Amy: Tonight, sometimes we like to step back and say, "Job well done," as we see investors staying put making smart long-term decisions despite all the headlines, including major tension in the Middle East. You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Andy Shafer in for Steve Ruby tonight.

It felt like a long weekend, Andy. I've got to tell you because Iran attacked Israel, of course, over the weekend and then it was like all of the dominoes started to fall. My phone started blowing up. Producers were trying to figure out, should we do special shows? What is going to happen in the stock market? What's going to happen with oil prices? Is gas going to skyrocket? We even brought in the brilliant Ed Fink. And when it comes to, like, global economics, there's no one I trust more. It was actually Ed who said, "I don't know that it's going to be a major deal when it comes to people's 401(k)s in the stock market. Keep an eye on oil prices, but I think we're going to be okay." And, of course, Ed Fink, the brilliant man that he is, well, he was right.

Andy: Well, first of all, I love Ed, and he usually is right on those types of things. But it was interesting. I actually took Monday off. I had it on my calendar because I was playing in a charity golf outing and I had some friends over on Saturday and we were watching the Masters and it broke in to say that Israel was attacked by Iran. And my first thought was, "Jeez, should I cancel my golf outing and come into work on Monday? What is that going to look like?" I was really worried about it.

And Monday came around and the markets didn't really respond too bad. And I think a lot of the reason why was because Iran pretty much signaled that they were going to attack on the previous Friday. And if you remember on that previous Friday, the markets were down. Iran did signal that, hey, we're going to do something because of the fact that Israel targeted some of their generals. And Iran felt like they had to respond. And I think the markets, in a way, exhaled a little bit because we knew it was coming. We just didn't know what it was going to look like.

And so obviously, Iran sent over about 300 drones and missiles to Israel. And the neat thing about it was Israel was able to shoot most of them down. And what it suggested was that their defense system really was fairly robust. And it showed the world that, hey, Israel can handle these types of attacks. And now that Iran sent their message, there was minimal damage. Investors kind of exhaled to some degree because now the uncertainty was out of the way. And hopefully, at this point, cooler heads can prevail.

Amy: Markets hate the unknown, right? And on Friday, that's what we had. We had the threat of an attack. We didn't know what it was going to look like. We didn't know how bad it was going to be, what kind of destruction was going to be done by Saturday. It appeared that we knew that, held our breath kind of collectively on Sunday, nothing new. And yeah, I think Monday morning, it was like, okay, we were really worried. Of course, no one wants unrest anywhere. But when you kind of see how this played out from a market standpoint, it was like, okay, we're good. We've digested this and we're moving on. And that's sort of exactly what the markets did.

Andy: Well, I've been in financial services now for almost 25 years. And the Middle East has always been challenging and has been on the radar. And there's been unrest throughout my whole career there. And it has been something that you keep an eye on from a geopolitical standpoint. And I think for most investors, the issue is what is oil going to do? Right? Because that really affects us here at home. If there's unrest in the Middle East, that can cause a lack of supply of oil, which raises oil prices. And that's a part of our everyday life. That affects you at the pump. It affects our supply chains with shipping domestically. And so that's really what we keep an eye on.

And when you look at oil prices, they have actually come down over the last couple of days. They spiked on Friday. Again, you go back to Friday and you look when Iran signaled that they were probably going to retaliate, oil prices spiked. But since Friday, they've come down quite a bit. And I think that helps investors breathe a little bit easier as well.

Amy: Yeah. And over the weekend, there were headlines along the lines of oil prices going up to $100 a barrel, right? And it's like, oh, no, which we, by the way, have seen these prices before. It does hurt, but it's not any territory that would be brand new for us. We have been there before.

Andy: Yeah, 2015.

Amy: Yeah, exactly. We have been there before and we all survived it. But yeah, not at all what happened. You make a great point, too, because gas prices are in our face all the time, whether you are filling up at the pump or just getting off of an exit somewhere, it is like this blinking reminder. And for many of us, it's the litmus test for how the economy is doing. When gas prices are down, you feel really good, right, about the economy. You feel like things are going well.

And by the way, step back from what's going on in the Middle East. And we have a presidential election this year. A lot of the talk is going to be on the economy. You can bet that oil prices and then our country's ability to supply our own oil, all of those things will be part of the conversation. But yeah, I think for those of you reading any of these headlines over the weekend thinking this is going to be bad, right, things are going to go south, wake up Monday morning, futures were up, markets open, markets are up. And it hasn't been a major crisis ever since.

