The Once-a-Year Retirement Checkup (In Under 1 Hour)

In this video I walk through the annual retirement review I actually do. For most people, most years, it takes about an hour. I start with why "good enough" beats chasing the perfect plan, using the free Open Social Security tool to show how a whole range of claiming ages lands within a few percent of the "optimal" one.

Then I go step by step through the review: figuring out your spending, or your retirement paycheck, for the year, deciding your withdrawal order and whether to do Roth conversions, topping off your spending bucket from dividends, interest, and required distributions, checking your emergency fund, rebalancing, and re-running your plan.

I cover how to pick a tax target for the year, whether that is an ACA credit, an IRMAA bracket, or a tax bracket. I walk through the milestone years from 62 to 73, when Social Security, Medicare, and RMD decisions need extra attention. And I show which big life events actually call for a deeper look, and which headlines you can safely ignore.

Finally I open ProjectionLab to show how close the "optimal" tax strategy really is to a simple, good enough one. Get to a reasonable plan, then go enjoy your life.

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Using them supports the channel at no extra cost to you.

Resources: ProjectionLab (the retirement planning software I feature): https://go.robberger.com/projectionlab/yt-annual-review (If you subscribe to my newsletter, you'll find a 10% discount code in each email I send out)
Boldin (another retirement planning tool I mention): https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-annual-review
Open Social Security (the free claiming tool I demo): https://opensocialsecurity.com
Budget Apps: https://robberger.com/best-budgeting-apps

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0:00 Can you ever "set it and forget it" in retirement?
1:00 Why good enough beats optimal (a Social Security example)
3:20 Step 1: Your retirement paycheck for the year
4:09 Steps 2-3: Withdrawal order, Roth conversions, and your spending bucket
6:16 Steps 4-6: Emergency fund, rebalancing, and re-running your plan
8:10 Picking a tax target: ACA, IRMAA, or tax bracket
10:20 The milestone years (62 to 73)
12:09 Big life changes, and the noise to ignore
13:33 ProjectionLab: optimal vs. good enough
16:13 Updating your plan in software: balances, income, expenses, assumptions
18:34 The bottom line

ABOUT ME

While still working as a trial attorney in the securities field, I started writing about personal finance and investing In 2007. In 2013 I started the Doughroller Money Podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. I've since sold my websites, bought them back, and started a new website and this YouTube channel.

I'm also the author of Retire Before Mom and Dad--The Simple Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Financial Freedom (https://amzn.to/3by10EE)

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial adviser. These videos are for educational purposes only. Investing of any kind involves risk. Your investment and other financial decisions are solely your responsibility. It is imperative that you conduct your own research and seek professional advice as necessary. I am merely sharing my opinions.

*Disclosure*: Some of the links in this description are from partners who compensate us. This means — at no extra cost to you — I may earn money if you click and sign up for a product or open an account. This creates a financial relationship that may influence my recommendations, but I only recommend products and services I believe in and would recommend to my own mom. Advertisers have no control over my content. Read the full advertiser disclosure here: https://robberger.com/how-we-make-money/