RetirementRevised Mark Miller

The podcast is back this week with the first new episode since February.
I’m breaking my radio silence with a special guest. Jill Schlesinger reports on personal finance for CBS television and radio, and she’s the host of the very popular radio show Jill on Money. She has just published The Great Money Reset - Change your Work, Change your Wealth, Change Your Life, a book about how to re-think - well, everything in the wake of the pandemic.
I interviewed Jill for a recent New York Times story about starting a business later in life. That story was about how solo entrepreneurship can improve your retirement, by helping you delay a Social Security claim and saving and investing. These strategies are a central theme of Retirement Reboot.
Jill offered some wonderful insights about how to engineer a transition like that from a financial standpoint. But her book goes much wider than that. In this podcast interview, we discussed some of the transitions that have been meaningful in Jill’s own life, and I made sure to get some good financial tips that I hope you’ll find helpful.
I’ll be back with more podcast episodes later in the summer, and the newsletter will be arriving in your inbox periodically between now and Labor Day. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jill Schlesinger.
Click the player icon at the top of the newsletter to listen to our conversation.
Retirement Reboot: The podcast
Earlier this year, I produced a series of six podcast episodes focusing on the key themes of Retirement Reboot. It includes episodes on Social Security optimization, navigating Medicare, saving for retirement and more. You can find all six episodes here, or Apple Podcasts, Spotify or IHeart Radio.

What I’m reading
Social Security COLA for 2024 is estimated at 3.1% . . . Moving is a big task for many older Americans - these organizers can help . . . Thoughts from Steve Vernon on how to recession-proof your retirement.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit retirementrevised.substack.com

This week, the newsletter features the last episode of the Retirement Rebootcast - the special podcast series on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. 
Retirement Reboot is chock full of practical strategies for your retirement plan. But in the last chapter of the book, I argue that we also must pay attention to public policy on our key social insurance programs. And, I lay out my vision for expanding Social Security and pushing back against the growing privatization of Medicare - something I regard as antithetical to the very concept of social insurance.
My guests for this episode are two top experts on Social Security and Medicare who have a terrific sense of the historical trajectory of both programs. Judith Stein is the executive director and founder of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, one of the nation’s most important consumer protection and policy organizations working on Medicare. Nancy Altman is president of Social Security Works, which advocates for protection and expansion of Social Security. Nancy is one of the most knowledgeable people in the United States on Social Security. She is the author of several authoritative books on Social Security, and she serves on the Social Security Advisory Board, a nonpartisan federal agency that advises the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security.
I invited Judy and Nancy to join me for a discussion of social insurance - past, present and future. Click the player icon at the top of the newsletter to listen to the episode. You also can find the RetirementRevised.com podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The entire six-part podcast series is now online. I hope you’ve enjoyed all of these conversations with experts on key retirement topics, but in case you missed any of them, here are links to earlier episodes.
* Introduction: An overview of the book featuring a conversation with Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor for Marketplace, the public radio program. Chris wrote the foreward to Retirement Reboot.
* Let’s Make a Plan. Far too many people don’t take the time to make an actual financial plan for retirement – and that’s a real misstep.
* Optimizing Social Security. For most of us, Social Security will be the most important retirement benefit – full stop. Decisions about when to claim can make a big difference in your lifetime income.  
* Navigating Medicare. Along with Social Security, there’s nothing that will have a more important impact on your retirement security than making smart choices about navigating Medicare. The centrist thinking on social insurance reform that really isn’t
* Building Savings. Starting as early as possible is the name of the game when it comes to saving for retirement. But if you’re getting close to retirement and haven’t been able to save much, don’t despair: it is still possible to build significant savings late in the game.
* Toward a New Social Insurance Era. The argument for expanding Social Security, and for pushing back against the growing privatization of Medicare (today’s episode).

