Transition to Retirement: Creating a plan for Success

NCPD 111 / 20986

NCPD 111/20986

Course Syllabus – Spring 2015

Non-credit/face-to-face format

 

Instructor:  Kimberlee Barrett-Johnson, CFP;  kab3a@virginia.edu or kimberlee@barett-johnson.net;  434-296-6611 (o) (434-760-0829 (m)

 

Instructor Bio:  Kimberlee Barrett-Johnson is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner who earned an MA from the University of Virginia in ethics, theology and culture before entering the financial planning profession.  She has a specialization in philanthropic planning and was the founding President of the Charlottesville Area Planned Giving Council.  Past president of the Central Virginia Estate planning council and active on several boards, Kimberlee has more than 22 years of experience providing comprehensive wealth management services to individuals and families and has helped dozens of families with the transition to a confident retirement.  She is president of Barrett-Johnson and Associates, a private wealth advisory practice affiliated with Ameriprise.
 

Dates/Times:  Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, February 24-March 17

 

Location: UVa Darden Graduate School of Business, Room 40

                       

Course Description:  Some are calling retirement the new American Dream – do you have a plan for achieving it?  How much money will you need?  Where will you be living?  What will you be retiring to?  These questions and much more will be addressed in this hands-on workshop where students will be mapping out their retirement vision and future based on their own actual information such as social security and pension estimates and investment balances.  Topics will include strategies for maximizing social security income, pension options, tax considerations, annuities, and basic insurance and estate planning considerations at retirement.  Students will walk away better equipped with the skills necessary to plan for a successful and smooth transition to the retirement years.

 

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes:  Participants will clarify their retirement vision and gain increased clarity and confidence about their options and actions for strengthening their likelihood of a successful retirement experience.  Students will put into writing their vision for retirement; will identify their guaranteed sources for income (pensions and social security) and match those with their essential expenses; identify sources to help cover lifestyle expenses, and identify whether there is a gap and what amount of additional investment or savings is needed to bridge the gap.  Students will be able to identify the relevant insurances/protection plans important during retirement, especially long term care insurance; will increase awareness of investment strategies for generating income; will gain an understanding of key elements of an estate plan leading up to and during retirement; and will gain an understanding of strategies for maximizing social security and pension income.  Participants will increase their readiness and confidence for transitioning to retirement successfully through a greater awareness of the tools, resources and important considerations related to retirement decisions.

 

Required/Recommended Texts:  Instructor will post recommended weekly readings and assignments.

 

Suggested texts, materials, helpful websites, etc.: Students should collect and bring to class the following documents—social security and pension estimates, retirement account balances, liability/mortgage balances and payments, estimated annual expenses at retirement apart from mortgage, information on insurance contracts (life, long term care) if applicable.

 

Additional resources for further study: the following is a partial listing of resources that interested students may find helpful.

 

Life After Work: Redefining Retirement by Douglas S Flectcher

 

What Color Is Your Parachute? For Retirement: Planning Now for the Life you Want by Richard N. Bolles and John E. Nelson

Described as both a smorgasbord of retirement-related issues for the initiate  as well as a capstone for those who’ve already engaged substantively in planning for retirement, this book takes a holistic approach to life-planning after age 50 with many thought-provoking exercises designed to help you thoroughly and thoughtfully consider what will result in your happiness, prosperity and health.  Lots of thought-provoking exercises and wide array of information.  Renames ‘retirement’ as the Fourth Movement (making an analogy to a symphony) and challenges readers “who would want to be a retirement consumer when they could be a retirement adventurer?”

 

THE POWER YEARS: A user’s guide to the Rest of Your Life; Pursue your Dreams, Deepen Your   Relationships, Achieve Financial Freedom by Ken Dychtwald, PhD and Daniel Kadlec

 

Don’t Retire, REWIRE! 5 Steps to Fulfilling Work that Fuels your Passion, Suits Your Personality, and Fills Your Pocket by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners

 

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement wisdom that you won’t get from your financial advisory by Ernie J. Zelinski

Irreverent, full of practical wisdom and exercises to help you design a sustainable, satisfying life.  Not about the money, but about all the other stuff you need to plan for and contemplate in building your life-by-design.  Optimistic in tone, realistic in approach.  Full of humorous and thought-provoking quotes.

 

My Time: Making the Most of the Bonus Decades AFTER FIFTY by Abigail Trafford

Beautifully written, personal, witty and thoughtful exploration of terra incognita—the unknown territory of the new ‘healthspan’ of late adulthood.  The specific stories and examples of how she and others are navigating this new world of personal reinvention during the”bonus” decades after 50 are candid, thought-provoking and (often) inspiring.  Trafford raises phycho-dynamic issues that must be addressed, poses questions and avoid simplistic answers. She describes three key aspects/stages of re-orienting and re-inventing to create a successful experience with “My Time”: TRANSITIONING, which she characterizes as “Second Adolescence” (Getting There, Breaking Away, Transforming Loss, Dreaming), Seeking PURPOSE (Challenging Work, Giving Back, Expanding the Mind, Leaving a Legacy), and RELATIONSHIPS (Refreshing Friendships, Exploring Romance, Redefining Family, Confronting the Spiritual Crisis).  An enjoyable, engaging read made memorable by her excellent writing and specific stories.  Highly recommended.

 

Retire With a Mission: Planning and Purpose for the Second Half of Life by Richard G. Wendel MD, MBA

 

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Retirement Planning: Start Now, to have the retirement lifestyle you want! By Jeffrey J. Wuorio

 

The NEW RETIREMENT: The Ultimate Guide to The Rest of Your Life by Jan Cullinane and Cathy Fitzgerald

 

USA Today’s Retire Happy: What you can do NOW to Guarantee a Great Retirement by Richard Stim and Ralph Warner, NOLO Press 2008

 

WEBSITES

 

http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu

Lots of resources from psychologist M. Seligman on strength-based happiness and engagement, work-life balance, and various tools for families and individuals to help gain clearer life-direction and engagement.

 

https://www.ameriprise.com/global/sitelets/confident-retirement.asp?cid=ppc_100036

Resources for planning for a confident retirement from a financial planning company, including a 3 minute confident retirement survey you can take to identify your retirement readiness.

 

Class Instruction:  Class will be conducted lecture style with plenty of opportunity for questions and answers and with a focus on providing resources and time for participants to work on their own retirement plan.  Guest lecturers on investing during retirement and estate planning during retirement will enhance the course.

 

Class Expectations:  Participants will get the most out of the class who attend all four sessions; please silence cell phones during class; there will be a 10 minute break after the first hour.  There will be weekly article-length readings and resources made available via UVA Collab. Participants who come prepared to participate, having reviewed the weekly materials, ask questions, and work on their own retirement plan will gain the most from the class.

 

 

Class Schedule: 

Usually, the course is structured as follows, but this year the final session will come first:

Session 1: Creating a Retirement Vision, Making the Vision Concrete, Reality Testing, Social Security, Pensions and Taxes

Session 2—Investing in Retirement: portfolio design and strategies to generate income; the problem with volatility during the distribution phase; inflation, annuities, life expectancy, and reasonable distribution rates.

Session 3—Health Care and Insurance in Retirement: LTC, Medicare/Medigap plans, Average costs of health care in retirement; pension flexibility strategies; other relevant insurances

 Session 4--Estate Planning in Retirement; Asset protection; Tools and resources for further study/planning

 

Due to the instructor having an irresolvable conflict for the first session, 2/24, this Spring, the Estate Planning in Retirement and Asset Protection class will be the first class with talented and extremely knowledgeable guest lecturer estate planning attorney Steve Murphy and guest instructor/host David Barrett-Johnson, CFP.  Hence the course outline for 2015 will look like this:

Class Schedule:

2/24 Welcome and introduction to course; overview of resources, process for retirement planning, and guidelines presented by David Barrett-Johnson, CFP; “Estate Planning and Asset Protection in Retirement” with guest lecturer attorney Steve Murphy

Usually the estate planning in retirement session is at the end of the course; however, due to scheduling conflicts that require your Instructor to be in Phoenix at a conference, the guest lecture will happen on the first class, with guest MC David Barrett-Johnson, CFP to provide the course overview.

3/3 Creating a Retirement Vision, Making the Vision Concrete, Reality Testing, Social Security, Pensions and Taxes

Come prepared with your own financial data and your own vision of what you hope your retirement will look like; you’ll begin to clarify your vision for your future and the financial resources you have to make it a reality as well as where there may be gaps.

3/10 Investing in Retirement: portfolio design and strategies to generate income; the problem with volatility during the distribution phase; inflation, annuities, life expectancy, and reasonable distribution rates.

Some question we’ll address: How do you make investment decisions given the variety of risks and the need to outpace inflation? What are strategies to consider? What are realistic expectations?

3/17 Health Care and Insurance in Retirement: LTC, Medicare/Medigap plans, Average costs of health care in retirement; pension flexibility strategies; other relevant insurances; Course wrap up and evaluations

 

Communication: Email is the preferred method of communication.  The instructor will respond within 48 hours to most requests.

 

Resources:  Weekly readings and resources will be uploaded to the UVA Collab site prior to each week’s class.  If desired, the instructor can also email resources to participants directly.

 

Suggested texts, materials, helpful websites, etc.: Students should collect and bring to class the following documents—social security and pension estimates, retirement account balances, liability/mortgage balances and payments, estimated annual expenses at retirement apart from mortgage, information on insurance contracts (life, long term care) if applicable

 

Required Technical Resources or Technical Components:  N/A

 

SCPS Inclement Weather/Emergency Hotline: 434-924-4364

This line will be updated in the event that ALL SCPS classes are cancelled or if all UVa classes are cancelled (this applies to evening classes as well).  Individual SCPS class cancellations due to weather or other instructor issues will likely NOT be included on this phone line, but will be communicated to students via email as soon as a decision has been made. Email your instructor and/or Buzzoni@virginia.edu if you are uncertain as to a class’ status.  We consider personal safety a priority, so please use your best judgment if travel conditions are questionable.