Social Security expert starts phased retirement

It comes time to lower the curtain — at least part way — on my second act.

I’ve been a journalist for more than 40 years, usually writing about money, from big picture economic policy issues as a Capitol Hill reporter to consumer-focused financial guidance at Kiplinger’s magazine, and finally as an adviser to advisers on Social Security, Medicare and all-things retirement-income related.

I launched my final career phase as a weekly columnist for InvestmentNews in 2012. Along the way, I completed the certified financial planner program in 2013 and was approved to use the CFP designation in 2015 after the CFP Board of Standards expanded its experience requirements so financial journalists like me could qualify.

Last month, I was honored when InvestmentNews presented me with a Trailblazer award in recognition of my efforts to change the conversation about retirement income planning and to encourage more women and minorities to pursue careers as financial advisers in an effort to serve a more diverse client base.

I look back on my 11 years as a contributing editor at InvestmentNews with pride and satisfaction. By my count, I have written more than 500 weekly columns. My tenure here has also included writing cover stories, hosting podcasts and webinars, and appearing at InvestmentNews sponsored events, including the annual Retirement Income Summit and periodic Women Adviser Summits.

In reviewing my earlier columns, I am happy to say that my mission of sharing the Secrets of Social Security, which was the headline on my initial column published on Jan. 16, 2012, has not only stood the test of time, but has flourished thanks to the ongoing questions from readers who have inspired my columns over the years. They had questions, I found answers, and we all learned something in the process.

HOW AND WHEN TO CLAIM

“Even for the typically affluent clients of financial advisers, informed decisions about how and when to claim Social Security benefits can mean thousands of extra dollars a year, and tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime,” I wrote in that first column.

“The more you learn about Social Security, the more your clients will thank you,” I concluded. “I also suspect that prospective clients, who may be shopping for an adviser as they prepare to retire, may be equally impressed by your grasp of this very important subject.”

While my initial focus was, and remains, educating financial advisers about various Social Security claiming strategies to maximize their clients’ retirement income, I have also covered crucial rules about Medicare enrollment and costs, tax-efficient retirement drawdown strategies, and consumer behavior regarding retirement saving and spending.

EMOTIONAL ASPECTS

I also delved into the more emotional aspects of retirement, reporting on numerous studies that stress retirement is not just about how you spend your money, but how you spend your time.

“The majority of retirees — 55% — defined retirement as a whole new chapter filled with new choices, freedoms and challenges across interconnected areas of their lives: health, family, purpose and finance,” according to The Four Pillars of the New Retirement, a joint research project by Edward Jones and Age Wave that I wrote about in August 2020.

I hope to experience some of those new freedoms and choices for myself as I switch from writing a weekly column to a monthly column starting in January. Writing 12 columns a year rather than 50 should leave me more time to pursue leisure activities, like travel and pickleball, and respond “I’d love to” rather than “I’m too busy” to impromptu invitations from friends.

But semiretirement will bring its own challenges. My husband and I have saved for this phase of life over our whole careers, but we have yet to crack our nest egg as my continued income, his pension and our Social Security benefits have been more than enough to support our lifestyle. We paid off our mortgage and funded some major household upgrades, like a new HVAC and water heater, while I could still rely on a healthy paycheck. Scaling back to a reduced income and tapping some of our investments will be an adjustment — something that most retirees face. Hopefully, that will give me new insights about spending in retirement that I can share with my readers in future columns.

I first wrote about what it was like to live with a retired husband in 2014 in a series of articles that I dubbed “dispatch from the retirement front.” Now I get to write about my own journey.

That’s the good news. I’ll continue writing a monthly column for InvestmentNews. I’m counting on readers to send me their questions, which have inspired my columns for more than a decade and will continue to do so in the future. You ask. I’ll answer. And perhaps we will all learn something new.

(Questions about new Social Security rules? Find the answers in Mary Beth Franklin’s 2022 ebook at MaximizingSocialSecurityBenefits.com.