Beware the centrist arguments on Social Security reform
The Washington Post published an editorial this week laying out an approach to reforming Social Security and Medicare that typifies what passes for “centrist” thinking about these programs in Washington these days. It’s wrong in so many ways, but here are the most egregious elements that caught my eye:
* The Post seems to favor a behind-closed-doors "super-committee" tasked with proposing solutions for up or down vote. That’s just a way for lawmakers to avoid accountability - we need transparent, open debate on these issues so we know where each and every politician stands. The "super-committee" idea allows lawmakers to "hold hands and jump off the cliff together," as they like to say, making unpopular and unwarranted cuts to social insurance programs. Let's debate the issues in the ope

Hello, and welcome to the Retirement Reboot-cast. That’s what I’m calling this special podcast series on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The book was just published in January , so I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the show to talk about some of its key ideas. 
I wrote Retirement Reboot with a very particular group of readers in mind: people getting close to retirement who are not financially prepared. In other words, people who have not been able to save much -or anything - for retirement. They’re headed toward a retirement living only on Social Security, which typically replaces about 40% of their working income. Meanwhile, the rule of thumb is that most of us will need to replace at least 70% of our wage income when we retire.
The book offers a series of strategies for improving on that math. The key chapters discuss the importance of making a plan, timing your retirement and how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare. 
But on this episode, let’s talk about investing for retirement - even if you’re getting a late start. The chapter of Retirement Reboot that addresses this topic walks through a simple approach to saving for retirement, focused on very-low-cost passive index funds. And, it illustrates that it’s possible to accumulate a meaningful nest egg even if you’re playing catch-up. That’s because the goal line is not the day you retire - your investing and returns from it continue well into retirement. My guest is Christine Benz, director of personal finance at Morningstar, one of the premier companies for analysis and research on investing.
I chatted with Christine about investing basics like the importance of diversification and balance and keeping fees low. We also get into a few of the more advanced topics, such as asset location and safe withdrawal strategies.
Click on the player icon at the top of the newsletter to listen to the podcast. You can also find the program on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (search for “Retirement Revised”).
Listen to the Rebootcast series
Next week, I’ll be airing the last episode in this limited-edition series about my new book, Retirement Reboot. I hope you’ve enjoyed all of these conversations with experts on key retirement topics, but in case you missed any of them, here are links to earlier episodes.
* Introduction: An overview of the book featuring a conversation with Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor for Marketplace, the public radio program. Chris wrote the foreward to Retirement Reboot.
* Let’s Make a Plan. Far too many people don’t take the time to make an actual financial plan for retirement – and that’s a real misstep. If you don’t have a plan, it’s impossible to know whether you are on track to meet your goals. My guests are Steve Chen, the founder of New Retirement, and Steve Vernon, the well-known retirement educator and author.
* Optimizing Social Security. For most of us, Social Security will be the most important retirement benefit – full stop. Decisions about when to claim can make a big difference in your lifetime income. For this episode, I invited two of the most knowledgeable people I know on the topic of Social Security claiming. Mary Beth Franklin is a contributing editor at Investment News magazine, specializing in Social Security, Medicare and Retirement income. Bill Reichenstein is a professor of investment management at Baylor University, a co-founder of Social Security Solutions – a company that has developed a terrific set of online software tools that help individuals and financial professionals sort through claiming decisions. He is the co-author of a book titled Social Security Strategies: How to Optimize Retirement Benefits. 
*  Navigating Medicare. Along with Social Security, there’s nothing that will have a more important impact on your retirement security than making smart choices about nav