You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Andy Shafer, our good friend in for Steve Ruby tonight as we digest what the markets have been doing in response to Middle East. In fact, Andy, markets actually were up.

Andy: Yeah, you know, we got a little bit of a bump at the beginning part of this week because we continue to have decent retail sales. You know, the first quarter company earnings have gotten off to a positive start and it shows that, you know, our economy really dominates, you know, the markets in general. And you have to remember that 70% of our total economy is because of you and me. It's about the consumer. And as long as we have jobs and the labor market is fairly strong, that means that we are able to continue to spend money, which translates to consumer spending in retail sales. So, you know, at the end of the day, as long as we are employed and have the ability to earn a wage, that's really what drives our economy.

Amy: Yeah, I mean, isn't it interesting? You know, it's like over the weekend, all the focus was on the Middle East. We wake up on Monday morning and numbers start to come in. Okay, retail sales are up. That means we're still spending. Okay, the large companies that make up the American economy, that literally put the economy on their back and move it forward, doing pretty well.

And I think that as we even...we're talking about the presidential election, please remember that the Oval Office, you know, is not what drives the American economy. The American economy is always going to be bigger than the Oval Office or really, hopefully, any geopolitical event that's going on. It is how are these companies doing? How are they responding?

In fact, one way that you can look at this is that some degree of unrest for some companies, right, those that have contracts with the Defense Department and things like that, will actually do better in times like this. Now, certainly, no one wants to see any part of the world at any time not having a peaceful way of living, but if that's the reality, then the reality also translates to some companies are going to do better during times like that.

Andy: Well, and think about it from, you know, just our local perspective. You know, we're all very familiar with Procter & Gamble. You always need to brush your teeth and wash your hair, right? And so regardless of what's going on geopolitically overseas, you know, we still need to continue to spend and we are still consuming. And, you know, I think that's a lesson for a lot of people to just understand that throughout history, we've always had unrest. You know, we've gone through wars. We've gone through...you know. September 11th was a challenging time.

But, you know, what I try to remind my clients is that 100% of the time the markets have met and exceeded their previous highs is just a matter of time. So as long as you're patient and you're willing to sift through some of the volatility and have a little bit of poise, you're going to come out on the other end a lot better off. As long as you stick to your profile, make sure that your portfolio is diversed, you're going to be just fine.

Amy: And I think also, you know, for those who feel like, oh, it all makes me feel scared and fearful and because of that, maybe I should sell stock exposure. Maybe I should sell. Maybe I should go out of cash. Okay, there are times when we would say selling a stock does make sense. Never, never is it in response to any sort of geopolitical event. If your answer is why am I selling this? And it's because I'm afraid, because I'm fearful, because I don't know how this is going to turn out, we would say those are all really bad reasons to sell.

Now, if the company in and of itself, if you own an individual stock, which we're not necessarily huge proponents of, but if there was something fundamentally wrong with that company. Now, I'm not saying this is a reason to sell Tesla stock, but it has been in the headlines recently. Elon Musk, right? Drug use, right? If things like that make you nervous and you own Tesla stock, maybe that's the reason to say, "Okay, maybe I sell. Maybe I'm just worried about the future of this company." That can make sense. Depends on your individual situation.

But you don't sell because of what's happening somewhere in the Middle East. That doesn't make any sense. If you need the cash, that also makes sense, right? You need the money. You sell that stock. That's part of why you're buying these things. So a reminder of when it's acceptable to sell stock, and we would say that just doesn't make any sense. You're only hurting yourself in the long term.

Andy: Well, and we always say, Amy, if you're going to continue to buy and sell, jump in and out of the markets, you have to be right twice. And I've talked to a number of investors. If you remember back in 2008, 2009, when things went sideways, there were a lot of people that were shell-shocked by that. They saw their portfolio go down. They tried to hang in there for a while and eventually, they just had enough and they decided to get out. Well, if you get out, you know, you have to know when to get back in. And a lot of people were still so burned by that that they got in late and it significantly hurt their portfolios over time.

You know, I talked to a gentleman yesterday, met him for the first time, and, you know, he's thinking about retiring. He said, you know, "I probably could have a lot more money in my portfolio if I didn't get caught up in politics, if I didn't, you know, worry about what's going on in the White House. Instead of having $800,000, maybe I would have $1.5 million at this time. And, you know, that's just a lesson to say that, you know, it's important sometimes to just have some poise and understanding about how the markets work and understand that, yes, we are coming up on an election and there usually is some volatility.

But when you look back prior to World War II, when you go back and look at who's in the White House, whether it's a Democrat or a Republican, there hasn't been a significant difference one way or the other how the markets have performed based on who is in office. So stick to your guns, continue to take a look at your portfolio, make some minor adjustments, but I wouldn't recommend jumping in and jumping out.

Amy: Well, and to your point, for those who ever feel like you need to make a knee-jerk reaction to any of the headlines, one of my stories about this involves you and it's one of my favorite stories, you know, and that's, you know, some investors that you work with. You think back to the pandemic, right? 2020, markets are in free fall. Okay, I understand being nervous about the headlines then. I mean, it had been a good century since we had dealt with a global pandemic here in the U.S. It was scary. The economy was shutting down. The president's on. I am in the grocery store shoving things into my cart because we don't know what's going to happen.

And you had some clients that you worked with say, "I just can't," right? "I'm getting out. I'm making an emotional decision, but I'm just really scared." You called them every single day until they got back into the market. It didn't make necessarily sense at the time that the markets were going to rebound, but they did absolutely rebound. The headlines were still terrible. There were no vaccines. You know, everything was still shutting down and markets were growing and growing. Those clients of yours could have missed out on so much growth. They didn't.

And so I think also this is a kind of know yourself. And if you just respond to these kinds of things and it makes you nervous and then you feel like you need to do something with your money, find a fiduciary financial adviser that's going to remind you, hey, your long-term goals are going to be far better off if you set it and forget it and can walk away from anything, from geopolitical events, from global pandemics, from whatever that is. We've been through choppy times before. We will continue to go through them. That's kind of the price of admission as an investor.

Here's the Allworth advice. When panic sets in, listen, we get it. It's a very natural feeling. Stick to your financial plan. If you need help sticking to it, right, find someone who can help you there. And if you need cash, well, we would say there is one move you shouldn't make, yet one in four of you say you're going to do it. We're going to talk about that next. You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial here on 55KRC, THE Talk Station.

You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Andy Shafer. Coming up at 6:43, we've got the dos and don'ts of spending in retirement. Some mistakes that we've seen others make that we want to make sure that you don't. No question, right? We're all paying more for stuff. I mean, we are in this inflation environment. No, we're not at 9% where we were, but we're certainly not at the 2% goal. So things are just more expensive. But where you live can actually play a huge role in that and you can break it down by states.

Andy: Yeah, it's wild. And I think everybody is aware of this. You know, one of my biggest expenses, Amy, is the grocery store. And so we keep talking about, well, the economy is still doing pretty good. You know, unemployment is still fairly low. And, you know, people don't want to hear that. You know, we go to the grocery store. We know how much bacon and eggs cost.

Amy: It still hurts. Yeah.

Andy: And it hurts for us, too. And, you know, I make sure that when I go to the grocery, there's certain things that I just don't buy until the prices come down. But, you know, we have seen that different states have different inflation rates. And, you know, Ohio, the inflation rate is somewhere around 2.9% and Kentucky is about 3.4%. But, you know, when you look at the United States, there's a lot of other states that are getting hit significantly more. You know, Florida comes in at about 3.9% and Tennessee and, you know, Hawaii and some other states, they're swimming in it right now. So I think that we're lucky to be in Kentucky and Ohio and in Indiana, where, you know, prices are still higher and it does hurt, but it could hurt a lot more in other states where other people live.

Amy: The good old Midwest, right? I mean, cost of living here. Whenever I look at California, right, or travel there and even just buying like a beer or a sandwich, I'm like, "This is insane."

Andy: Crazy.

Amy: You look at housing costs there and you're like...even if you're making, you know, double, three times what we make here, you still can't afford just to buy a house there. Yeah. So I think, you know, cost of living here is better. Inflation rates are better here. So sometimes it's just kind of fun to pat ourselves on the back and say, "We're really smart people for choosing to live where we choose to live."

You know, when it comes to having cash, as we talk about inflation and things costing more, I think most of us feel like, you know, more cash on hand because it's just harder and harder to make ends meet, but there's a trend that we're starting to see that's making me a little nervous. This is a new study done by Empower. One in four of us say, "We're going to cut back on how much we're putting in our 401(k) just to free up some more money for disposable income.

