Eating out might be digging a hole in your pocket– and you probably have no idea

Eating out might be digging a hole in your pocket– and you probably have no idea

If you guess how much you spend on eating out each month, chances are you’ll greatly miss the mark.

Adults tend to underestimate how much they spend eating out by more than twice what they’re actually spending.

This can be significant. So why is there such a disparity between how much we "think" we spend, and how much we actually spend? How do we close the gap? 

Dogs: A Retiree’s Best Friend

Dogs: A Retiree’s Best Friend

Transitioning from a lifelong career into retirement is exciting. It can also be disorienting. The structure, schedule, and sense of purpose that once shaped your days are suddenly gone, replaced by open time that doesn’t always feel as freeing as expected. Without something to anchor it, that freedom can quickly turn into a lack of direction. So the question becomes: what will take its place? For a growing number of retirees, the answer starts with adopting a dog.

Utilizing Skills for a Fulfilling Job in Retirement

Utilizing Skills for a Fulfilling Job in Retirement

Many seniors head into retirement dreaming about an "endless vacation." 

But if you're retiring around age 65, you're hopefully looking at 20 or 30 years of retirement.

That's more than a vacation. It's an entire third act of your life.

And we all know that no matter how great a vacation is, when it's over, we're ready to go back home, back to our normal routines, back to our friends and family, back to ...

Work?

Let's discuss how redefining what work means in retirement can be more fulfilling than stopping work altogether.

Getting the Most ROL from Your Smile

Getting the Most ROL from Your Smile

As Life-Centered Financial Planners, we always want your finances to bring a smile to your face. 

But for most seniors, it's your spending that's going to "smile" as you age through the Go-Go, the Slow-Go, and the No-Go years of retirement. 

That's because spending, like life, doesn't progress in a straight line. At every stage of retirement, your needs are going to change, your goals are going to change, and your perspective on the future is going to change. It's important that you have a spending plan that's capable of supporting you today while also preserving your long-term financial security. 

And it's also important that you avoid two potential pitfalls of the spending smile: spending too much too early in retirement or being too afraid to spend and really enjoy your retirement every step of the way. 

Here's what to expect from the three stages of retirement and some tips on how to keep "smiling" across your whole Lifeline.