Welcome to the Retirement Rebootcast. That’s what I’m calling this special podcast series on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The book is out this month, so I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the show to talk about some of its key ideas. 
I wrote Retirement Reboot with a very particular group of readers in mind: people getting close to retirement who are not financially prepared. In other words, people who have not been able to save much -or anything - for retirement. They’re headed toward a retirement living only on Social Security, which typically replaces about 40% of their working income. Meanwhile, the rule of thumb is that most of us will need to replace at least 70% of our wage income when we retire.
The book offers a series of strategies for improving on that math. The key chapters discuss the importance of making a plan, timing your retirement and how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare. I also discuss strategies for building savings, even late in the game, and tapping home equity. From there, I go on to discuss managing your career late in the game, the value of professional advice, how to manage long-term care risk and how to approach the idea of aging in place. 
For this episode, let’s have a conversation about Medicare. Along with Social Security, there’s nothing that will have a more important impact on your retirement security than making smart choices about navigating Medicare. And this actually is a more complicated challenge than claiming Social Security. Medicare is a great program, and most seniors love it once they enroll. But the program has evolved over the last couple decades in ways I think are unfortunate. There has been an enormous amount of needless privatization of coverage, whether that’s the Part D prescription drug program, or Medicare Advantage, the commercial managed care alternative to traditional Medicare. 
In Retirement Reboot, I walk readers through my somewhat counterintuitive argument about the choice between traditional Medicare and Advantage. The Advantage program has been growing quickly in recent years, but I lay out reasons why you’re much better off in the traditional program - assuming you can afford the somewhat higher upfront premium costs.
For this episode, I invited two of the most knowledgeable Medicare experts I know to join me. Both played a critical role in helping to review and comment on the Medicare chapter of Retirement Reboot. My guests are Tricia Neuman, executive director of the Medicare program at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Fred Riccardi, president of the Medicare Rights Center. Kaiser is one of the most important, authoritative sources of research and information on health care in the U.S. And the Medicare Rights Center is a leading advocacy and consumer assistance organization.
This episode of the podcast runs a little longer than usual - around an hour. But I hope you’ll stick around for the entire conversation, because Tricia and Fred offer some terrific insights. We talked about the pitfalls to avoid when you first sign up for Medicare, the key differences between traditional Medicare and Advantage, how to pick a Medigap policy, where to get expert help with Medicare choices - and a whole lot more.
Click the player icon at the top of the newsletter to listen to the podcast. You can also find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (search for Retirement Revised).
Liked the book? Do me a favor - please review it!
If you’ve already read Retirement Reboot, please do me a small favor and review it on Amazon. You need not have purchased your copy at Amazon to leave a review there - and positive reviews are one of the most important factors driving in book sales. You can find the button to leave a review in the lower third of the Amazon page for Retirement Reboot.
A new Retirement Reboot excerpt
Morningstar published an excerpt from the ch

Welcome to the third edition of the Retirement Rebootcast! This is a special limited-edition podcast series focused on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The book is out this month, so I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the program to talk about some of its key ideas. 
I wrote Retirement Reboot with a very particular group of readers in mind: people getting close to retirement who are not financially prepared. In other words, people who have not been able to save much -or anything - for retirement. They’re headed toward a retirement living only on Social Security, which typically replaces about 40% of their working income. Meanwhile, the rule of thumb is that most of us will need to replace at least 70% of our wage income when we retire.
The book offers a series of strategies for improving on that math. The key chapters discuss the importance of making a plan, timing your retirement and how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare. I also discuss strategies for building savings, even late in the game, and tapping home equity. From there, I go on to discuss managing your career late in the game, the value of professional advice, how to manage long-term care risk and how to approach the idea of aging in place. 
For this third episode of the series, let’s have a conversation about how to get the most from Social Security. For most of us, Social Security will be the most important retirement benefit - full stop. Decisions about when to claim can make a big difference in your lifetime income. Especially for couples, there can be some interesting choices. Making smart choices has never been more important, especially because Social Security benefits are less generous than in the past. The gradual increases in the full retirement age put in motion by the reforms of 1983 are close to being fully phased in - and that effectively raises the bar on what it takes to generate income from the program.
For this episode, I invited two of the most knowledgeable people I know on the topic of Social Security claiming.
Mary Beth Franklin is a contributing editor at Investment News magazine, specializing in Social Security, Medicare and Retirement income. She’s been a financial journalist for more than 40 years, covering everything from federal budget and tax policies as a Capitol Hill reporter to consumer finances at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. One unusual twist for Mary Beth as a journalist - in 2015, she became a Certified Financial Planner in 2015. She is the author of “Maximizing Your Social Security Retirement Benefits.” 
William Reichenstein is a professor of investment management at Baylor University, a co-founder of Social Security Solutions - a company that has developed a terrific set of online software tools that help individuals and financial professionals sort through claiming decisions. He is the co-author of a book titled Social Security Strategies: How to Optimize Retirement Benefits. 
Along with claiming strategies, I asked Mary Beth and Bill to talk about Social Security's financial challenges and public worries about the program's future. We also talked about how Social Security might change in the years ahead.
Click the player icon at the top of the newsletter to listen to the podcast - or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (search for “Retirement Revised”).
The Retirement Rebootcast will have six episodes. Next week we’ll take a deep dive into navigating Medicare. My guests will be Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Fred Riccardi of the Medicare Rights Center.
Retirement Reboot in the news
In a new essay for Newsweek, I explain the possible cuts facing Social Security - and why we need to move in the opposite direction by expanding the program and shoring up its finances. This is adapted from the chapter of Retirement Reboot titled “Toward a New Social Insurance Era.” I a