Andy: Yeah, I think it's a little alarming. But on the other hand, times are tough. You know, with investors, you know, you certainly do not want to try to decrease your contributions because that can have an impact on your long-term financial plan. You know, if you're putting in $300 a month and you decrease that to, let's say, $100 a month and you plan to work for another 15 or 20 years, you're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars difference in your total portfolio.

Now, you know, certainly, you know, I would like to discourage people from decreasing their 401(k)s. You know, my advice would be to look at your budget and to see where maybe you could have some other savings before you go that route. With my wife and I, you know, we look at our statements on a monthly basis, and the way that we go about it is we look at a whole year's worth of statements, you know, because obviously certain months you're spending a little bit more than others. You know, summertime we usually spend more, the holidays we usually spend more and try to find different areas where maybe you can cut back where you're not really paying attention.

I know I have a number of apps on my phone that I'm paying for that I don't use that I could cut back on. We could probably shop a little bit better, you know, at Kroger. But I get it. When times are tough, you have to figure out ways to make ends meet. And I would say if you need to cut back on your 401(k), try to look at that as a last resort.

Amy: We've always been huge proponents of the 50/30/20 rule. And this is like you don't need a color-coded spreadsheet to budget. But if you can just kind of put all of your expenses in different buckets, we would say, okay, 50% of what you take home goes to your needs. This is the roof over your head, what you're paying for your mortgage or your rent. You mentioned groceries, gas, utilities. That's 50% of your income. And then we would say 30%, this is the fun stuff. This is the eating out. This is the travel. This is the apps, whatever you like to do with your money. But 20% of it, we would say that's what you have to save.

Now, I recently saw something talking about in this inflationary environment, maybe it becomes 60% go to your needs, 30% go to your wants, and only 10% of that is your saving. And I thought, "Who thinks this is okay?" I mean, during this time, I would say you still have to try to save 20%. And if you have to cut back on the vacations on the eating out, I'm sorry about that. But this is a decision that you're making in the now that's going to have a huge impact down the road.

And it's really hard to think about Amy Wagner or Andy Shafer in 20 years. But if you are to cut back, which you're going to put into your 401(k), the future self is going to say, "What the heck? You've got nothing to show for that now." And retirement doesn't look as easy. So make sure that you are making these decisions based on the long term. It may mean sacrificing a little bit right now, but I'm telling you someday you're going to be glad you did.

Here's the Allworth advice. Your 401(k) may hold the largest portion of your nest egg, right, what you have to retire. We would say protect that at all costs. Coming up next, we're talking about reinvention, how it could give you a new outlook on your career, your money, your entire life. You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial here on 55KRC, THE Talk Station.

You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Steve Ruby. I love my job, but this year I am loving my job more than any year I can remember. And I have to give a lot of credit to that, to Julie Bauke, our good friend, Julie on the jJob. Julie, you and I last summer sat down and I said I love what I do but I feel like there's just something else. And you took me through this process.

And as a result of that, I'm now taking on my own clients. I'm now helping people face-to-face. I'm now doing an event that's for women, empowering women about money. And it all came from a conversation and a process that you and I started. And I think more and more people that I talk to are having this sort of mid-career crisis of, am I doing exactly what I want to do? This is what I've always done. But it's like there's this feeling that maybe they might need to or want to pivot. I'm feeling like it's not just me.

Julie: It's definitely not just you. And the first thing I think that's really important to get your mind around is, who says we were meant to do the same thing for 30 or 40 years? Where did that come from? And that's old thinking. And it comes from the '70s and '80s and before where getting on the career ladder and climbing until you're 60-something was seen as the only right way to do things. And so let's dispel that myth right away. Just like you're not meant to live the same life at 55 as you did at 25, you're not necessarily meant to have the same career. And so we've got to get away from the shame around that, that there's something wrong with me if I want to do something different.

And that I think is once you get your mind around that. And the beauty is younger people totally get this. Like, yeah, why would I? I mean, I'm changing. Why wouldn't my career change? And for people who are a little bit older, it's a little bit shocking. But at the same time, a lot of people who are older, if you talk to them, they're a bit envious of the pivoting and the moving and the trying new things that seem to come very naturally to their kids and grandkids. So there's nothing wrong with it. And I think that's the first thing we have to put our mind around.

