1931: The New Rules of Retirement Planning. What Actually Matters Today
So Money with Farnoosh Torabi
Farnoosh Torabi
4.7 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we’re talking about the future. Not just retirement as a number on a spreadsheet, but retirement as a real phase of life—one that we’re all heading toward, whether we’re just opening our first 401(k) or already counting down the years.
My guest is someone I’ve turned to for guidance for decades. Christine Benz is the Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning at Morningstar, and if you’ve ever read a smart, clear-headed piece about investing, portfolio strategy, or retirement readiness, chances are her work shaped it.
Christine has helped millions of investors make sense of their money at every stage of life—but especially at the moment when the stakes feel highest: figuring out how to turn what you’ve saved into a sustainable, meaningful retirement. She’s also the author of How to Retire, a deeply practical and human guide that goes far beyond the math to tackle the emotional, lifestyle, and health realities of aging.
In this conversation, we’re digging into what retirement planning looks like right now: after a long market run, amid persistent inflation concerns, longer lifespans, and big questions around Social Security, healthcare, and caregiving. We talk about safe withdrawal rates, de-risking portfolios, how women need to plan differently, and why flexibility—not perfection—is the real secret to retiring well.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So many episode 1931, the new rules of retirement planning. What actually matters today? |
| 0:08.0 | You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru Farnush Torabi. Each day, get a 30-minute |
| 0:14.3 | dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from |
| 0:20.1 | Farnoose yourself. |
| 0:22.1 | Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons? |
| 0:25.8 | Sorry, you're in the wrong place. |
| 0:28.1 | Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. |
| 0:31.5 | Welcome to So Money. |
| 0:34.3 | It's the elephant in the room in retirement planning, and there's so much confusion about long-term care, what it is, who covers it. |
| 0:43.9 | The biggest misperception is that this is something that's part of Medicare, the Medicare system. |
| 0:49.0 | It is not. |
| 0:50.1 | It's all sorts of care that we might need if, for reason we're unable to care for ourselves to take showers on our own or dress ourselves or feed ourselves or make food, what are called the activities of daily living. |
| 1:06.2 | If we're not able to do them and we need that we need care to help us do those things. That type of care is |
| 1:13.2 | not covered under Medicare. And so people need to make a plan for confronting that level of care. |
| 1:22.3 | Welcome to So Money, everybody. I'm Farnage Tarabi. Today we're talking about our futures, |
| 1:29.7 | not just retirement as a number on a spreadsheet, but retirement as a real phase of life, one that we're all hopefully heading |
| 1:36.0 | toward, whether we're opening up our first 401ks or already counting down the years. My guest is |
| 1:42.5 | someone I've turned to for guidance for decades. Christine Benz is the director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar. And if you've ever read a smart, clear-headed piece about investing, portfolio strategy, or retirement readiness, chances are her work shaped it. Christine has helped millions of investors make sense of their money |
| 2:02.9 | at every stage of life, but especially at the moment when the stakes feel highest, figuring out how to |
| 2:09.1 | turn what you've saved into a sustainable, meaningful retirement. She's the author of how to retire, |
| 2:16.1 | a deeply practical and human guide that goes far beyond the math to tackle the emotional lifestyle and health realities of aging. |
| 2:24.8 | In our conversation, we dig into what retirement planning looks like today. |
... |
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