The Retirement Decision Filter

Five questions to ask before taking any retirement advice

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In my last article, “Ignore the Retirement Noise,” I discussed why it is important to ignore all the so-called experts who write articles on retirement planning. I also explained why online advice, such as in Facebook groups, is irrelevant. Still, I suggest that it is worth reviewing all the available information.

That leaves the question: How do I filter the information to identify what applies to me? In this article, I will share the questions to ask as you digest retirement advice.

I want to begin with this general warning: Ignore every article that is about how much money you need to retire. These are the ones that say really dumb stuff, such as, “You need $1.5 million dollars for a comfortable retirement.” I have nowhere near that amount and live a very fun retirement. There are too many variables involved for that kind of article to be meaningful.

1. Does this apply to my finances?

It is important to recognize that most articles offering financial advice are written broadly, and not to your specific financial situation. For example, when an article states that you need $1.5 million to retire, that number is probably completely irrelevant to your situation.

Using the 4% rule (which may also be unimportant), $1.5 million would generate $ 5,000 per month. For me, that number is irrelevant. While $5,000 per month is important, I do not need that amount in addition to my Social Security check.

Another example of financial advice concerns the best time to start your Social Security benefits. As I pointed out in my last article, even the “experts” do not agree. In my case, delaying my benefits until 70 was a critical part of my retirement plan.

Here is one more example. I was lucky enough to head into retirement with no debt. By settling for a smaller house than I could have afforded if I had been willing to take on a mortgage, my core housing expenses (utilities, insurance, taxes, and HOA) are less than $ 1,000 per month. That is very different from one of my friends who entered retirement with a house payment of $3200, plus utilities, taxes, and insurance.

That difference alone means I need $2,200 less per month than he does for the same lifestyle.

So, step 1 is to ask yourself if the article or advice really applies to your financial situation.

2. Does it match my values?

This is less about finances and more about who you are. It is important to recognize that there is no “right” way to retire. Some people enter retirement with so many hobbies that they soon find themselves busier than when they worked, while people like me, with few hobbies, aren’t sure how to keep busy.

If you ask other retirees about staying busy in retirement, some will tell you to find your “purpose” and volunteer. But you may not find anything that resonates with you.

Some people will choose to work part-time while others would say that if you do something for pay, that is not retirement.

One friend of mine loves to travel the world and can easily afford it. This friend raves about Viking cruises and small group tours. While I would love to travel the world, a single Viking cruise or small group tour would blow my entire year’s travel budget.

That doesn’t mean that I will not take a Viking cruise. If I choose to take the cruise, that is a reasonable choice, as long as I understand its impact on the rest of my budget.

Here are three questions to ask yourself when looking at the advice of others:

Is this something I genuinely want, or something I feel I should want?

If nobody else knew how I spent my retirement, would I still choose this?

Does this recommendation make me feel excited or simply guilty?

Remember, your retirement does not need to look meaningful to anyone else. It only needs to be meaningful to you.

3. Does it reduce or increase stress?

Retirement should be a time with little or no stress. Your time is your own, and you no longer need to answer to anyone else, except maybe your spouse! However, because many retirees enter retirement with someone else’s picture of the perfect retirement, they find themselves facing a new source of stress.

Every major retirement decision comes with trade-offs. The question isn’t simply, “Will this make me more money?” It’s also, “What will this do to my peace of mind?”

A great example is advice around annuities. If you ask about the use of annuities in a Facebook group, you will get a lot of people telling you how bad they are. But for me, annuities provide peace of mind. I know that I cannot lose money if the market turns. I also know that I cannot outlive the monthly income I receive from another annuity. This makes me happy.

Can I do better in the market? The only honest answer is “maybe!” Someone who retired in 2007 and kept their money in the market found themselves in a very different financial situation by 2009. And regardless of what anyone else says, the truth is that it can happen again, and if you need your money, it will be impossible to recover.

4. Is this based on averages or my reality?

I have talked about this in past articles. Almost every article discussing retirement finances uses averages, and that can be very different from your situation. Here is an example.

In an article titled “Average Retirement Savings by Age,” the average retirement savings for people ages 65 to 74 is $609,230. If you take that number seriously and have significantly less, you may feel like you are in deep doodoo. But it turns out that the median is $200,000. Knowing that 50% of retirees in this age group have less than $200,000 may make you feel like you have done exceedingly well.

Paying attention to averages is a sure way to increase your retirement stress.

Averages get skewed by a small number of people with a lot of money.

Other topics that tend to be written about include:

Average retirement spending

Average healthcare costs

Average life expectancy

Average investment returns

Average travel budgets

Lately, I have seen a number of articles about retirement spending, such as "How Much Money Do Retirees in Their 60s Need and Spend Each Year?"

According to that article, the average household headed by someone age 65 or older spent $61,400 in 2024. But the truth is that the number may have nothing to do with your retirement. In my article “Can You Afford to Retire?” I shared that I live a really fun retirement, including housing, on less than $3,000 monthly.

5. Will this decision still matter five years from now?

Retirement writers have a way of making every retirement decision sound as if the wrong choice will ruin your retirement. As if every decision was irreversible. And while every decision may have a cost, financial of personal, few decisions are irreversible.

Of course, falling for a financial scam may be permanently damaging, but most decisions can be reversed.

I will use my move from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Green Valley, Arizona. In 2021, when my wife and I decided to sell what we thought would be our forever home, along with everything we owned, I was understandably nervous.

Still, we both understood that if things did not work out, and we hated Green Valley, we could always return to North Carolina, albeit into a lesser home. And while a lesser home would not be ideal, we could resume our old life if that is what we wanted.

After my wife died in 2025, I stayed in Green Valley for five months before selling my home and moving to Tucson. I had a lot of decisions to make around that move. Nonetheless, I moved knowing that in time I could do something else if it did not work out.

Luckily for me, I am as happy as I have ever been in my new life in Tucson.

When making any retirement decision, ask yourself this question: Will this matter in five years, and if so, how?

I would add this: If I did not like the decision down the road, what would my options be?

When I purchased my Tucson home, I understood that if I wasn’t happy, I could always sell it. I would likely take a loss, but if I were willing to do so, I could move again.

When I look at retirement decisions, my attitude is that there is no failure. There is only the possibility that a new decision may have to be made.

Conclusion

There will always be a lot of noise around retirement. Everyone has an opinion and most people are more than happy to share theirs.

There will always be another article.

Another YouTube video.

Another Facebook debate.

Another “expert” telling you the “right” answer.

It is critical that you remember that there is no blueprint for the perfect retirement. There is only the blueprint that works for you.

Your retirement isn’t an average, a spreadsheet, or an expert’s opinion. It’s your life. Make decisions that honor it.