Amy: You make a great point. It's sort of an old way of thinking. But I do think that if you are 20 years into your career, it can feel overwhelming the thought of starting over. Talk about the process that you can sort of take people through to figure out what can happen next. And I think a lot of people would also be kind of surprised at the fact that they can take what they learned in the first part of their career and pivot and still apply a lot of that to whatever the new thing is that comes on the radar.

Julie: So before I do that, I want to address this idea of mid-career. So if you're unhappy, you can pivot at 25, 35, 45, 55, even 60. And so it's when you get to a point where you say this isn't cutting it for me anymore, that's the time to really start to look at what is it that's not working for you. And in your case, Amy, and we'll use you as an example, you didn't make a 180 change. You didn't.

Amy: No.

Julie: And I think sometimes why we get overwhelmed is we think, "I have to completely do something entirely different." No, sometimes you do. Yes. But sometimes it's just doing what you're doing now in a little bit different way or in a different place. And so we get really overwhelmed by this idea of I have to throw the last 5, 10, 20 years away. Of course, you don't. You're going to build on that. You're still the same person and everything you've learned is going to help you move forward.

And so the first thing to do, really figure out. I think it's like the first thing you have to do is figure out why is what you're doing now not working. You've got to diagnose the problem. And, you know, I talk about my career happiness formula, and is it the work itself? Are you burnt out on the work itself? Is it the people, the environment that you're doing it in?

And yeah, so you've got to pinpoint why you're so unhappy. And sometimes it's simply you work for a person who makes your life miserable. Maybe it's a leadership issue. Or you like the company a lot but you're in the wrong job, or you like your job a lot but you're in the wrong company. And so you've got to really, really get specific about what it is that's not working for you. And then from there, figure out, if I fix this thing...or what could I add to my plate? If I fix this thing, what might that look like? Then you've got to go through this process of thinking about, okay, what could I change? And can I get...

Once you decide what you want more of, I say, always think about what do I want more of, less of, never again? Then the next question is, can you get it where you are? Maybe you're at a big company that you generally like, but it's time to do something different. So the question sometimes is...you know, the big question is, what do you want to figure out what's wrong? Can you fix it? Can you do something about it? And then tandem with that, what do I really want? What do I want more of, less of, never again? Then the big question is, can I get it where I am?

And for a lot of people, the answer is a lot of times yes. So it's not necessarily about throwing everything out and going out there like a new college grad and starting over. It's simply making a slight change. But sometimes you say, "You know what, I've been doing this for, you know, 20 years and I have a real passion to help women who are trying to get back into the workforce." And so maybe you develop that passion through community service, just as you've grown and seen the world.

And so sometimes, yes, it does require a complete change. And this is where it gets scary. But also remember, you don't have to do it all at once, but you do have to put together a plan to, in this case, let's say, learn about what are those options? How might my skills match up to those needs in the world? Do I want to join an existing organization? Do I want to start something myself? So you really can't make a change until you diagnose the issue and then figure out what does your new desire career-wise look like? Then it's a matter of going and finding it. And it doesn't happen overnight.

Amy: And I think for so many people, the problem is you do get to the point where you feel like, okay, maybe this isn't working anymore. But rather than diagnosing the true problem and then figuring out what would really fulfill you, people go straight to, "I'm just going to look at what other options are out there. I'm going to jump to something else and hope that whatever the new thing is, is going to be more fulfilling or more in line with what I want to do."

But when you skip the steps in the middle, it doesn't really work. For instance, we can talk about my situation. I felt like with all the media work that I do, I don't get to talk to people sort of face-to-face anymore. And so once you kind of led me through the process of figuring out what I want to do more of, and it was empowering people and empowering women and helping people make smart decisions with their...it was like once I had that list in front of my face, it was like, "Duh, I need to start meeting with people. I need to become an advisor." And so I spent the past year sort of in the process of being able to do that. And it was this huge aha moment to me that I would have never known if I hadn't done the process.

Julie: Right. And this process is scary because, first of all, no one ever taught us how to do it, and we are such self-doubters, all of us, even the person in the world who you think has the most confidence is generally also filled with some level of self-doubt and now, "Oh, I can't do that. That's for other people." But it's all you do.

