How to Retire – Christine Benz

The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

There’s a lot more to retirement than financial planning. If you’re planning for retirement and thinking about how to retire, you’ll need to consider both sides of the equation. The new book by Christine Benz, How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement, leverages insights from 20 experts on the financial and non-financial aspects of retirement planning.

Christine Benz joins us fro the Chicago area.

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Bio

Christine Benz is the author of How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement. She is Morningstar’s Director of Personal Finance, a position she has held since early 2008. In that capacity, she writes and edits a monthly newsletter, Practical Finance, which advises do-it-yourself investors on every aspect of the financial-planning process. She also writes a weekly column, “Improving Your Finances,” on Morningstar.com, and was the creator of Morningstar’s “The Short Answer” column, which is geared toward investors just starting out. She is widely quoted in the media, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and MarketWatch, and has been a frequent guest on CNBC, PBS’ Nightly Business Report, and Fox Business News.

Since joining Morningstar in 1993, Christine has been a central part of Morningstar’s effort to deliver quality financial investment information to Morningstar’s 6 million-plus clients. As an analyst and editor, she has served as Morningstar’s director of mutual fund analysis. Prior to assuming that position, she was editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds and Morningstar FundInvestor. Christine co-authored the company’s first book, “The Morningstar® Guide to Mutual Funds: 5-Star Strategies for Success,” a national bestseller published by John Wiley & Sons in 2003, and was the lead author of the book’s second edition. Christine’s book, “Morningstar’s 30-Minute Money Solutions,” provides readers with the necessary guidance in tackling money challenges and building a comprehensive financial plan in easy-to-manage increments.

Christine holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian/East European studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Greg. She is an avid cook, a political junkie, and a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan.

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For More on Christine Benz

How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement

Morningstar

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD

The Power of Reinvention – Joanne Lipman

The Retirement Savings Time Bomb – Ed Slott

Happier Hour – Cassie Holmes, PhD

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Mentioned in This Podcast Episode

The Key Decisions for Retirement Success – Wade Pfau

What Are The Keys To A Successful Retirement? Fritz Gilbert

Taking Stock – Dr. Jordan Grumet

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Wise Quotes

On Purpose in Retirement

“Definitely get your in retirement bucket list for keeping yourself entertained and happy. But ideally you would also have some things that are giving you a sense of purpose, some things that you’re relaxing from. And I think most of us, even while we’re working, have reference points for this, that the vacation that you had after that time when you were really, really busy is just all the sweeter because you feel like you really earned it. And I think the same holds true in retirement, that if you can bring that balance, that sense of your accomplishing things, and it doesn’t really matter what it is…It’s very individual specific, but just something that is purpose that is not pure relaxation, I think you’ll enjoy your relaxation that much more. ”

On Sabbaticals and Phased Retirement

“Laura Carstensen in the book, she’s a researcher at Stanford. I love that conversation that she and I had, but I also love her body of research because it’s about real human beings. But her point is that working is good for us actually – working in some fashion. She says that the way we work in this country is all wrong, that you have people who come to retirement, they’re just so burned out, they’re dragging. And her point is that, ideally, we would find a way to take breaks, even prior to retirement, where we’re giving ourselves a little bit of breathing room, and we’re giving ourselves a chance to maybe experiment with different activities. So I think that one key way to confront longevity is to continue to consider phasing into retirement. Working longer in some fashion is just so beneficial for your plan financially. It’s hard to untangle the connection between health and working longer, but it does appear that healthier people work longer, for sure, and healthier people live longer. So it’s all intertwined.”

On Creating a New Structure in Retirement

“I would just use kind of a calendar experiment. Every Sunday I look in on my calendar for the week ahead and see what I have coming up. And, you have some things where you’re like, Yes, that looks like a good day. I’ve got a meeting with this person I really enjoy meeting with, and maybe some other activities that I really enjoy. Or maybe it’s just like a totally open day, where you say, Okay, that’s just sort of a chance for me to do whatever it is you do. And then you have other things on your calendar where you’re like, Oh, God! And maybe you have three or four days of that stuff where you just kind of filled with dread. So start either making a physical list or a mental list where you’re taking note of how you feel about those different work experiences. What you want to try to do is cast off those ones that are giving you that sense of dread. And find a way to bring forward and accentuate the things that you really enjoy… So I would say it begins well before you even start seriously thinking about retirement, just think about the substance of your work, [and} what you like [and] what you don’t like.”

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About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. He’s an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.4 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference.