Building Agile Retirement Goals

Retirement Answer Man

Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, RMA, CPWA®

Education, Investmentmanagement, Saving, Self-improvement, Careerplanning, Retirement, Business, Lifeplanning, Investing, Retirementplanning, Financialplanning, Retirementpodcast

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Roger Whitney continues his four-week series on retirement goal setting, focusing on the importance of building agile retirement goals. He emphasizes creating the right conditions for discovering what you truly want in retirement, rather than fixating on specific desires. Roger shares insights on self-discovery, the anatomy of goals, and the significance of establishing a solid foundation for a fulfilling retirement. Tune in to learn how to navigate your retirement journey with confidence and purpose!

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

(00:00) This week Roger talks about building agile retirement goals.

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

(03:10) The intent is to build goals that are more meaningful to you so you can rock retirement.
(07:00) How do you set goals that are meaningful to you in an agile way?
(07:39) You want to start with self-discovery and establishing or revisiting your values.
(09:53) Focus on creating conditions to explore your values and build a life where fulfillment naturally follows.
(13:43) You have to experiment to determine what is right for you.
(18:30) Roger talks about the anatomy of a goal, specifically low stakes goals that maximize optionality in retirement planning.
(21:08) Roger talks about high stakes goals.
(25:04) Low-stakes goals help you experiment, make confident decisions, and discover what truly supports a fulfilling retirement.

LISTENER QUESTIONS

(27:30) Roger answers Melissa’s questions about rolling over an IRA without penalty and whether to trust a flat-fee fiduciary firm that offers to manage her accounts.
(33:06) Greg asks Roger to revisit healthcare before Medicare.
(34:17) Rob asks about deferring Social Security to age 70 and whether he still receives COLA increases in addition to the 8% delayed retirement credit.
(36:03) Chris asks about using only a total world stock and bond index for his portfolio.
(40:20) Roger advises keeping a local contingency fund so you always have accessible cash and don’t feel “cash poor.”

SMART SPRINT

(43:20) Go back to your retirement goals and the plan you’ve put together. Look at them through the lens of our recent discussion

RESOURCES

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I think we spend too much time thinking about what we want in retirement instead of creating
0:05.1	the conditions to discover it.
0:10.7	Welcome to the show dedicated to helping you not just survive retirement, but to have the confidence
0:16.1	to lean in and rock it.
0:20.0	My name is Roger Whitney.
0:22.0	I'm going to hang out with you today on week two of a four-week series on better
0:27.1	retirement goal setting.
0:29.9	Last week, we talked about the paradox of knowing what you want.
0:33.8	This week, we're going to talk about building agile retirement goals.
0:37.5	Next week, we're going to talk about how to navigate those goals once you start the journey.
0:41.8	A little inside baseball in case you care.
0:43.8	I think it's helpful to know of how we come up with these series.
0:47.6	Sometimes they're suggested by you or someone like you.
0:51.0	Last week we had someone suggest, hey, can you redo another series on
0:55.5	health care before Medicare, which is a great idea, by the way, because we haven't done one
1:00.3	in a number of years. And lots of changed. So we have that on the docket. Oftentimes,
1:07.2	it's because I am curious about a portion of the process of retirement planning because we do
1:14.5	this every day for a living and we teach it in the club. And I want to go to the balcony, as they say,
1:19.7	and get some perspective on a particular part of the process, in this case, retirement goals.
1:24.9	And normally when I do that, what I'll do is I will start reading a little
1:29.0	bit on the topic and I will journal on the topic incorporating what I read, incorporating my
1:35.6	perspective on the countless conversations one-on-one or in the club or with clients on setting
	...

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