So you think about it. This process, any career shift is an inside-out process. It starts with inside, who you are, what you want, etc., etc., out. But you're right. The "easiest" and I say easiest in air quotes because it generally doesn't end you up where you want to be, is to simply do something different. In other words, run from something to something. And chances are that is not going to...you're just going to continue to be miserable. And then you start to go, "Well, it's just me. This is me. Nobody wants me. Nobody will hire me."

When I hear a 55-year-old say, you know, "Nobody's gonna hire me," my eyes roll hard. Like, first of all, you know, you haven't done the work, just responding to ads or postings online or sending out a few resumes. It's like you're approaching the problem incorrectly. And so therefore, yeah, you aren't going to get much of an outcome. And you are going to then conclude that nobody wants to hire me. Well, why? Because I sent out 300 resumes and nobody responded. That is the dumbest way to do it. It just is. I mean, I've done this work for 25-plus years and I can tell you that is a really stupid way to do it, just sending out a bunch of resumes.

Amy: Julie, I love your process.

Julie: That's not how it happens.

Amy: Yeah, I love your process, right? Diagnose what really is the problem. Go through the steps of figuring out what do you love doing? What do you want to do less of? And then what do you want to do never again? And build a plan for moving forward based on those things, Julie on the Job. Always great advice for anyone thinking about a mid-career pivot or an early-career pivot or a late-career pivot. There are options. You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial here on 55KRC, THE Talk Station.

You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Andy Shafer. If you've got a financial question keeping you up at night, maybe you and your spouse aren't exactly on the same page, there's a red button you can click on while you're listening to the show. It's right there on the iHeart app. Record your question. It's coming straight to us. We'll help you figure it out.

And straight ahead, maybe you've got old gadgets, iPads, laptops, phones laying around your house. You can actually make a little money on that old tech. We'll tell you how. And I think one of the most interesting things, the most difficult things, I would say, that I see in the transition from working is that you've had this paycheck coming in for all these years since you've been working. All of a sudden, when you retire, you flip the switch. Paycheck is no longer coming in. You're now living off of that money that you've saved and invested. People can go in two different directions. A lot of times people want to curl up in the fetal position around that money and are afraid to spend it. Sometimes, and I would say this is a little more rare, it's like, "I'm not working anymore. I do have all this money," and they go off on a spending spree. If this sounds like any kind of a situation that you could be in in the future or now, let's talk about that.

Andy: Yeah, it's interesting. You know, when I meet people for the first time and a lot of time it's on the verge of retirement and they don't know exactly what their finances look like, how are we going to make it? Because when you are used to having a paycheck, retirement can be scary, and you're not alone. Everybody feels that way. And so what I usually tell people is, you know, my job, number one, is to help people, you know, make sure they don't run out of money. But number two, you know, the goal is to hopefully, figure out a way that you can enjoy the same standard of lifestyle that you did while you were employed. But number three, which is the most fun part of my job is maybe you can spend more.

And so, you know, a lot of times you've heard that you need 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income to maintain your standard of living later in life. But it's different for everybody. You know, I have some clients that spend $20,000 a year and I have others that spend $300,000 a year. There was a new study that came out that said, you know, you need about $1.5 million saved in order to enjoy a full retirement. Well, I think that's hogwash. I mean, it really depends on your situation and what you're spending. You know, once you get into retirement, you figure out exactly how you like to enjoy your life. And a lot of times that doesn't cost a lot of money. So it's really important to understand what your budget is and how much you're spending on a monthly basis.

Amy: I do think, and I've seen studies about this, that people assume they're going to spend less in retirement, at least initially. And I don't know if it's because you're going out on expensive lunches with your coworkers or you have a really expensive commute or maybe your dry cleaning bill, which I haven't taken clothes to the dry cleaners in like 10 years. But if all of those things are really expensive for you, you think it's going to be cheaper in retirement.

But I also then think about just from my perspective on weekends when I'm not working, I spend more money. You know, I've got more free time. I'm shopping, I'm traveling, I'm playing golf. I'm doing things with the kids. Like, those things cost more money. And, you know, so you do want to set yourself up for a situation where if that's what you want to do, you're going to be okay.

And it's not like a straight line in retirement. Your first several years, maybe when you're out of the workforce, you're feeling healthy, you're traveling more, you're doing stuff like that. Then maybe you kind of cut back on that stuff for a while. You're just not getting around as much as you used to. But then maybe healthcare expenses kick in. So, you know, you definitely want to set yourself up for the ability to spend what you need. But for those who think it's going to be cheaper in retirement, don't get yourself backed into a corner.