Welcome to the second edition of the Retirement Rebootcast! This is a special limited-edition podcast series focused on my new book - Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. On this podcast series, I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the program to talk about some of its key ideas. 
The book’s official publication date is today - January 10th!
I wrote Retirement Reboot with a very particular group of readers in mind: people getting close to retirement who are not financially prepared. In other words, people who have not been able to save much -or anything - for retirement. They’re headed toward a retirement living only on Social Security, which typically replaces about 40% of their working income. Meanwhile, the rule of thumb is that most of us will need to replace at least 70% of our wage income when we retire.
The book offers a series of strategies for improving on that math. The key chapters discuss the importance of making a plan, timing your retirement and how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare. I also discuss strategies for building savings, even late in the game, and tapping home equity. From there, I go on to discuss managing your career late in the game, the value of professional advice, how to manage long-term care risk and how to approach the idea of aging in place. 
On this second episode, let’s talk about the importance of making a plan for retirement. It’s something far too many people don’t take the time to do - and that’s a real misstep. If you don’t have a plan, it’s impossible to know whether you are on track to meet your goals. A plan is not a crystal ball, but it provides a context, and a set of tools for decision-making. And it’s very important to approach the plan holistically - it’s about much more than saving and investing.
For this episode, I invited two experts to join me to help illustrate two important points from Retirement Reboot that I want to get across about planning. Steve Chen is the founder of New Retirement, an innovative low-cost online service that has developed a terrific set of planning tools. Steve’s company illustrates how planning isn’t just for the wealthy anymore. I also invited Steve Vernon to join me. Steve is an actuary, and a retirement educator and author. He’s a leader in developing holistic approaches to planning - he’s joining us here to explain why too many people confuse investing and planning, and why a holistic focus is essential.  
Click the player icon the hear the podcast - or listen to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Retirement Rebootcast will have six episodes. Next week we’ll take a deep dive into getting the most out of Social Security. My guests will be two of the most knowledgeable Social Security experts in the United States - Mary Beth Franklin of Investment News, and Bill Reichenstein, cofounder of Social Security Solutions and an emeritus professor of finance  at Baylor University.
Retirement Reboot in the news
The New York Times ran an excerpt from Retirement Reboot last weekend. It was adapted from the chapter on the value of financial planning advice . . . I joined Christine Benz and Jeff Ptak for a conversation about the book on the Morningstar podcast The Long View . . . And, I chatted with Marc Miller, host of the Career Pivot podcast, about broad themes of Retirement Reboot.
Join me for an interactive workshop on retirement planning
I’ll be discussing Retirement during an interactive, online workshop on January 24th. I hope you’ll join me!
The 90-minute workshop, hosted by Bookends University, will offer practical strategies for improving your retirement prospects, even if your savings are meager and retirement is looming! It will draw from material in Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track.
We’ll walk through core decisions to make now to improve retirement outcomes, including
* T