Episode 89: A lifetime of Work Leads to This: How to Navigate your Retirement Nest Egg with Ben Francis

For the last 15 years, Ben has helped clients plan for and realize their retirement goals. This makes Ben the perfect guest to help us better understand retirement matters, Social Security in particular.

Ben Francis is the Director of Retirement Income and Investment Operations with Bryce Thomas at Northwestern Mutual. With over a decade of experience helping clients plan for and realize their retirement goals, Ben works with Bryce to address the specific challenges that arise leading up to, during, and after the transition from accumulation into the decumulation phase of life. Social Security, distribution planning, income generation, investment strategies, and risk management are some of the areas they review with clients on an ongoing basis. While this transition is never the same for any individual or couple, it can be a smooth and rewarding journey when handled with the attention and care that Bryce and Ben provide as a team.

Mike and Ben discuss Social Security and personal examples by which, through family members, they kind of got thrust into Social Security. And how listeners who have said, “Oh, wait a second. I’m a long way off from that. I don’t need to listen to this.” should really give this a listen.  

• I think for a lot of people, it’s not very realistic at all. A lot of folks think, “Hey, I’m saving this, my 401k. 65’s gonna come around, and I’m gonna retire. It’s gonna be a done deal.” And so I think in a lot of people’s minds, they have this switch that they’re gonna flip when they get to 65, and that’s not at all realistic. – Ben Francis
• I’m gonna flip a switch, and I’m gonna be retired.” It’s just not that simple. There’s so much more that goes into it. – Ben Francis
• Is that 80% rule really gonna work?” So I think it’s a good starting point, but I wouldn’t just assume that that’s gonna be the right number for you, especially if you haven’t given it much thought. – Ben Francis

• Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-francis-cfp%C2%AE-ricp%C2%AE-msfs-wmcp%C2%AE-chfc%C2%AE-clu%C2%AE-0257b613/
• Company Website: http://brycethomas.nm.com/