Retirement Starts Today

Very helpful podcast, and nice that the format is concise. I think I am reasonably sophisticated and still get a lot out of it. Ben recently noted that some people who save a lot and who are a bit risk averse end up layering protection on top of protection, and ultimately overdo the risk mitigation thing. This was a super-helpful insight that allowed me to improve my own financial plan.

Benjamin promotes flexible spending using the Guyton-Klinger. He suggests the risk as being basically a one time 10% cut in spending, while allowing a 5% or more initial SWR. However, a January 2000 retiree with a 60/40 portfolio would face four 10% cuts with the first 10 years, resulting in a 35% reduction in spending. That’d be OK if your basic needs represent 65% of your spending at the start of retirement (and you’re OK with potentially that much spending variation); but I’ve never heard him provide this warning. His other content is good - thus, not giving it one star. But this one omission is pretty serious in my mind.

Hoping that the target audience for this podcast extends beyond super savers. As the offspring of super savers I promise you that they get a lot of things wrong. Life is too unpredictable to be obsessive about saving. I appreciate the information in this podcast so much. I strike a balance between just enjoying life and saving for the future.

Contacted his firm through his website and my contact info was sent to another company. Called the customer service number to find out why my contact information was forwarded to a different company and person. Who knows maybe it’s a scam- maybe he is not accepting new clients. Never heard back. At minimum I should have received a call back or explanation as to why my contact information was forwarded to an unaffiliated company. Poor customer service in my opinion. I won’t be contacting them again or listening to any further podcasts.