Process Over Panic: What You Should Pay Attention To

Retirement Answer Man

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

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

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

💬 Show Notes

In this episode, we wrap up our series on Process Over Panic by focusing on what truly deserves your attention in retirement planning. Plans change, life surprises us, and retirement is unpredictable. But a solid planning process — one you revisit and refine — will help you rock retirement. Join us for an insightful discussion that includes practical advice, personal anecdotes, and answers to listener questions.

SUMMARY OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

(00:00) In this episode, we wrap up our Process Over Panic series by focusing on what truly deserves your attention in retirement planning. Inspired by Eisenhower’s quote — “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything” — we explore why your process, not your plan, is what will carry you through retirement with confidence.

ROCKIN’ RETIREMENT IN THE WILD

(01:50) Roger shares a heartfelt retirement message through a set of creative prompts sent by a client

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

(03:40) What should you pay attention to?
(04:50) When you are doing retirement planning, you are planning for the future- something totally unpredictable.
(06:31) What deserves your attention in retirement planning?
(08:04) What is the intent of retirement planning?
(09:13) What are the obstacles to achieving our intent?
(13:10) Roger talks about how his experience in retirement planning gives him confidence.
(13:50) The Four Pillars of Retirement Planning help to build a flexible map for retirement.
(17:58) Roger explores the concept of the “Retirement Plan of Record” as a living document—not a one-time decision. Just like in relationships, decisions made once can lose their relevance over time if not revisited and reinforced.
(19:25) Roger goes back through the Four Pillars to talk about how often you should revisit them.
(24:10) Real-life reactions can reveal mismatches between theory and reality.
(25:06) Roger recommends compartmentalizing your retirement planning.

LISTENER QUESTIONS

(27:30) John says he didn’t like how Roger said “don't follow your retirement plan” in a recent episode.
(29:07) Steve asks a question about asset allocation.
(31:03) Steven asks which retirement certification to look for in a retirement advisor or coach.
(33:02) Anonymous listener says they're looking to purchase financial management software that is secure and does good analysis.
(34:41) Susan asks about Medicare penalties and health insurance while still employed after age 65.

SMART SPRINT

(37:30) In the next seven days, I want you to schedule your retirement planning meetings for the rest of the year.

BONUS

(38:33) Roger reads from his grandfather’s WWII journal.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

The Retirement Collective: Shared Wisdom From Top Retirement Coaches- Retirement Coaches Association

FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Plans are useless, but planning is essential.
0:04.3	Dwight D. Eisenhower.
0:09.0	Welcome to the show dedicated to help you not just survive retirement, but to have the confidence to lean in and rock it because you're focused on the right things.
0:20.4	So today we are finishing up this series on process over panic.
0:25.7	And it really is more of a series on process, focusing on the controllables.
0:31.5	And today we're going to talk about what deserves your attention.
0:40.9	Now, doing this, I'm going to do this verbally and talk through what deserves your attention. Now, doing this, I'm going to do this verbally and talk through what deserves your attention in your retirement planning process. But on June 5th, we're going to
0:46.0	have a live meetup online. We're all be able to work through and show you a process that we use
0:53.5	anyway that we think makes sense for retirement planning.
0:57.8	And visuals always help.
0:59.1	So if you would like to attend that or get the replay, you can go to live with roger.com and join us on June 5th.
1:08.4	Now, if you can't attend still, and you want to see it, still register
1:12.7	and we'll send you the replay. In addition to that, we're going to invite you to join the Rock
1:19.3	Retirement Club, where I teach you step by step how to create your plan, and I give you all
1:25.2	the tools to do so, and a lot of support from the community.
1:29.1	So you can check that out at Live With Roger.com. So today we're going to go through
1:34.9	rocking retirement in the wild. Then we're going to talk about what deserves your attention.
1:39.7	And then we're going to answer some of your questions. I think that's a good plan. So let's get
1:43.2	started.
1:55.1	A few weeks ago, I got an email from a client whose spouse was retiring and she was throwing a retirement party, and she had these cards, even though we couldn't attend in person because they live across the
2:02.5	country as a client. But she asked me if I would fill them out. I'd reply and answer the questions,
2:08.1	and she would fill it out so she could share it with her husband. And the cards had some prompts
	...

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