Should I Do a "Free" Retirement Analysis?

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

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

💬 SHOW NOTES

In this episode, we explore the implications of the saying 'nothing is for free' in the context of retirement planning. Join Roger Whitney, a seasoned retirement planner, as he shares a heartfelt story from a listener, David, who exemplifies the spirit of 'rocking retirement.' Additionally, Roger tackles the critical question of whether to accept a free retirement analysis from brokers, discussing the potential costs and consequences involved. Tune in for insightful advice on navigating your retirement journey with confidence!

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

(00:00) Roger Whitney: This podcast is dedicated to helping you rock your retirement

ROCKIN’ RETIREMENT IN THE WILD

(01:06) David emailed in saying he and his wife are leaning into rocking retirement.

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

(03:00) Our title question today came from Phil- he wants to know if it is worth going through free retirement analysis.
(07:15) What are some of the cautions or things you want to understand about free retirement analysis?

LISTENER QUESTIONS

(13:37) Doug shares feedback about my Smart Sprint on being present.
(15:11) Rick says he'd like to simplify portfolio.
(19:30) Cliff sent in a question about stress testing your retirement plan.
(27:09) Dave has a question about moving a 401k to an independent advisor upon retirement.
(32:55) Bob asks which retirement plan should you use first: Social Security or savings.

SMART SPRINT

(38:10) In the next seven days, pay attention to “free” offers—whether it’s a retirement analysis, discount, or credit card perk—and notice the hidden costs or unintended consequences that may come with them.

REFERENCES

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The saying nothing is for free means that everything has a cost or a consequence, even if it's not immediately apparent.
0:09.3	Welcome to the show dedicated to helping you not just survive retirement, but to have the confidence, because you're doing the work, to really lean in and rock it.
0:20.0	My name is Roger Whitney. Welcome here. I am a practicing retirement planner
0:24.4	with over 35 years experience, founder of Agile Retirement Management. And we use this podcast
0:31.2	to noodle on how do we do retirement planning so that we can have the confidence to create a great life.
0:39.0	We call that rocking retirement.
0:40.7	That is the point of the exercise.
0:42.6	Sometimes we can get caught up in planning just for planning's sake, and we don't want to do that.
0:47.0	Today on the show, we're going to share a rocking retirement in the wild story from David.
0:53.8	In addition, we're going to answer our title
0:55.3	question, should I say yes to that free retirement analysis my broker's offering, in addition to a
1:03.5	number of your questions. All right. So let's get this party started.
1:30.1	So David emailed in and explained how he and his wife are leaning into rocking retirement. And I love stories like this. David says, I've been listening to your podcast for several years now. Retired in the end of 2022. One thing in particular,
1:36.0	we've worked at establishing is relationship with younger folks. We are blessed with a friendship with a young couple on staff at our church who have a young daughter. They were instrumental
1:41.2	in helping us feel welcome at our church, and the friendship went from there.
1:46.1	They took a job at the church in Florida recently and then learned that their mom has cancer.
1:51.0	My wife has been able to fly out to help them care for their little girl since we're so flexible at this point.
1:58.9	One exciting thing about our friendship with them is it's led to us
2:02.9	getting a position leading and teaching a new newlywed engaged Sunday school class.
2:09.8	We are excited about this challenge and opportunity. I want to thank you for your encouragement
2:13.8	and the ideas that open our mind to these things. The concepts of service and
2:19.2	passion and relationships were all things that I believe your podcast help me consider more
	...

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