Planning for Single Retirees — Part 1: Why Retirement Is Different When You're Solo
Big Picture Retirement®
Devin Carroll
4.7 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most retirement advice is designed for married couples. But planning for retirement when you're single comes with a very different set of risks and decisions.
In this first episode of a five-part series, we explain why retirement planning changes when there's no spouse to share income, benefits, caregiving, or decision-making. We define what "single" really means in retirement, explore the lack of financial and personal backup, and outline how this affects Social Security, taxes, investment risk, long-term care, and estate planning.
This episode isn't about tactics. It's about mindset. When you're planning alone, the goal isn't perfection. It's resilience. In Part 2, we begin with Social Security, the foundation for many single retirees.
Although this show does not provide specific tax, legal, or financial advice, you can engage Devin or John through their individual firms.
📍Contact Devin's team at https://carrolladvisory.co/podcast1
📍Contact John's team at https://www.rossandshoalmire.com/
If you're thinking, "I love the Big Picture Retirement podcast!" please consider rating and reviewing this show! This helps us support more people -- just like you -- move toward a confident retirement. Just scroll down to the "ratings and reviews" section, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. We add new content every week, and if you're not following, you'll likely miss out. Follow now!
Don't miss the Big Picture Retirement Planning Cheat Sheet. We've distilled the essential brackets, thresholds, and rules of retirement into an easy-to-digest, three-page summary. https://www.carrolladvisory.com/pl/2148282517
Want to ask Devin or John your question? Just visit https://www.bigpictureretirement.com/ and click on the "Ask A Question" menu selection.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Big Picture Retirement Show does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. |
| 0:04.3 | Listeners are encouraged to seek out their own advisors in these areas. |
| 0:11.0 | Hey, everyone, welcome to The Big Picture Retirement Show. |
| 0:13.8 | I'm your host, Devin, joined by my co-host, John Ross. |
| 0:17.5 | Howdy. |
| 0:18.5 | John, this is not the first episode we've released in 2026, but it is the first episode that we've recorded in 2026. |
| 0:27.5 | It is. |
| 0:28.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:28.6 | We made it through the holidays. |
| 0:31.0 | And to all the listeners, they can, you know, they can get on social media or whatever and give a shout |
| 0:39.3 | out to Devin who can now make catch-up contributions. That's right. I turn 50. Yes, that |
| 0:46.1 | was fun. And, you know, what a, what a great year to, right at the beginning of 2026, I'm hitting |
| 0:53.1 | one of those big milestone ages. And, you know, |
| 0:55.7 | I was thinking about this the other day, John, and I thought about you. And I thought, I'll bet John |
| 0:59.8 | has done this for years, that as you're thinking about your New Year's resolutions, that you have |
| 1:05.9 | a word of the year. A word of the year. Yes, a word of the year. So tell us, tell us all for 2026, what is your word of the year? I have no idea what you're talking about, right? All right. Well, I didn't either, but I'm sitting around talking to my daughter, who's 20, Lauren, and she said, so, dad, what's your word of the year? What are you talking about, Lauren? I've never heard of this word of the year. She goes, oh, it's kind of your godstone for the year. It's that one anchoring word that is going to guide your entire year and your entire year is going to be about this word. Well, I don't know. I'm going to have to think about that. But then I thought, |
| 1:44.6 | I bet John does that, though. I bet he has a word of the year. I do not have a word. And as I think about it, I don't know what my word would be. I'd have to give that some thought. I have to ponder it. Yeah, if I just think about it, right, right off, it's going to be, let's just survival. Right. Let's just survive another year. |
| 2:04.2 | But no, I don't think I have a word of the year either, although I did set some new goals for the year. |
| 2:10.6 | And I love setting new goals at the beginning of the year. And people are divided on this. Some people will say, |
| 2:15.2 | why set New Year's resolutions or goals or whatever you call them? |
| 2:19.1 | That's just silly. But I've always found that the beginning of the year is an excellent time to hit |
| 2:22.9 | that reset button to review what did I accomplish in the last year. What am I going to accomplish in |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Devin Carroll, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Devin Carroll and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.