TRANSCRIPT:

Picture this. You just retired. Coffee in hand, sunrise on the horizon, and the market tanks 25% that same week. Welcome to the retirement that you didn’t plan for.

Hi, I’m Hunter Brockway, founder of Boca Retirement Strategies, here to guide you to a successful, stress-free retirement, plus spending more and avoiding being killed in taxes.

Five years before and after your retirement date, it’s like your fragile decade. Like a rocket launch, one bad market move can doom the whole mission. It’s called sequence of returns risk. Withdraw while the markets drop and you lock in losses plus reduce future growth. That’s the one-two punch we’re solving for today.

Think of your portfolio like a camping tent. Bigger bond allocation in the middle, tapering on the sides, a bond tent strategy pads the danger zones around retirement. The pros: stable bonds soak up market shocks, and built-in dry powder for future stock gains. The cons: if you’re too conservative, you might miss long-term growth, and you’ll need discipline to rebalance when the storm passes.

Now picture retirement income as a highway. Guardrails mark your spending zones. Inside, enjoy life. Hit a rail, adjust accordingly. Here’s how it works. Start with a flexible 5.5% withdrawal rate. If the balance jumps, reward yourself. If it drops, temporarily tighten spending. Retirees love this because it gets them more retirement income, there’s no investment overhaul, and it encourages confident, flexible living for the rest of their lives.

This video got you thinking about your own retirement planning. I’d like to offer you something to help you see the bigger picture. We’ve created a tax-smart comprehensive retirement workbook for pre-retirees and retirees.

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in my years of working with individuals, it’s that there’s always at least one aspect in the planning process where they say, “Hm, I haven’t thought about that before.” No matter how smart they are, how much they’ve saved, something comes up. Whether it be they realize they can spend more than they thought they could, they realize their tax bill is going to be high in retirement, or they are going to leave money on the table with their current Social Security claiming strategy.

This workbook is designed to help you walk through the most critical areas of retirement planning with action steps, false beliefs, and areas for you to input your own reflection items.

You can download the workbook by going to the link below in the description. If you have any issues with that link, send us an email at contactbarretirement.com. If you get through this workbook and you’d like your responses reviewed or have any questions, I’m happy to have that conversation with you, too. As always, this is no cost, no obligation, and no pressure. Best of luck.

The only caveat being you must be okay adjusting lifestyle if markets nose dive. Some people hate that. If you do lose sleep over market drops, go with a bond tent strategy. If you can handle spending swings, a guardrails approach with a war chest might suit you. If you want the best of both, try a hybrid with some cushion and spending rules. Neither is about timing the market. It’s about protecting your future self from panic decisions.

Three quick ways to apply this today: find your sleep-at-night number. How much in bonds or in cash calms your nerves. Draft your guardrails: write down when to come back or celebrate. The Guyton-Klinger guardrails have standard rules out there for when to cut or when to give yourself a raise. Stress-test your plan: a second opinion could save you thousands, especially when taxes and inflation are lurking.

No matter which path you take, the goal is the same: a retirement that’s smooth enough to enjoy and bold enough to do everything on your bucket list.

If you have any financial questions, you can send them in to contact@bocaretirement.com. Bye.