Andy: Yeah. And most people, when they retire, like you said, you know, they have all these travel goals in their minds or they want to travel to see their kids or grandkids, might be out of town and things like that. And while you have your health, maybe you are spending a little bit more, you know, for the first few years of retirement. So you want to make sure that you have a decent plan in place, you understand what your spending is going to look like over the years because it's not going to be linear. You are going to be spending more during different periods of your retirement and you just have to have a good plan in place so that you're not guessing.

Amy: And I think on the flip side, we've had people who we've said, "You can spend more." And one of my favorite stories, and this isn't someone that I work with, but someone who one of our colleagues works with, who said, "Not only can you travel more, you can now afford to travel first class, right? You've just been saving." So they're allowed to travel first class. And then a year later, that advisor gets a call and they say, "I've chartered a plane to take my family to Florida." It's like, "Oh, hold on, hold on."

Andy: Hey, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Amy: "We did not say charter a plane."

Andy: That's not what we meant.

Amy: "We said first class. Let's back up from this," right? You got to find your sweet spot and there's ways to do it, right? Keep budgeting. Make sure you're aware of what you can afford. But yeah, if you do like to travel, maybe you have kind of a fund on the side, sort of a rainy day fund, that can make a lot of sense, too. So you got to go into this understanding what your spending was before you retire and then make sure that you have saved enough that you can continue that spending into retirement. I mean, no one wants to be eating at Jeff Ruby's once a month now and then when you get to...which would be nice.

Andy: No, wait a second.

Amy: I'm not saying I'm doing that because I can't afford that. But for those who can or once a quarter or even once a year and now you're living on ramen noodles in retirement. Like, that's nobody's goal. So here's the Allworth advice. Knowing the dos and don'ts of spending in retirement ahead of time can actually save you a lot of anxiety later on that you didn't plan for.

Is your drawer filled with maybe old devices you don't use, need, you don't even know what to do with? Well, there could be some money to be made there. We'll talk about that next. You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial here on 55KRC, THE Talk Station.

You're listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial. I'm Amy Wagner along with Andy Shafer. Andy, I'm sure you get this. It's like, I don't know, you use that iPad all the time or AirPod with all the things, all the devices and then suddenly you need a new one. And what do you do with the old one? Sometimes you can trade them in. Sometimes that makes sense. But I don't think a lot of people know you can actually make money on some of that old tech.

Andy: Yeah, I mean, I was surprised to read about this. I'm not very tech-savvy.

Amy: Me neither.

Andy: I'm not a tech guy. I'm pretty old school. You know, I don't even have a smart home. I actually flip switches for the lights when they come on, you know, to bring...

Amy: You do? So do I.

Andy: Yeah, I prefer just getting up and doing it. But if you do have some technology, if you have old phones, laptops, smartwatches, those types of things, gaming systems. So, you know, I don't have kids. So, you know, I haven't played video games since I was a kid. But apparently, you can actually turn some of those in and gain a little cash. There are some sites like swappa.com, where you can go online and put those types of goods on the website and see if you can get a little bit money for them because there is a demand for them. So if you have those lying around, you might wanna look into things like that.

Amy: For teenagers in my home, you can walk into any one of their rooms and there's an old something coming out of a drawer, you know, a charger attached to something that hasn't been used in a couple of years. This is a way that you can make money.

And I also think, you know, when you're getting a new phone, and many times this whole planned obsolescence thing, it's so smart. It's like your phone works great for two years, and all of a sudden it's on the fritz. Your battery isn't working, you don't have storage anymore. You know, you turn that old phone in for a new phone, turns out, at least according to some of the experts, you could make more money. Not necessarily swapping that out for a new phone, but maybe selling it.

And if you're looking to buy one of these devices, and don't want to buy new, one of the benefits of buying it through some of these sites is that they've already made sure that these are actually working. So you're not paying for something that's not working at all, that's going to have issues. So if this is something that you have, right, lying around your house. It's like when you do spring cleaning. You know, if you're going to just make extra money or toss the stuff, it makes sense to make the extra money. So something to look into that maybe you've not thought about before. Just make sure you do your research, that these are reliable sites that you're working with.

Thanks for listening tonight. You've been listening to "Simply Money" presented by Allworth Financial, here on 55KRC. We are THE Talk Station.