Thank you.
And now , on to a much less difficult question, ” Is the inertia of a body a measure of its energy content?”

This past weekend, my wife Lisa and I traveled to Middleburg, Virginia—a little over an hour west of Washington DC. My son’s father-in-law Matt, who also happened to be one of my college apartment-mates, is turning 60 soon and his family threw him a huge surprise party. Most of Matt’s immediate and extended family members were there, as well as key people from his career, church and other parts of life. I was part of the college friend contingent.

To travel or not is right up there with when to claim Social Security, if a Roth conversion is desirable or the amount of retirement income needed – many answers and personal choices.
I will admit travel can be a hassle, mainly the getting there and back if flying is involved and while trying to get through customs. Because of an incompetent desk agent we missed being stranded in Istanbul by seconds. Leaving Moscow was a nightmare as we were intentionally ignored while Russians were put ahead of us,

Health care costs, taxes, or general inflation?

This is a major financial decision for retirees. 25% of retirees over 60 still have their savings in a 401k plan, 5 years after retirement.
There are advantages for each option.
IRA

More investment options. Easy to implement complex investment strategies
Consolidation of multiple 401K accounts into one IRA simplifies finances.

401K

Costs and fees are normally lower.
Better protection against law suits, creditors and bankruptcy.

There are many more pros and cons for each. Much will depend on individual situation.

We live in a hyper-partisan world, and I’m not just talking about politics and cultural issues. Even among financial questions, I’m constantly surprised by what turns out to be controversial.
There are the obvious choices that affect retirees, such as when to claim Social Security and whether to annuitize part of a nest egg. These decisions involve significant dollars, so maybe it’s no great surprise that folks get hot and bothered.
But it isn’t just fairly straightforward financial issues that get fiercely debated.

A recent comment in the Forum got me thinking about the inherent value of certain fixed income instruments. The commenter said they did not include their traditional pension or Social Security retirement benefit in their balance sheet when calculating net worth. This makes sense since neither of these is easily convertible to cash.
But pensions and SS clearly have significant value, and in many cases are the largest asset a retiree owns. I think it’s useful to get a feel for these amounts.

I RECENTLY READ AN article by Anna D. Banks, an executive coach and human behavior consultant, who talks about the importance of cultivating friendships in retirement. She discusses embracing new activities, volunteering, reconnecting with old friends, using technology, attending social events, and being open-minded about forming friendships with people from other backgrounds.
All this got me thinking about HumbleDollar.
The Breakfast Club is a coming-of-age movie from 1985—a movie,